Later, Alligators
Written by Andrew on November 18th, 2006
Dostoevsky once said, “Neither man or nation can exist without a sublime idea.” The concept comes up again in Lewis’ “The Abolition of Man” (well novelized as “That Hideous Strength”), mankind survives by virtue of its submission to that tao, that moral order which distinguishes us within creation, whatever name it might take. When we lose it, when we exchange our sublime idea for vulgar ones, the consequences are broad, recovery is slow, and not guaranteed. I tie it to the Fall, though there ought to be secular explanations as well.
“Where is he going with this? Little guy can’t be serious, thinking that Pence losing means the proclamation of laicite.”
Emphatically not, it’s sort of a coincidence. I’m not worried about this sort of thing on a national level, at least not at the moment, but more on a personal one. I’m not worried about America losing its “sublime idea”, I’m worried about losing it myself. There are about a million things that should be higher on the list of things I care about than the Republican Party, and right now they aren’t. So, I’m going to take my leave of this motley crew and bid you all adieu. I want to express my appreciation to Mark first and foremost for letting me be involved in the project for so long, certainly despite his better judgement. The mission continues to be good and right, the GOP does indeed need saving, and I hope he and Alex will pitch the battle for much, much longer. Thanks also to the other contributors and commenters, especially Alex, John, and Karuna, the three of whom I was very happy to finally meet last month. And thanks to the readers, wandering aboutst in the ether.
Remember what we stand for, the principles that transcend the Republican party, that may even transcend conservatism narrowly defined. Most of all remember the words of T.S. Eliot:
“Most of the trouble in the world is caused by people wanting to be important.”
Fight the hacktocracy tooth and nail, and never back down.
18
AM
I’m worried about you losing it too. Boehner and Pence have identical voting records, and here we have SaveTheGOP members referring to the former as “corrupt” while you want to elect the latter the next President. Real dedication means you stand by someone even when they lose an election.
What makes you think you would have stood by Reagan in 86?
18
AM
Because Reagan didn’t pass the biggest expansion to the welfare state since LBJ, because Reagan didn’t sign the most anti-free speech bill in existance (McCain-Feingold), because Reagan didn’t expand funding to the Dept of Education with a giant government boondoggle (No Child Left Behind) and because Reagan didn’t leave his troops on the field for a fight on Social Security.
Any questions?
18
AM
Oh SNAP… you got pwned.
18
PM
Whether or no they have similar voting records is not the point.
Boehner is of the old guard, and in order to save the GOP both figuratively and literally a revolution of sorts must be undertaken to overthrow that old guard which has brought us to this point.
This is a battle against the estblisment of the party which views power itself as the endgame. While that is the nature of politicians, that is not the type of party I want to associate with.
Maybe I’m still a bit naive, or overly idealistic, but I still believe that unless the people we support carry themselves well and at least attempt to promote the ideals we claim to hold then there is no reason for the GOP to have power if it doesn’t intend to use it correctly.
The world is not going to end witht he Republican Party in the minority, we made it thru the Cold War pretty good under those conditions.
Being within the minority gives us the opprotunity to be more selective in who carries our banner.
Of course Pence isn’t the savior, but he seems to be a genuine individual that keeps his nose clean - and at this point, that’s all I am worried about.
18
PM
Mark, you and I agree that McCain-Feingold is an obstruction to free speech in the United States. And, so does George Bush. He expected it to be overturned by the Supreme Court.
19
AM
Yeah, but Joe, I find it interesting at the least and downright laughable at the most that you selectively failed to mention that while Bush may have believed that the Supreme Court would overturn McCain-Feingold (rightfully so, as it was unConstitutional), he still signed the bill into law. Let me repeat that:
The President of the United States signed into law a bill that HE KNEW was against the very tenets of our Constitution, but did so regardless to score short-term political points counting on 9 men/women in robes to overturn the travesty of a law that he signed into place.
Wow. Re-read that previous statement as many times as you want, but I don’t think that’s going to change your view that Bush is a conservative - he most certainly isn’t.
19
PM
Can somebody please explain why a bill that makes it more difficult for special interest groups to buy a politician’s votes is “Unconstitutional”, particularly how it violates the first ammendment? I see something in there about freedom of speech, but nothing in there about how rich people and corporations should be allowed to buy more “access” to elected officials than regular Americans…
19
PM
Good bye Andrew, I will miss reading your thoughts very much. I hope we are able to meet someday and I wish you all the best in your future endevours.
19
PM
President has to pick his fights. He was elected by 537 votes in Florida. McCain-Feingold wasn’t going to be one of them.
19
PM
You disgust me.
19
PM
Leaders don’t obsess with minute stuff. I’m more concerned with repealing McCain-Feingold than with pointing fingers over it. Besides, you ought to be pointing fingers at John McCain.
This whole thing has been McCain’s attempt to distance himself from the Keating Five.
19
PM
You haven’t seen anything from me praising McCain, and you won’t. President Bush was just as complicit as McCain in passing the law - because he signed it. A swift stroke of a veto pen would’ve stopped this.
19
PM
“I’m more concerned with repealing McCain-Feingold than with pointing fingers over it.”
Translation: Let’s stop talking about his, it makes Bush look bad.
“Besides, you ought to be pointing fingers at John McCain.”
Translation: Actually let’s keep talking about this, it makes McCain look bad.
You just did a 180 without even blinking. That takes style. Not my kind of style per say, but it does take style.
19
PM
Mike, I believe the words you were looking for were “per se.” Just keeping you in check.
21
AM
Hi,
I understand your frustration. I came here from being ignored last year by the blue dog democrats, I guess I was too conservitive for them. about McCain-Finegold, why not put a self imposed donation limit on ourselfs and use that as a trumpiting point. we don’t want the appearance of being bought by the higest bidder. I think our public servants should be bought by us the people.
Ted