America is Taking Crazy Pills!!!

One of the most frustrating things about the McCain loss is that the reasons I dislike McCain are the same reasons he should have won.  John McCain was the true candidate of change.  He has a long history of defying Republicans and working with Democrats.  As a conservative, this has driven me nuts, but supposedly America was looking for more bipartisan leadership, a unifier ... and they settled on the most liberal Senator with no record of reaching across the aisle.

After the bitter 2000 primary battle, McCain held a grudge against the new President Bush and Republicans.  He voted against the Bush tax cuts.  He worked with Democrats for McCain-Feingold campaign finance reform - which conservatives believe is unconstitutional because it restricts free speech; the McCain-Edwards-Kennedy Patients' Bill of Rights - which conservatives opposed as undue government interference in the free market; McCain-Lieberman global warming - which conservatives do not believe is man-made and thus cannot be stopped; McCain-Kennedy amnesty for illegals - which conservatives are vehemently against.

On all these positions, McCain is more than moderate, he is liberal, joining up with some of the most liberal members of the Senate.  Clearly he can work well with others and make compromises with the left - which I don't like, but America professes to love.  Oh, and I almost forgot - McCain was rumored to be considering changing his party affiliation in 2000 before Sen. Jeffords made the leap and gave the Senate to the Democrats.  McCain was also rumored to be on John F. Kerry's VP list.

He further irked conservatives when he joined the Gang of 14 - the group that forced a compromise in the impasse of judicial confirmations.  When Democrats wouldn't allow the full Senate to vote up or down on judicial confirmations, conservatives wanted to go for the "nuclear option," which would only require a majority, rather than 60 votes to bring them to the floor.  A Republican argument against going nuclear is that when Democrats come into office, they will also use the nuclear option for their judges.  Well, we didn't end up going nuclear, but mark my words, the Dems WILL.  

So these are all the things that have happened over the last 8 years to make me dislike John McCain, but then he became the Republican presidential candidate.  McCain being infinitely

 better than either Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama, I had to put aside my qualms and back him.  I had to continue to defend him even though, through the course of the campaign, he pledged to include Democrats in his cabinet, considered Lieberman for VP, supported the bailout, continued to oppose drilling in ANWR, and attacked Obama for not taking public financing.  All of which are anathema to conservatives, but should have endeared him to Americans looking for change in Washington.

McCain was the anti-Bush candidate, the candidate of change, the unifier, the true maverick, the bipartisan compromiser willing to throw out his ideals in the name of consensus - all of which I HATE and yet I supported him and America, wanting all these qualities, went for OBAMA!

I FEEL LIKE I'M TAKING CRAZY PILLS!!!

Related posts:

McCain Aides are Taking Crazy Pills!!!

"Republicans" for Obama are Taking Crazy Pills!

The Media are taking Crazy Pills!

Obama Supporters Are Taking Crazy Pills!

I FEEL I'M TAKING CRAZY PILLS!!!

RNC Tuesday: Top Lines of the Night

I thought Fred Thompson gave a GREAT speech tonight! I finally had the opportunity to hear the full story of John McCain's ordeal in Vietnam - it is an amazing story and I will be forever grateful to McCain for his sacrifice and character in putting Country First. Please read Fred Thompson's speech, McCain's story deserves to be told.

Thompson also went on the attack and served up some delicious red meat to the crowd. My favorite one-liners from Fred Thompson's speech:

• It’s pretty clear there are two questions we will never have to ask ourselves, “Who is this man?” and “Can we trust this man with the Presidency?”
  
  
• My friends … that is character you can believe in.
  
  
• The respect he is given around the world is not because of a teleprompter speech designed to appeal to American critics abroad, but because of decades of clearly demonstrated character and statesmanship.
  
  
• To deal with these challenges the Democrats present a history making nominee for president. History making in that he is the most liberal, most inexperienced nominee to ever run for President.
  
  
• Apparently they believe that he would match up well with the history making, Democrat controlled Congress. History making because it’s the least accomplished and most unpopular Congress in our nation’s history.
  
  
• No, they’re just going to tax “businesses”! So unless you buy something from a “business”, like groceries or clothes or gasoline … or unless you get a paycheck from a big or a small “business”, don’t worry … it’s not going to affect you.
  
  
• And we need a President who doesn’t think that the protection of the unborn or a newly born baby is above his pay grade.

After Thompson;s rousing speech, Joe Lieberman came on stage and initially seemed to suck the life out of the auditorium. It was a tough act to follow, but eventually Lieberman hit his stride. He went after his Senate colleague and former fellow party-member Obama directly which I found to be slightly surprising. Here are my favorite Lieberman lines:

• I’m here to support John McCain because country matters more than party.

• Both presidential candidates this year talk about changing the culture of Washington, about breaking through the partisan gridlock and special interests that are poisoning our politics. But only one of them has actually done it.

• My Democratic friends know all about John’s record of independence and accomplishment. Maybe that’s why some of them are spending so much time and so much money trying to convince voters that John McCain is someone else.

• Eloquence is no substitute for a record — not in these tough times.
  
  
• In the Senate he has not reached across party lines to get anything significant done, nor has he been willing to take on powerful interest groups in the Democratic Party.
  
  
• The McCain-Palin ticket is the real ticket for change this year.
  
  
• When others wanted to retreat in defeat from the field of battle, when Barack Obama was voting to cut off funding for our troops on the ground, John McCain had the courage to stand against the tide of public opinion and support the surge, and because of that, today, our troops are at last beginning to come home, not in failure, but in honor!

All in all a great night of speeches - the Republican base is pumped up and hopes to have attracted undecided voters with Lieberman's appeal to independents and Thompson's focus on character. Can't wait until tomorrow night!