Brad Wardell's views about technology, politics, religion, world affairs, and all sorts of politically incorrect topics.
Do they have a cream to take care of it?
Published on October 19, 2006 By Brad Wardell In Republican

It is Day 4 of the Rush Limbaugh railings against frustrated conservatives who might sit out this election.  And once again, Rush has tried to assign motive and intent to me and people like me (given that it was this article  supporting Instapundit's premortem that helped set off this discussion).

My motive? Apparently it's about power. I want to wreck things for the Republicans so that if the Republicans lose in November I can say "See, look at my POOOWEERR!" If Rush bothered to do his research, he'd know that I am not going to any real effort to try to affect the election. I run sites that get over 3 million visitors per day and have over 6 million registered users and the only site I've even been writing about my frustration with Republicans -- and have been for over a year now -- is on my personal blog site on JoeUser.com which gets a trivial amount of traffic by comparison.  What Rush simply refuses to accept is that a lot of bloggers, like most people, may care about politics but they don't care care. We're not on any sort of Jihad. It's not negative energy from conservatives that are causing problems, it's voter apathy.

Given this week's events, I think that it would be easy to get the non-crackpot vote to feel decidedly anti-Republican given some of the rather nasty insinuations Rush has sent my way. I can see it now:

I wrote a blog agreeing with fellow blogger Glenn Reynolds that if the Republicans lose in November that they deserved it and Rush then spent 3 days ripping me a new one on his show demanding in no uncertain terms that we will vote for whoever has an (R) by their name no matter what.  In fact, he went so far today as to coin a new term for conservatives who dare not provide unconditional support to Republicans -- "Cut and run conservatives". 

I have my own term for people who mindlessly vote for a party: Sheep.

I seem to recall Rush and other Republicans ridiculing African Americans and the Unions for voting for Democrats time after time because the Democrats weren't doing much for them.  I guess it's only idiotic to behave like sheep if it's for a Democrat but if you're a conservative, it's your moral duty.

On today's show Rush referred to this article and in response:

By the way, I've got a new name for you conservatives who aren't going to vote out there: Cut-and-Run Conservatives. The Cut-and-Run Conservatives, one of their central themes is, "It's not going to be so bad if Democrats win. The world's not going to come to an end."

So let's define that: Cut-and-Run Conservatives are conservatives who choose not to vote this election cycle because of their frustration with the Republican candidate.  What if they vote for the Libertarian candidate? Are they still cut-and-run? What about conservatives who do vote for the Republican candidate but also don't think that the world is going to end if the Democrats win?

While we're at it, let's flip it around: A TRUE conservative, according to Rush Limbaugh, is a conservative who blindly votes for THE PARTY and believes that should the Democrats win that the world will end.

Wow.  I mean, wow.  When the Democrats say things like that on DemocraticUnderground about Republicans we call them kooks. 


Comments (Page 1)
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on Oct 19, 2006
Bravo, Brad! I have to say, I have a new name for conservatives like us: Responsible Voters. People who blindly vote the party line are the reason we are in this mess right now. I don't want to rant and rave forever, but the basic premise is clear: the Republicans have abandoned their original base of economic conservatives for the social conservatives (of which I will not be a part). Thus, I will take the stance and hope that Republicans DO lose in the upcoming elections. I'm sick of being a citizen of the United States of Theocracy...(sorry if anybody here is one of those far right theocrats--please don't run my country with the Bible).
on Oct 19, 2006

I think a "cut & run republican" would be one who just plain sits out the election.  The referrence "cut & run" in this context would be a call back to "surrendering" in the Iraq war.  For a Republican to vote 3rd Party wouldn't be surrendering, but merely taking their vote elsewhere...

I really don't understand the concept of just plain not voting, in fact, I resent the crap out of anyone who squanders their freedoms that way.  I think that anyone who is eligible, but sits out 2 consecutive elections should have to petition  the state to get their vote back.  Failure to vote is pathetically lazy and short sighted.  Anyone who says it has become too inconvenient to vote should be accomidated by having that inconvenience removed from their pathetic, lazy existence.

People should vote their conscience. If that means to vote different than they ever have before, so be it.  I think it's rediculously infantile to vote single issue, but at least single issue voters are showing up at the polls.

Finally, if anyone is planning on changing their vote simply because of the Foley thing, well, they are more immature than the collective age of Foley's interests.

on Oct 19, 2006
Just call Maha Rushie live on air and get this over with.
on Oct 19, 2006
Just call Maha Rushie live on air and get this over with. - Mike

...it would be easier for both parties for him to simply come here. Let him take an anon handle and survive JU for a few weeks.
on Oct 20, 2006

...it would be easier for both parties for him to simply come here. Let him take an anon handle and survive JU for a few weeks.

I think he could hold his own.  But as to the article, I think Brad said it best:

Wow. I mean, wow. When the Democrats say things like that on DemocraticUnderground about Republicans we call them kooks.

They are kooks!  But we dont have to be sheeple like them.

on Oct 20, 2006
Dr.Guy: Did you just quote south park my friend? Thumbs up for the "sheeple" plug
on Oct 20, 2006
I typically don't vote vote in mid-term elections, but I will most likely vote this year. There are many things I am not happy about with Republicans, but deliberately giving an election to democrats is not an option for me.
on Oct 20, 2006
Brad: Of course I applaud your willingness to vote for the right person, rather than simply voting on party lines. People on either side that do that are simply irresponsible.

Yeah, and Rush Limbaugh is irresponsible himself.
on Oct 20, 2006
Rush Limbaugh isn't conservative, he's republican. "Cut and Run Conservative" is a joke, it should be "Cut and Run Republican". Republican and Conservative are not synonymous. The Republican party hasn't been very conservative in a long time.
on Oct 20, 2006
The Republican party hasn't been very conservative in a long time. - Martimus

Sadly.
on Oct 20, 2006
I will vote for the best person, as I always do no matter what party I belong to.

I will vote for the bills that make the most sense.

If that makes me a cut and run person, so be it!
on Oct 20, 2006
I saw Al Franken on tv the other night, he said something I agree with:

'The Republican party isn't a conservative party any longer. It's a Radical party, and Authoritarian party. In fact, the Democratic party is BOTH the Liberal AND the Conservative party in America nowadays.'
on Oct 20, 2006
The Republican party hasn't been very conservative in a long time. - Martimus

Sadly.


Very.
on Oct 20, 2006
It's a Radical party, and Authoritarian party. - Cycloptichorn

Maybe not radical, but definently Authoritarian - not that anyone can forget to give credit to the other party that voted with Republicans the majority of the time with the majority of their members on the majority of the bills passed in the last few years.

Is there a real choice for change?



on Oct 20, 2006
That's the beauty of Authoritarianism - you get people to follow a stong leader and forget their common sense. A nebulous outside threat assists this greatly.

It's another reason that I say that the Dems are both the Liberal and the Conservative party; many of their members are little better than 'republican lite,' thanks to years of DLC-centrism and pro-business attitudes (bankruptcy bill? Hello?). Luckily, that seems to be changing.
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