A Reminder For Republicans

While pondering the situation that Republicans now find themselves, my lovely wife came across something that reminded me about what it was that Republicans used to believe. Specifically, I'm talking about Reagan Republicans, a critter not often seen these days.

I used to be a Republican, but the focus of the party changed in ways I found disturbing and, in some cases, distasteful. Too many Reagan ideas and ideals have fallen by the wayside, to the detriment of us all. I have no idea if the Republican party can find its focus again, become more pragmatic and less ideologically rigid (one of the failings of Neo-cons).

As a reminder, here are a few Reagan words of wit and wisdom, something with which the Republicans should be reacquainted.

“Here's my strategy on the Cold War: We win, they lose.”

That's one that has been proven with time. After all, the Soviet Union no longer exists. We won. They lost. It's a philosophy that we should keep in mind as we deal with the jihadis/harahabis and all of the other terrorist groups and nations that support them.

“The most terrifying words in the English language are: I'm from the government and I'm here to help.”

All one needs to do is look how well things went after Katrina to see that this is still true.

“The trouble with our liberal friends is not that they're ignorant. It's just that they know so much that isn't so.”

I could make this quote the subject of an entire post all by itself.

I cannot count the times I have gotten into something I am reluctant to call a 'discussion' with leftists whose entire argument is the recitation of the same old slogans and half-truths that have been discredited over the decades. It's almost like a form of insanity. They keep mouthing the same platitudes over and over again as if by doing so they can make them come true.

One of the biggest offenders these days has to be John Kerry, followed closely by Al Gore. I've come across so many others at the local level that it has ceased to surprise. What passes for critical thinking these days would have been looked upon as crackpot thinking even 30 years ago.

“Of the four wars of my lifetime none came about because the US was too strong.”

See the quote just before this one. How it is people have come to believe that by weakening ourselves our enemies will leave us alone eludes me. It is so against human nature. By showing weakness in the face of aggression, an individual or a nation only invites even more aggression. If you meet aggression with strength, showing you are more than willing to go toe-to-toe with an enemy, they will back down. It is the nature of bullies to do so. This is something the Left has chosen to ignore and that too many Republicans have forgotten.

“The taxpayer: That's someone who works for the federal government but doesn't have to take the civil service examination.”

No explanation needed here. But it is something that Republicans need to be reminded about. The loony Left doesn't care, despite their assurances to the contrary. They want to roll back the tax breaks for the rich, the 'rich' meaning anyone with a job. It never ceases to amaze me how out of touch they can be with the concept of diminishing returns in regards to taxes, something learned by any student taking Economics 101. But the Republican Congress and its profligate spending over the past 6 years hasn't helped things either. Some progress has been made with pork barrel spending having come under scrutiny, but it is only a start. Members of Congress, regardless of political party, must remember that every dollar spent comes from the pockets of their constituents, dollars that many of those same constituents need far more than Congress does.

So endeth the lesson.