Was just wondering if anyone heard Chuck Hagel...

[King_Crimson]

mention on "Face the Nation" last Sunday that the "Republican Party has been hijacked by a bunch of self-centered individuals who are intent on global hegemony. This is no longer the party of Eisenhower, Goldwater or Reagan (I question THAT ONE) and is headed the wrong direction"! Gosh...I couldn't agree more! :headbang:

[mmonk]

1. No, don't watch the "news" shows anymore except KO

but thanks for the heads up. I'll make a note of his statements.

[King_Crimson]

2. KO's da man...

but Hagel said this last Sunday! I was a little taken aback! Hagel seems to have some degree of decency!

[mmonk]

3. Hagel has been having a time

dealing with his party. It appears it drives him crazy at times. He knows the score of what they've become.

[AlCzervik]

4. you what the problem with Hagel is--he looks reasonable compared to the rest

of the pandering crazy asshats that are running. His voting record is almost as bad as any other republican and most voters will never even look at it.
http://www.vote-smart.org/voting_category.php?can_id=231

[mmonk]

7. And what does that have to do with what he said about the party?

[AlCzervik]

11. because he is considering running for president and he carefully chooses his words

and people will see him and think--there is a republican i can vote for. Everything he says and does for the next while will have to do with him running.

[mmonk]

24. I think you fear the wrong things. Progressives won't vote

for him and I doubt democrats in general. I say let any republican out there go ahead and knock themselves out in expressing what's happened to their party.

[TwilightGardener]

5. After watching Ron Paul get eviscerated at the debate last night,

I can totally understand why Hagel would not want to be up on that stage with a bunch of blood-thirsty pseudo-patriotic nutcases, and the audience cheering like they were at the Coliseum in Rome. Although he called the neocons "isolationist power projectors", and I had assumed that neocons were the opposite of isolationist--but really, except for invading Iraq, they are, since we have pretty much gone it alone and shunned help and diplomacy in terms of foreign policy and war over the last seven years (except for England). The term "power projection" comes right out of PNAC documents. Guess that was his way of saying neocon without saying neocon. I trust him more than almost anyone else in foreign policy--he hasn't been wrong yet, except for his IWR vote.

[ComerPerro]

6. The Repig party was NOT hijacked by a bunch of self-centered individuals.

it is impossible for this to have happened. This is because the Republican party is and always was the party of self-centered assholes. There is nothing virtuous and righteous and true about Republicanism or conservatism, and there never was.

There was no hijacking.

Its simply that now, finally, people are seeing what true conservatism is all about, and what it looks like when it has complete and total power and control.

[King_Crimson]

8. Oh...But They WERE hijacked...

by a group of Fascists! That started with Reagan!

[ComerPerro]

13. even in the "glory days" of Eisenhower, conservatives were all about the wealthy

[rasputin1952]

9. In my area of Nebraska, Hagel is often seen as a pariah to

the GOP. But his voting record is almost pure GOP ideology. I think he has a real problem w/this administration, and I'm thinking he despises bush, although he'll look a little lighter in public in his criticism.

Hagel has had a couple of things that have made me question whether he's a real conservative, or a neo-con, I'm leaning to real conservative. That's not a "good" thing, but you can negotiate w/the man, he's not bat-shit crazy w/heels dug in till death because of some stupid thing the R's came up with. Since the political scheme is all about compromise, Hagel is ready to compromise, and that alone puts him head and shoulders above the majority or R's.

[TwilightGardener]

10. Agree with your assessment. I am continually surprised by the

vitriol and anger towards him here--I think once it became known he wanted to run for Prez, everything he says and does is looked at very cynically by Nebraskans, especially the anti-war/anti-Bush statements. The GOPers love Ben Nelson, who is actually exactly the same on the war as Hagel. But he has no prez ambitions, so he's OK. They know they can't keep Hagel down on the farm--too big for his britches.

[rasputin1952]

15. The war has become a serious area of contention in these parts

now that the soldiers are coming home in coffins. Far more people were i favor of the war when kids from somewhere else were getting killed, but when the small towns got hit, people started to change their minds, slowly to be sure, but change was in the air.

I still know a few farmers in the outlying areas that are waiting, shotguns and rifles at the ready as they plant the fields, for some kind of airborne attack by Iraq on the soy field...:eyes: Since NE is about 15-20 years behind the rest of the country, it will take a while to move forward, but movement is there.

Even in Medical practices, when the UNL has a great teaching hospital, it is difficult to find an MD that has any realistic view on pain management...still RX'ing tylenol 3 for compund fractures...:grr: "don't want those addicts running around"...jeez

[King_Crimson]

12. Being as I live in Indiana...

I can tell you all about neo-conservatives. The Governor of this state is Mich "the Bitch" Daniels...Numbnuts former "Budget Director"... who bankrupted this country in the first six months of this administration! He has destroyed Indiana...sold the tollroads to foreign investment...invaded private clubs and has taken out gambling machines which these oraganizations need to survive. As of June 1, there will be no smoking allowed anywhere...workplace or otherwise...as of July 1...there will be no stuffed animal machines, no pinball machines, no air-hockey machines...NOTHING where a bar or club stands to make money! I think there is going to bve hell to pay here within the next couple of months! :headbang:

[rasputin1952]

14. What the heck is going on in Indiana? Sounds like Daniels

is insane to push crap like that through!

Is there a recall sentiment mounting? This guy sounds like a nut, and the legislature up there needs to be replaced ASAP...x(

What's next, no beer at the Indy 500?...that should get him tarred and feathered...:D

[King_Crimson]

16. Indiana has become so red-neck...

AND Republican (guess the two go hand in hand) that people just allow this hatchet wielding bastard to do as he pleases! :grr:

[rasputin1952]

17. Insanity...pure insanity. What's next, jail those who oppose him,

or start sending people to "rehabilitation camps"?. How people can allow this to happen is unbelievable.

[King_Crimson]

18. AND...

Don't be surprised if beer sales ARE curtailed at the 500! :headbang:

[rasputin1952]

20. LOL!!! That would be the nail in the coffin...I have this vision

of the masses rising up w/pitchforks and torches, a pot of hot tar and used pillows...:D

[malaise]

22. Won't be long for the people to react

just wait for those gas and food price increases to bite. Bushco will understand real wrath..Freeper rath.
Sp.

[rasputin1952]

23. LOL...I love it when they burn their own at the stake...

:D

[Blackhatjack]

19. I am old enough to remember what the Repub Party stood for BEFORE Reagan ...

And I would challenge archivists to dig up the political platforms of Repub Candidates pre-Reagan and compare them to the Bush platforms.

If my memory serves me correctly you would see that the Repub Party platform positions from that time bear little resemblance to what has been embodied by today's Repub Party.

[rasputin1952]

21. Same here...if there is any semblance to Eisenhower, and even

Nixon, it is long gone. Never thought I'd wish Nixon was back in, but as sorry as the creep was, he did seem to care about people and where they stood in this country.

Eisenhower, interesting guy, he did a lot behind the scenes and delegated others to carry out the plans, just as he did in WWII. It worked pretty well, especially when it came down to starting desegregation of the schools, as Lester Maddox learned very early...:D

One thing I've noticed is that Lincoln is rarely mentioned now, but Reagan is all over the place in the GOP. If there were ever a 180 between two presidents of the same party, that is it . One never hears of TR either, guess he was just too much of a "people person", and then there is the whole corporate/trust busting thing...:D

Before he died, Goldwater had said in disgust, "This is not the Republican Party, it is a bastard created by people that have nothing but their own interests and gains on their minds. It is sick, and it disgusts me."

[DerBeppo]

25. He's setting up a 3rd party VP bid on Bloomberg's ticket -nt-