Shark Blog: Are you a Republican?

August 31, 2004

Are you a Republican?

My fellow immigrants, my fellow Americans how do you know if you are a Republican? I'll tell you how.

If you believe that government should be accountable to the people, not
the people to the government...then you are a Republican!

If you believe a person should be treated as an individual, not as a member of an interest group... then you are a Republican!

If you believe your family knows how to spend your money better than the government does... then you are a Republican!

If you believe our educational system should be held accountable for the progress of our children ... then you are a Republican!

If you believe this country, not the United Nations, is the best hope of democracy in the world ... then you are a Republican!

And, ladies and gentlemen ...if you believe we must be fierce and relentless and terminate terrorism ... then you are a Republican!

There is another way you can tell you're a Republican. You have faith in
free enterprise, faith in the resourcefulness of the American people ...and
faith in the U.S. economy.

To those critics who are so pessimistic about our economy, I say: Don't be economic girlie men!

David, who was watching the speech with me, joined the convention delegates in shouting and clapping "Four More Years!, Four More Years!" That's my boy. Not quite three years old and he's already made his choice not to be a girlie man. These guys on the other hand...

Posted by Stefan Sharkansky at August 31, 2004 09:03 PM

Comments

I'd take the "back to the mainstream" folks more seriously if they were winning elections now.

Instead, they seem to fall into two groups:
(1) Folks who are/aspire to be token Repubs in Dem strongholds
(2) Folks who had success back in the day when Repubs were perpetual losers.

If you're not going to win, it doesn't matter what you believe.

Posted by: Andy Freeman on September 1, 2004 09:36 AM

Dan Evans = The Evergreen State College.

He created it. Never forget that.

Posted by: jimg on September 1, 2004 10:11 AM

Two years old. I'm sure he'd thought through all the issues. Poor kid never had a chance.

Posted by: Rabii LNMB on September 1, 2004 12:01 PM

there is a difference between acting on principles and relying on faith. saletan points this, and others, out in this cogent analysis.

http://slate.msn.com/id/2106025/

Posted by: dinesh on September 1, 2004 12:23 PM

For those of you wondering what Rabii LNMB looks like, I think I found a picture of him:
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&u=/040831/ids_photos_wl/r1026038664.jpg&e=2&ncid=1756

Posted by: Colin Hutchinson on September 1, 2004 12:43 PM

This reminds me of Pat Buchanan's mantra "I didn't leave the Republican party; it left me."

Yes, the GOP needs moderates to win; it also needs die-hard conservatives to win. I think Bush has succeeded (more or less) in keeping all sides of the party together. With this in mind, I wonder why this "Mainstream 2004" effort has suddenly kicked into high gear two months before the election, with ads all over the internet.

Posted by: Tim B on September 1, 2004 11:44 PM

Hey Rabi, why not call Family Services and drop the dime on the Shark? Tell them he's raising his kid to be a Republican and they'll snatch David away into protective custody.

Shark, I have a CCW license. You want me to stand guard at your home, let me know. Not that you'd need a firearm to defend yourself against the girly men.

Posted by: Steve Skubinna on September 4, 2004 01:34 PM

Saletan? Cogent analysis? We're talking about Will Saletan, here, right? The guy who got practically everything wrong about the 2000 election? Big frickin' surprise he still can't vote for Bush. My socks went all of...lemme see...about half a micron on that news.

Cogent analysis. Shah.

Posted by: Slartibartfast on September 5, 2004 07:51 PM

Too bad George W. Bush isn't a Republican. Never in the history of the country has a president gone to such lengths to keep government less accountable to the people and the people more accountable to the government.

By the way, I think we should be spending more money on public schools, intelligence gathering (spying), and enforcement of environmental regulations that make companies pay the real cost of their operations rather than shifting a portion of that cost to the public through pollution. Please tell me how to do that without involving the government and while being a Republican who believes my family knows how to spend my money better than the government does.

Posted by: simon on September 8, 2004 01:12 AM

Posted by: poker on April 15, 2005 02:21 PM

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