On Wed, 29 Apr 2009 08:20:00 -0400, HK wrote:

thunder wrote:
On Tue, 28 Apr 2009 17:52:21 -0400, Eisboch wrote:


Anybody who is a fan of and follows the New England Patriots

Ah. now I see where the problem lies. ;-) Specter was never a favorite
of mine. IMO, he's always come across as a pompous, self-righteous ass,
but he is popular in Pennsylvania.

Specter didn't jump ship. He was driven out of the party. That there is
no room in the modern day Republican Party for a 5 time elected Senator
should be troubling for all Republicans. In a democracy, he who has the
most votes wins. You don't get the most votes by driving them into the
other parties hands.

I've been reading a little online about the feeding frenzy developing
around Lindsey Graham. Graham stated that the Republican Party should be
more open to moderate Republicans. He's now the target of some quite
vile characterizations. It's quite sad. Graham is quite a bit too
conservative for my tastes, but he is one of the more competent Senators
on that side of the aisle. I could see him making a strong run for the
Presidency. Unfortunately, I don't see the Republican Party surviving.


What the GOP is doing now reminds me of Mao's Cultural Revolution in
China, devised to "purge" the country and the party of those whose
thoughts were not steeped in doctrine. The difference, of course, is
that the Republicans are out of power and all they are doing is
diminishing their numbers.

Yes. Also reminds me of something else. This is the 20th anniversary
of the fall of the Berlin Wall.
I recall sitting in the corporate lunch room about a week before that
with a high level systems analyst.
An epitome of "logic."
I mentioned how nice it was that The Wall was coming down. Communism
had failed. The Cold War was over.
I thought anybody with sense knew that.
He pooh-poohed me. It was impossible the Wall would come down.
Of course his ideology needed that wall.
Most of the Republicans left are those who don't see that the
Republican Wall has collapsed.
But as it was in 1989, it's the end of an era.
It's hard to predict if they can rebuild a better wall.
Won't take much if the Dems screw up though, and I don't see any sense
in their economic policy for the long-term.

Well, so long as the GOP insists on moving further to the right, my only
wish for the party is further humiliation.

They aren't humiliated. Paranoids don't get humiliated.
We need at least 2 parties. None will succeed until they address jobs
and balance of trade.
Did you hear the uproar about the "buy America" language in the
stimulus package?
From the right and the left. They had to take it out.
Balance that against the Dems saying that jobs will be created by
manufacturing wind turbines and solar cells.
Sorry, the Chinese can manufacture them cheaper.
That basic conflict has to be addressed.
This economy will continue to slide downhill unless protectionist
manufacturing policies are put in place, or until U.S. wages are close
to matching Chinese wages.
BTW, that "card check" no secret ballot BS won't fly.
Legislation addressing methods of holding a fair vote for union
representation through secret ballot might be tried.
That BS about the secret vote not being compromised shows
who is honest in their thinking and who isn't.
Luckily there are plenty of Dems in the Senate who won't buy that.

--Vic