Why the shutdown was a total victory for conservatives, both in the short and long runs.
Why the shutdown was a total victory for conservatives, both in the short and long runs.
The shutdown/debt limit imbroglio wasn’t a defeat. Defeats leave the losers feeling defeated. But the designated losers, the conservative base of the GOP – which, more accurately, now is the GOP – is more eager and excited than it has been in a long time.
Why? Someone fought. Finally.
Sure, we didn’t win the repeal of Obamacare. The only people talking about actually repealing Obamacare as a direct result of the tactical moves of recent weeks were the doddering dinosaurs and their media accomplices trying to put out the notion that Ted Cruz and his band of merry marauders had suckered us numbskull conservatives with promises of total victory right here and right now.
Being very familiar with the Constitution, we realize that it’s kind of difficult to pass a law when we only hold the House. We’re clear on that. We were always clear on that. What Ted Cruz did – and what the go-along, get-along gang of Republican stegosauruses hate – is that he fought. He fought. There’s a huge value to drawing a line, to taking a stand, to rallying the troops.
Real leaders – which the GOP establishment lacks – know that. We’ve had two presidential elections in a row with a demoralized base. That’s bad. Just ask Presidents McCain and Romney. [emphasis in original]
The key for determining which side is winning this battle is to look at the positions that new politicians are taking. That tells you the trend. And what I see is that the challengers all want to be Ted Cruz, not John McCain.
Readers!
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black. Your support allows me the freedom and ability to analyze objectively the ongoing renaissance in space, as well as the cultural changes -- for good or ill -- that are happening across America. Fourteen years ago I wrote that SLS and Orion were a bad ideas, a waste of money, would be years behind schedule, and better replaced by commercial private enterprise. Only now does it appear that Washington might finally recognize this reality.
In 2020 when the world panicked over COVID I wrote that the panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Only in the past year have some of our so-called experts in the health field have begun to recognize these facts.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are four ways of doing so:
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Why the shutdown was a total victory for conservatives, both in the short and long runs.
The shutdown/debt limit imbroglio wasn’t a defeat. Defeats leave the losers feeling defeated. But the designated losers, the conservative base of the GOP – which, more accurately, now is the GOP – is more eager and excited than it has been in a long time.
Why? Someone fought. Finally.
Sure, we didn’t win the repeal of Obamacare. The only people talking about actually repealing Obamacare as a direct result of the tactical moves of recent weeks were the doddering dinosaurs and their media accomplices trying to put out the notion that Ted Cruz and his band of merry marauders had suckered us numbskull conservatives with promises of total victory right here and right now.
Being very familiar with the Constitution, we realize that it’s kind of difficult to pass a law when we only hold the House. We’re clear on that. We were always clear on that. What Ted Cruz did – and what the go-along, get-along gang of Republican stegosauruses hate – is that he fought. He fought. There’s a huge value to drawing a line, to taking a stand, to rallying the troops.
Real leaders – which the GOP establishment lacks – know that. We’ve had two presidential elections in a row with a demoralized base. That’s bad. Just ask Presidents McCain and Romney. [emphasis in original]
The key for determining which side is winning this battle is to look at the positions that new politicians are taking. That tells you the trend. And what I see is that the challengers all want to be Ted Cruz, not John McCain.
Readers!
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black. Your support allows me the freedom and ability to analyze objectively the ongoing renaissance in space, as well as the cultural changes -- for good or ill -- that are happening across America. Fourteen years ago I wrote that SLS and Orion were a bad ideas, a waste of money, would be years behind schedule, and better replaced by commercial private enterprise. Only now does it appear that Washington might finally recognize this reality.
In 2020 when the world panicked over COVID I wrote that the panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Only in the past year have some of our so-called experts in the health field have begun to recognize these facts.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are four ways of doing so:
1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.
2. Patreon: Go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation.
3. A Paypal Donation or subscription:
4. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
Behind The Black
c/o Robert Zimmerman
P.O.Box 1262
Cortaro, AZ 85652
You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above.
John McCain is a stain on conservatives, he and the rest of the rino’s need to be primaried out!
Ted Cruz, the De facto leader of the Republican party.
Why?
Because he remembers who sent him to the Senate and why, he has integrity and above all else he is a Constitutionalist first and a politician second. That being said, he and all the rest of them are not to be blindly trusted with the peoples freedom, they all have to be constantly checked and challenged as to what they are doing and why. And when they forget, they are to be replaced. Love not your politician.
I just realized something, Obamacare is something that the president is going to be held directly responsible for. When you think about until now he has “voted present” as he has done in the past. This mod of operation is designed so he remains at a distance from blame and without fault. But its hard to deflect the big fat FAILURE sticker that is going to be wanted to be stuck somewhere by the urchins that expect their “fair share”.
I think that’s what I see coming down the road. Combine that with eliminating all of the Rhino Republican capitulators and there may be a glimmer of hope yet.
Didn’t look like there were any winners in either party.
Excellent comments, Robert. We should all not forget that Ted Cruz, like Obama, graduated from Harvard Law. Unlike Obama, however, he went on to become a practicing attorney who argued cases before the U.S. Supreme Court. So, as the liberal/left campaign to discredit him progresses, these facts should be thrown back at them at every opportunity. If they consider Obama brilliant because of his educational background, then Sen. Cruz should be considered beyond brilliant, because he actually accomplished things as an attorney. And he spoke for nearly 24 hours on the floor of the U.S. Senate entirely without a teleprompter. I wish someone would challenge Obama to speak for 1 hour extemporaneously.
As long as no one has to listen. Making someone listen to a whole hour of Obamian blather violates both the Geneva Convention and the 8th Amendment.
Ditto that!
Ive notices how different, in may ways opposites, Ted Cruz and our president are in their personal styles. Mr. Cruz argues for the constitution. He does not get personal nor does he seek retribution. He sticks to making his case using facts which he knows and understands. Our president and many of his liberal supporters cant deal with facts. Thy obfuscate and make up straw arguments, and use personal attacks to avoid answering the important questions. And they seek to punish those that don’t agree with them. I support Ted Cruz.
Disagree. In the short run, Cruz rescued a president reeling from scandals and the Syrian debacle. In the long run, driving down Republicans favorables makes it harder to win back Congressional seats in 2014.
Cruz violated the principle that when your opponent is self-destructing, get out of the way and let him.
What I find frustrating about the entire shutdown situation is how everyone wants to argue about Republican tactics, whether they had the right “optics” or not, but no one seems willing to discuss the “optics” of the Democratic position.
The Democrats refused to negotiate, and they did so in order to defend Obamacare, a law that doesn’t work and that is doing enormous harm to hundreds of thousands of ordinary citizens. Moreover, we have a horrific debt problem. The Democrats’ position: It doesn’t exist, we won’t deal with it, and let’s spend more money we don’t have.
Nothing any Republican did has the bad optics of the Democrats. Cruz was opposing Obamacare. Other Republicans were trying to restrict spending. In all cases, the Republicans were at least trying to deal with the problems we face. It was the Democrats who have their head in the sand and refuse to budge.
And yet, people criticize the Republicans? If anything, it is the Democrats who should be lambasted.
With all the problems Obama is having with the roll out of Obama care, I am surprised that they didn’t give the Republicans the one year extension, a little ironic.
Coast to coast brought me here… I’m curious.. What are your facts to back up this statement?
“The Democrats refused to negotiate, and they did so in order to defend Obamacare, a law that doesn’t work and that is doing enormous harm to hundreds of thousands of ordinary citizens. “
From the beginning of the federal shutdown I have been following the events and posting them as they unfolded. The one consistent fact was the refusal of the President and Harry Reid in the Senate to negotiate. They were very public with this refusal. It is no secret. They made it very clear they would not agree to any budget deal that included any changes to Obamacare. None. To me, that is a refusal to negotiate.
Democracy is compromise, and compromise is even more required when you have a divided Congress. The Senate is controlled by the Democrats, but the House is controlled by the Republicans. Both were legitimately voted into this position by the public. Thus, when it comes time to pass budgets and laws, both sides are required to pay attention to the demands of each other. It is the height of irresponsibility to refuse.
As for Obamacare, I have been documenting the law’s failures for the past three years. Use the search feature on Behind the Black to search for the word “Obamacare”. You will come up with more depressing data than you can imagine.
I think we are right now seeing with the failures of the Obamacare website only the tip of the iceberg. The worst is yet to come. The law is unworkable. Worse, its high cost and complex regulations have caused businesses to cut back on employment and investment.
We might agree that something must be done to improve the health insurance and healthcare industry in the United States. Obamacare was not the way to do it.
I heard postulated, on Coast To Coast last night, by Michael Rivero something that made sense to me in the purposeful confusion that is our government. Obamacare is designed to demonstrate to potential lenders that the American government, who is certainly looking to borrow more funds from prospective lenders, that the government has a new source of solid cash flow from the public. That’s why the enrollment in Obamacare has been turned on its head to where you have to enter ALL of your personal information first, including your bank account numbers, before you get to choose any product. No honest operation creates such a captive situation. Think about it a little bit differently.
Our highly inflated, fiat based money supply needs some new credibility since the only thing that is able to drag us out of where we are is missing, which is real economic growth. Obamacare is not about healthcare its about control and continuing the economic magic trick. Eventually it will have to be revealed that there is nothing there, there.
They didn’t agree to that because it was about politics, not policy. Obama (and Reid) just wanted the shutdown theater aspects of it all, so even reasonable suggestions had to be rejected. Now that the show is over (and the reality of Obamacare is rising to the surface), it’s time to put off the consequences of this shit sandwich once again. In a way, the website goat fornication is a blessing for the Dems. It gives them an excuse to avoid the pain for a little while longer.
And now the Dems propose to do what the republicans wanted to do that triggered the so called government shut down, delay the personal mandate to purchase health care insurance coverage!
This is what is called bad optics for the president. Although he has moved on and is now focused on “fixing” immigration.