Newsmax is reporting that Texas Senator John Cornyn is giving his support to rampaging RINO and faithless fool from Philadelphia Arlen Specter (I just couldn`t pass up that phrase, though Specter is originally from Kansas and now lives primarily in Washington) for the 2010 elections.
“As I survey the political landscape of the upcoming 2010 elections,”Cornyn wrote in a letter released by his office Tuesday, “it’s clear we need more candidates that fit their states. While I doubt Arlen could win an election in my home state of Texas, I am certain that I could not get elected in Pennsylvania. I believe that Senator Specter is our best bet to keep this Senate seat in the GOP column. A vote for Arlen Specter is a vote for denying Harry Reid and the Democrats a filibuster-proof Senate.”That last is surely debatable; how often does Specter stand with his own party?
Let us take a quick gander at his record.
The AFL-CIO has given Specter a 61% rating, meaning he`s liked by the notoriously leftist Big Labor. He supported cloture on the “employee free choice act “aka card check in 2007.
He was only one of 4 Republicans to vote against the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act.
Specter introduced S. 2611-the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2006, and has been a huge proponent of open borders.
Specter, while claiming to oppose same-sex marriage, opposes a Federal ban on the practice-something necessary given the Full Faith and Credit clause of the Constitution. He voted to add “sexual orientation“ to the definition of a hate crime. He voted for legislation making “discrimination“ in the workplace against someone for sexual orientation illegal (so a Catholic organization has to employ an openly homosexual person).
He voted NO on banning affirmative action hiring with federal funds.
Specter is pro-abortion. He threatened to join the Democrats if former President Bush sent up a strongly pro-life candidate for the Supreme Court. He voted against a bill that would make it illegal to take minors across state lines for abortions. He voted against a bill that would require that the parents of minors obtaining abortions be contacted.
He voted for funding for embryonic stem cell research.
He voted for CO2 emission restrictions, voted against allowing oil exploration and land lease in ANWAR,
Specter voted for the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, being only one of three Republicans to do so.
Specter suggested impeaching President Bush during the conflated “warrantless wiretapping” brouhaha, despite the fact that Specter knew full well what was happening.
He refused to impeach Bill Clinton despite overwhelming evidence of lawbreaking.
I could go on, but you see the point; Specter is only nominally in touch with traditional Republican standards.
It should further be pointed out that Specter has threatened to switch party affiliations if Republicans challenge him, or run as an independent. Is this really the type of guy a party leader like John Cornyn should be backing?
This is symptomatic of the deeper malady in the Republicans; too many in the GOP are desperate to hold onto their seats, and they have been seduced by the Washington culture. They have come to believe that the people who matter are those inside the beltway and in the seats of power in the media.
In short, the party has become a collection of cowards. There is an unwillingness to stand for anything, because this idea that they can only win by moving to the middle has become ossified into the culture of the GOP party itself.
We`ve all heard the argument; America has become a centrist nation, and running as conservative puts the party outside of the mainstream. The only solution is for conservatism to change-meaning become liberal. This is a foolish notion, because most “moderates” are people waiting to be told where they should follow. THAT is the key; should the GOP send leaders then this vast middle will vote conservatively. Now the GOP offers nothing but cowards who cravenly follow where Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, Barack Obama and the other leftist Democrats take them. OF COURSE they got routed in the last election-that was entirely predictable. That rout was a direct result of the GOP being completely lost. They no longer articulate a different message.
America is dying of thirst for leadership, but the Republicans keep offering cups of dust to the people.
The Bible is the great source of wisdom, and this passage from the Gospel of Matthew is quite relevant to the modern Republican Party:
Matthew 25:14-30 (Contemporary English Version)
The Parable of the Three Servants
14The kingdom is also like what happened when a man went away and put his three servants in charge of all he owned. 15The man knew what each servant could do. So he handed five thousand coins to the first servant, two thousand to the second, and one thousand to the third. Then he left the country.
16As soon as the man had gone, the servant with the five thousand coins used them to earn five thousand more. 17The servant who had two thousand coins did the same with his money and earned two thousand more. 18But the servant with one thousand coins dug a hole and hid his master’s money in the ground.
19Some time later the master of those servants returned. He called them in and asked what they had done with his money. 20The servant who had been given five thousand coins brought them in with the five thousand that he had earned. He said, “Sir, you gave me five thousand coins, and I have earned five thousand more.”
21”Wonderful!” his master replied. “You are a good and faithful servant. I left you in charge of only a little, but now I will put you in charge of much more. Come and share in my happiness!”
22Next, the servant who had been given two thousand coins came in and said, “Sir, you gave me two thousand coins, and I have earned two thousand more.”
23”Wonderful!” his master replied. “You are a good and faithful servant. I left you in charge of only a little, but now I will put you in charge of much more. Come and share in my happiness!”
24The servant who had been given one thousand coins then came in and said, “Sir, I know that you are hard to get along with. You harvest what you don’t plant and gather crops where you haven’t scattered seed. 25I was frightened and went out and hid your money in the ground. Here is every single coin!”
26The master of the servant told him, “You are lazy and good-for-nothing! You know that I harvest what I don’t plant and gather crops where I haven’t scattered seed. 27You could have at least put my money in the bank, so that I could have earned interest on it.”
28Then the master said, “Now your money will be taken away and given to the servant with ten thousand coins! 29Everyone who has something will be given more, and they will have more than enough. But everything will be taken from those who don’t have anything. 30You are a worthless servant, and you will be thrown out into the dark where people will cry and grit their teeth in pain.”
Of course, the faithless servant is the Republican Party, hiding their political treasure (conservatism) under a rock in fear of the master (the media and the “moderates“). Their reward for such cowardice has been political exile, being thrown into the dark where there will be much wailing and gnashing of teeth.
But Cornyn shows they have failed to learn, and are plodding along the same dead-end path they have trodden. Specter should never have been supported by President Bush against Toomey. The GOP sold her soul to hold onto that one particular seat, and there was every reason to believe that Toomey could have held it as well. Party leaders supported Specter because he was one of their own and had shown he could squeek across the finish line. That he repeatedly stood with the Democrats against his own party never entered into the picture. I believe this was more about incumbency than anything else; the “good ole boys” network wanted to hang onto power. Well, they won that skirmish and lost the war.
The Bible makes another point about cowardice and faithlessness; the Israelites were banished to wander the desert for 40 years because of their unwillingness to believe in their first principle. Why did they wander 40 years? Because the faithless generation had to pass away and a new generation take charge. The faithless Israelites were infected by a bunch of losers, and these sniveling leaders had to be completely removed from the scene. Senator Cornyn shows exactly why the Israelites wandered for so many years, and suggests that the GOP may well do the same in the wilderness of American politics. They haven`t learned a blessed thing from history.
Many conservatives believe we will have a huge victory in 2010 with the removal of BHO in 2012. I am far from convinced if this will happen. It could even rebound to hurt the GOP as the Republican revolution-and Bill Clinton`s subsequent toning down of his liberalism-ultimately lulled the Republicans back to sleep. What is needed is fresh blood, and there appears to be few up-and-comers in the Republican ranks. State governments are the minor leagues for national office, and the Republicans have been contracting in their hold over state houses and governorships. In short, we have no bench.
So we may be forced to wander for 40 years while waiting for the likes of Specter, Snowe, Collins, etc. to pass from the scene. Will the country even be recognizable by the time the Republicans return to their first principles?
