Those Conservatives who identify with Reagan are as extreme as those conservatives who cant understand why their brand of government sucks. And those conservatives who see a shining future in the Palin are more delusional than dispositional. And what is dispositional anyway?

Is that attitudinal or simply bad gas?

And the notion that we can help these silly folks redefine themselves is as silly as the notion that we should even bother to try!

Perhaps the problem, or problems that led to the republican party falling out of favor, and therefore power, are rooted in the very simple fact that they govern really bad!

No really?
Yes really!

And why do they govern really bad? Because in spite of all their think tanks. In spite of all their policy wonks. In spite of all their jingoism and sloganeering. In spite of their regular attendance to church. In spite of their actually bothering to have conferences and conventions, they really have absolutely no idea what they stand for! And just in case they cant quite grasp that, lets throw in something else ... they NEVER have!

It’s kind of like putting someone in charge of running the bank who doesn’t understand why there IS a bank! Or asking mom to cook dinner but she doesn’t know what a stove is. Or asking dad to put air in the tires, but he doesn’t know what an air hose is, or a tire for that matter. Or waiting for three year old Junior to write the checks, to pay the bills but he doesn’t know how to write. In other words ... republican politics is the inviting home of incompetents and dim-bulbs who need gainful employment but don’t know how to find it, and wouldn’t want to work hard if they did!

Harsh?
Well consider:

When Reagan first entered the political arena, what were his qualifications? A few grade “B” movies. A recognizable face. And people in the “know” who knew how to turn him into what would pass as a great governor. Time will not allow I list individually each and every example of this kind of fraud ... but I think you are all smart enough to understand where I’m going. Most recent perfect example of a republican “created” for political gain ... Sarah Palin.

So am I saying these people are insincere?
Yep. That is exactly what I am saying!

They sincerely want the power and security political recognition gives. But they do not sincerely want to serve, or even understand what serving means. That’s why they are, and always have been the chosen of the Uber rich. That is who they serve. But for the most part, they are not even smart enough to have figured that out!

And I offer as proof no more than the reality of where we are right now! These folks do not understand how this economic collapse happened! They do not see their place in the disastrous legacy of the past eight years! They have not got a clue! And if you doubt me, just watch a few hearings and listen to the repubs still there! It is beyond amazing. It’s dumb-founding!

So lets not waste time trying to make them more than they are by breaking them up into neat little groups with catchy new names. It wont work anyway. Something else republicans rely heavily on is the herd mentality. And that means they have to be part of the herd. Even when the herd gets split, thinned and disoriented ... they have to cling to one another. And as they slowly start gravitating back to their center, they’ll once again embrace the catch phrases that they recognize. Even if they really have absolutely no idea what those phrases mean.

There is not an honest conservative in the entire GOP! Only republicans!

What is going on here is that the corporatists and the plutocrats realized a while back that their political wing ( the republican party ) was in trouble . They had managed to control a loud and aggressive segment of the population with fear , division and of course religion , just enough to stay in power . This eventually backfired because these same types are crazy , insisted on way to much control and started turning the larger more diverse public off . Realizing this they ( corporatists and plutocrats ) started to infiltrate the democratic party , think DLC , these business friendly ( gag ) democrats were courted and supported bringing in more and more of their ilk . They now are strong enough to shape and sublty obstruct policy so it doesn’t go farther left than the corporate types like . While it may appear that Reid , Pelosi , Emanual , Hoyer are always wimping out what they are really doing is protecting conservatives from being held accountable for their missdeeds . Pelosi with her WTF ” impeachment is off the table ” and her and Reids constant caving and seeming wussiness is all a designed act . You notice we keep hearing how ” liberal ” Pelosi and Reid are , yeah , when ? What really liberal policies have either put forth ? The only thing they have done is made sure bush got pretty much everything he wanted , making brave noises and then caving . You may also notice that nobody in leadership ever mentions even the possibility of holding these thieves accountable , they alway proclaim that we must look forward or some such blather . The simple act of starting inpeachment proceedings would severly limit bushes ability to pardon , notice they never even mention it ? We’ve now given 350 billion to the financial industry and all they’ve done with it is pay bonuses to big shots and use the money to aquire other firms , congress has done nothing to stop them . We may as well have shoved the money down a rat hole . I am now very concerned about Obamas administrative picks , DLCers all , If he puts either Summers or Rubin in the treasury spot you can safely say we’ve been had . He also seems to be tacking and pandering to the right more and more , is that what we voted for , more conservative poison , not me . It seems that the democratic party may have been turned into a somewhat milder and easier managed version of the republican party . We’ll see if we get real action on healthcare , strengthing unions , restoring rights and privacy and holding the powerbrokers in check . I’m keeping my fingers crossed but I certainly wouldn’t bet the farm .

Well said, Wildflower.

Purple Girl, you are way off base re: Bill Clinton’s legacy. He inherited a defict and turned it into a surplus. Social Security was near bankrupt and he stablized it for an additional 30+ years. He was by no means perfekt, but he did well with a GOP congress.

As for the conservative minority, neocons will not “go quietly into that good night”. While some had wished they would back off Obama for a time, they haven’t. The far right-wing is already blaming Obama for the recession… even before his inaguration!! And the guilt by association issue is coloring every cabinet appointment.

The repubs are spending all of their time and resources in an attempt to rebuild their power base while the economy is crumbling around them. They are looking to 2010 and 2012 and ignoring today!

Obama had an electoral mandate and most of the country wants to see him succeed (as we should). Not so for the right-wing. They are a bunch of greedy, self-serving cry-babies. They want to destroy Obama in order to regain their power and they will resort to any tactics to achieve that end (just as they did with Clinton), regardless of the consequences to our nation.

Considering the assistance the “conservatives” provided to the Bush/Cheney administration, it’s easy to see why they are now experiencing an identity crisis:

“. . . their excessive and unnecessary secrecy, their incessant stonewalling and refusal to provide information to Congress,

the issuance of executive orders that have rewritten important laws (like Bush’s virtual repeal-by-executive-order of the Presidential Records Act of 1978),

their politicization of the Dept of Justice, their striking disregard for civil liberties,

their exclusion of Congress from the necessary national security information when it votes on legislation like the FISA amendments (leaving Congress with no idea what the changes do or do not do),

their deceiving Congress about the reasons for war in Iraq,

their relentless expansion of purported executive prerogatives, their ongoing politicization of the federal judiciary,

their violations of longstanding treaties in order to embrace a policy of torture,

their utilization of the concocted theory of executive power known as “the unitary executive theory,” and their endless signing statements accompanying legislation and claiming the right to not enforce laws enacted and signed by the president. . .

. . . Nor is there any real mystery on Capitol Hill about how this happened, for it is the clear result of the action – and inaction – of the conservative Republicans in Congress who assisted Presidents Reagan, Bush I, and Bush II with their increasingly radical expansion of presidential powers. Ironically conservatives once opposed an excessively powerful presidency but they now favor it because they believe they can more easily win the White House than control of Congress.

Neither the federal courts nor voters have been inclined to rein in an outsized American presidency under the Republicans, because the federal judiciary is dominated by conservative Republicans who think an all-powerful president is good. . . ”

http://writ.news.findlaw.com/dean/20080725.html

The word “conservative” is incorrect.  The most meaningful political term would be rightist or right-wing.  It is the Democratic Party which is conservative.  The Republican Party now appears to consist mostly of right-wing radicals who want to push to U.S. towards more war and empire abroad and some kind of theocracy at home.  The old-time Republican conservatives of small government, fiscal responsibility, and non-intervention abroad are long gone.

Can we all agree that Purple Girl is not very fond of the Clintons?  Nor am I so I will add that Clinton signed the bill that wiped-out Glass-Steagle thereby opening the door for the speculators/marauders/bankers/hedge-funders whose criminal dealings have brought our economy to where it is today - in the tank.

As to conservative ideologies/politics, it’s not only Republicans who adhere to them.  Congress is full of closet-conservatives posing as Democrats and it is they who may be Obama’s biggest threat.  Remember the perscription-drug fiasco?  On its face it looks Democratic when in fact it’s a blatant give-away to big Pharma at the expense of you and me.  No Democrat who wasn’t an in-the-closet Republican would have voted for it - and it got plenty of Dem votes.

“Dispositional Conservatives”? What do they “dispose of”?

Did you miss the gauntlet and ‘torch’ flying past those ‘Reagan Democrat’ (oxymoron)HillyBilly’s Head?
Did you miss the Resounding ‘NO’ From democrats regarding Hillary’s attempt at another Hostile Take Over?
Have you ever wondered why the DLC’ers never elicited the excitment and involvement of the Dem Base in the Last 3 Presidential Election cycles- Gore scraped by, Kerry made US comatose, Edwards rhetoric failed and Hillary offended the Hell Out of Us! Perhaps HillyBilly did and realized they better Join the Party or be run out.
Funny everyones all worked up about Liebermans betrayal (also a DLC’er) Yet no one has mentioned Hillary’s transgressions. Voted with this Admin repeatedly - WRONGLY. Endorsed McCain Over Obama. Played not only the Race card but the ‘muslim extremeist’ angle. Attempted to claim the womens Movement was separate from the equal rights movement. Said we could ‘Obliterate Iran’. Went after Rev Wright and misconstrued his sermons (I Knew exactly what Wright was saying when he said ‘Chicken have come home to roost’, Understood the Difference between ‘america’(Inc) and AmericaNs.By the Way What is Hillary’s ‘religious’ doctrines, Hagee had to love her for her agreement about pre-emptively striking Iran..fit’s right into his ‘End of Days’ agenda.
And of course the most Agregious offense against the Democratic Base NAFTA. Of course ‘Don’t ask don’t Tell’ was our first clue the Clintons were really just Neo Cons in Blue. We can smell the Corp Whore Stench coming from the Clintons and their DLC minions. Hillarys’ step by step use of the ‘neo con’ handbook throughout her campaign was the Undeniable Evidence that the Clintons et al are nothing more than covert operatives with the same agenda as those who brought US the Feudal system called ‘Trickle Down’. Ohhhh they fed and served that beast Well!
good Bye Clintons, DLC and your ‘Third Way’ appeasment to the Neo Con- Corp doctrine.
Bill is wishing his legacy would Only be marred by a Blow Job…His and Her Service to bringing Down the US economy and her citizens for their Corp & Foreign masters, will outshine that mere,irrelevant indiscretion.