Stable, realistic strategies are the only hope to begin to turn the tide in the USA

by Mike Van Fossen

I am a mainstream Republican.

Flag of the United States of America, backlit, windy day.

I believe that most of my views would surely be considered conservative. Most conservatives respect people who have become movers and shakers, doers, not just talkers. We know it takes more than talk and empty word to actually build the businesses and companies that employ us and our loved ones.

These same people frequently step up and take on the responsibilities of helping govern this wonderful country. The single biggest attribute I value in others is leadership skills and abilities. I have great respect for good leaders in either political party.

I know that Ronald Reagan was a great leader, I know that George Bush (Sr.) was a great leader as well. I think George W. Bush came into the office as a man who had earned the title of leader by being a successful Governor. He had already learned the value of working across the aisle with the political opposition to accomplish good things for all the people of Texas.

It happens that our country was very well served when those much appreciated leadership skills were desperately needed after the terrible attacks that occurred on 9/11/2001.

It is important to remember, just because republicans as a whole did not back the hopeless defunding of Obamacare actions of Ted Cruz, that does not mean we are not conservative. We think the tea party is simply the latest group, similar to Liberals, who have trouble controlling their emotions. In my opinion, I think the reason the Tea Party developed and grew is because many conservatives became disgusted with politicians who were thought to be conservative in name only.

Someone actually coined the term RINO (Republican In Name Only), and it has stuck despite the obvious inconsistency. I can see that CINO (Conservative In Name Only) would just not have the same oomph! Unfortunately, the Tea Party and it’s latest defacto leaders, Ted Cruz, Mike Lee and Rand Paul, have taken positions that are unrealistic.

Stable, realistic strategies are the only hope
to begin to turn the tide.

This country did not become quasi-socialist overnight, it happened gradually over the last half century, and we can't undo all the bad policies immediately. So, what can we do? We can all learn to recognize real leaders, we can begin to appreciate men like Mitt Romney, Senate Minority Leader McConnell and our Republican leader, Speaker of the House John Boehner. Most importantly we can begin to vote for representatives that hold true conservative positions.

We must realize that stable, realistic strategies are the only hope to begin to turn the tide. Cruz, Lee and Rand are zealots. Sadly, zealots rarely make good leaders.

Mike Van Fossen  is a contributing writer to Dyed in the Wool Republican.

We are Republican and we are NOT leaving this party

All around us folks are declaring they are Conservative, they are NOT Republican. We want to say to them GOOD! Take your "I know it all" attitude to the next political party and play your "all talk, all the time" game there.

We true republicans need all hands on deck, and we don't need one more naysayer in the house. We must have grassroots, boots on the ground workers, not TALKERS. It has been hard to endure the shear ignorance of statements like this one by a very smart republican senator:   

"That’s why it’s the cloture vote that matters. If 46 Republicans stick together on the cloture vote, Reid can’t fund Obamacare. In fact, we only need 41 Republicans. And so the vote that matters tomorrow is the cloture vote on the bill [vote to proceed to vote on the bill] and if Republicans stand together, if Republicans are united, we can prevent Harry Reid and Barack Obama from using this bill to fund Obamacare."
                        - Senator Ted Cruz
                           http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2013/09/26/

REALLY? ONLY NEEDED 41 VOTES! 46 Republican Senators are not 51 votes which is a simple majority vote in the Senate.

This townhall.com contributor, a former democrat turned republican has decided all the GOP establishment types must go:

"John McCain, Lindsey Graham, Mitch McConnell, Peter King and others of your ilk—our eyes are on YOU. Even if all of you are not up for reelection, you are the types of Establishment Republicans that true Conservatives can no longer tolerate. You have officially become the role models for those who we will never support again. Instead we will seek out patriots like Sen. Ted Cruz, Sen. Mike Lee, Rep. Louie Gohmert, Rep. Trey Gowdy and others to lead."
                                             - Ann-Marie Murrell
                                             http://finance.townhall.com

Really? Never support again? Patriots? True conservatives?

Words have meanings:

patriot - n.

1. a person who loves, supports, and defends his or her country and its interests.  "Fellow countryman," which was the original meaning of patriot when it came into English in the late 1500s.

So, Senator John McCain, prisoner of war hero, does not love, support or defend his country, but Cruz, Lee, Gohmert, and Gowdy do? Seriously?

The American Conservative Union (ACU) (http://conservative.org) is an American political organization advocating conservative policies. It was founded in December 1964 by author and commentator William F Buckley Jr, and is the oldest such conservative lobbying organization in the country. ACU is well known for its annual rating of politicians according to how they vote on key issues, providing a numerical indicator of how much the lawmakers agreed with conservative ideals. Let's look at the establishment ilk's numbers:

Mitch McConnell 100% Kentucky
Lindsey Graham    92% South Carolina
John McCain         92% Arizonia
John Cornyn          88% Texas
Peter King             60%   CD2 New York 

These guys seem to be pretty conservative. How many folks in your life rate at 88% consistently? It is good that Mr Buckley is not here to see where these true right wing folks have taken conservatism.

What does conservative mean?

Here is one definition:

conservative - n.

Not a clear cut philosophy but a set of beliefs which, in general, tend to support (1) free enterprise capitalism, (2) continuation of traditions, (3) minimal government intervention in economy, (4) strict law and order enforcement, and (5) gradual change as opposed to radical reform. 

Read more here: http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/conservatism.html#ixzz2iiCdeOQg

It seems these so called "REAL" conservatives expect an elected republican to agree 100% of the time with their ever moving conservative bar or else be banished to the establishment land. Well, this is not the Republican Party I signed up for.

I will no longer appease the ignorant masses that shout Liberty, Liberty, Constitution.

Principled ideas abound but no real solution to our problems can be found. Words have meaning and simply calling someone a patriot or a traitor does not make it so.

I do not blindly defend anyone, but I will no longer stand by while folks call good people names and slander public servants, because some political PAC told them what to think and say. Bottom line, we are Republican and we are not leaving this Party.

Libertarians...if you want this party you will have to take it from our cold dead hands, because we are dyed in the wool Republican!