Jonah Goldberg pulled the curtain back on the GOP this morning

[barbaraann]

on CNN. Paraphrasing: I have seen the list of speakers for the Republican convention and they are all Rockefeller moderate Republicans. The true conservative face of the Republican Party (Bush and Cheney) is being hidden. (corrections to this paraphrase are welcome)

There you have it in a nutshell. The Republican Party is a propaganda vehicle for an extreme rightwing (i.e. fascist) group of people who have seized control.

The Republican Convention is a total sham. The Republican Party is a total sham. And sadly, our democracy under the control of the Republican Party is a total sham.

[Mistress Quickly]

1. Most repubs

I talk to don't think Bush is conservative. That is a very sore point with them, and look out for a lot to not vote this year for that reason.

[City Lights]

8. What do they think he is, a moderate, or a fascist? n/t

[Mistress Quickly]

16. lol

a moderate, believe it or not

He isn't facist enough for them

[bossfish]

28. I usually go with 'radical'

"Classic" Conservatives don't go for:

tax money going to religious groups

huge deficit spending

imperial military adventures

draconian Patriot act type stuff

(gee, maybe I'm a conservative)

[MetaTrope]

21. "look out for a lot to not vote this year"

Oh, their votes will be registered electronically, whether they actually visit the polls or not.

[SonofMass]

2. That couldn't be true. There are virtually no Rockefeller

republicans left. Can you name three?

[theboss]

9. They are using that for lack of a better term

But the main speakers are Pataki, Giuliani, McCain, and Schwartzeneger. None of them are social conservatives.

And there are a lot of grumblings among conservatives that Bush is not a conservative. First, he increased funding for the arts, then he federalized Education, then he signed campaign finance reform, and then he signed the largest government entitlement program since the 60s.

[DBoon]

15. Yes. Hes is not a conservative. He is a fascist.

Like any fascist, he extends government control so as to consolidate his own regime's power and he increases government spending to reward his crownies and keep the masses at bay.

He believes in the corporate state, not some quaint 19th century idea of limited government.

[leesa]

22. Nonsense. ANYONE that supports the P.A.T.R.I.O.T. act is a social

conservative. These people are not moderates. Just more Republican criminals.

Bush increased funding for the arts to promote his Fundie dreams of 'art'. CF was a scam made up by both parties that sounded like it was meaningful, but preserved the feeding trough for them.

[bullimiami]

26. Nonsense : back at you...

The PATRIOT act is not conservative legislation. Where is the smaller government and less intrusion?
It is totalitarian garbage.

[barbaraann]

10. The same thought popped into my mind.

Wracking my brain--maybe Mitt Romney, Rudi Giuliani, Colin Powell, John McCain, Arnie, and Arlen Spector? I guess they can find a few people who seem moderate or have a couple of moderate positions but would allow Bush to become a dictator and establish a police state. In my opinion, anyone who is an elected Republican now does not support democracy.

[NewYorkerfromMass]

11. Sure: Arlen Specter, Olympia Snowe, Lincoln Chaffee

There are many others my fellow son of Mass. - also former governor Weld.

The big charade is given away of course when they parade people of color onto the convention stage every 4 years. :puke:

[calico1]

13. There are a handful of

Republicans left in the Senate that are Moderate: Collins and Snowe from Maine, Chafee from RI and depending on the issue--McCain and sometimes Specter. According to some articles I have read the small group--who wants fiscal responsibility is being treated by the majority like they are wackos. Especially the three first ones and McCain. Ironically it is this type of Republican that was the common type up until Nixon got in office and the Party slowly but surely has kept shifting to the far right. Now these Senators are seen as freaks yet they are the ones that truly carry on the traditional Republican values.

[BootinUp]

3. Eye of the beholder

Anyone that calls Bush and Cheney true conservatives has a distorted view.

[randr]

4. Once again * will steal Democratic issues

and spin them with promises of programs, such as "leave no child", and then refuse to allow funding. Classic bait and switch.

[KurtNYC]

5. Like the "humble" foreign policy

that didn't happen.

[amber dog democrat]

6. They'll probably try to steal the election AGAIN too.

Never known them to play by the rules.

[wishlist]

7. Swarzenegger and McCain are being exploited like Powell to fool us

again the way they fooled the voters four years ago with the help of the media into thinking that the Republicans were moderates and not that much different from the Dems when in fact the majority of Republicans are determined to carry out a extreme right wing agenda that doesn't represent the wishes of most Americans. It is cynical manipulation and I despise McCain and Powell and the Swarzeneggers for their part in this charade.

[barbaraann]

12. Yes, that's pretty much what I was thinking.

You might need to worry if your thinking processes are similar to mine. :-)

[redqueen]

32. I'm with you

They're complicit in helping the GOP to dupe conservative voters.

Welcome to DU!

:hi:

[KharmaTrain]

14. They Did This Same Shit in 2000

Call it the "Buchanan" effect. That Philly convention was a joke. Yep, no firebrand reich wingers during the prime time hours, and lots of blacks and hispanics to entertain. Let's see...there'll be Gladys Knight and Chaka Khan and a bunch of Hispanic singers.

As Bill Mahrer said of the 2000 Convention..."the last time I saw so many white people surrounding black people, the blacks were up for sale"...

This convention is a sham and methinks Rove kicks himself in the ass daily for not staging it in Houston or Boise. The 9/11 angle is out the window, and while Kerry will be coronated in his hometown to a very united party, Bunnypants will be re-selected in quiet and at a very downplayed convention. If anything, the GOOP hopes there are lots of protests and riots in the city during the convention...nothing like a good wave of fear to distract people from the issues. That's a major reason I'm staying away from NYC for the convention (originally I was planning to go) and encourage others to stay away as well. We don't need another Chicago '68 there...and by then they'll have even more 'splaining to do about the litany of scandals. I'd love to see that week-long TV coverage constantly hammering on one scandal or another...not clashes at Columbus Circle.

If you really want to see the "sausage" at the GOOP convention, watch the various "committee" and "caucus" session on C-SPAN (many are shown weeks before the convention) where the platform is hammered out. In 2000 that was headed by our buddy Bob "Lady's Man" Livingston. It's where the real bile of the GOOP oozes.

[barbaraann]

19. That's a very good suggestion. Thank you.

And I'll bet there will be very few minority faces in the platform meetings.

[Sweetpea]

17. I guess he wants to bring back Jesse Helms...

[11 Bravo]

18. I am constantly surprised when Jonah Goldberg

is able to tear his mouth away from Mommy's tit long enough to write or say ANYTHING.

[barbaraann]

20. The Goldberg family might be a good subject for Kitty Kelley's next book.

I'd also like to see someone write a good biography of Dick Cheney. There's a real dearth of info on him and I'm very, very curious.

[Hamlette]

23. Bush knows his dad lost because of the 1992 convention

which looked like a Nazi rally. Most people said Poppy lost because he didn't pander to his base so he let them have the convention but it scared America.

I knew W wasn't an idiot when I heard he'd figured out what Poppy did wrong even though it was against conventional wisdom. Reagan didn't pander to the religious nut jobs because he knew they would never vote for a dem. He already had them. He pandered to the middle, tried to make himself sound moderate. Just like W will do.

The convention will be non stop compassion. We are not a war like people. We only went to war because we are a compassionate people who wanted to help the poor souls of Iraq who were longing to be free.

By the time its over YOU'LL wanna vote GOP.

[FlaGranny]

24. Exactly correct.

That has been their strategy for some time. All their "issues" are progressive issues at election time. It is not hard to see that most Americans are moderate-to-liberal - you can tell by the issues the Republicans highlight. They are trying to get votes. They would lose in the largest landside in history if they came right out and were honest about their goals.

[bullimiami]

25. Noone that supports bushco is moderate

or conservative. They are either racist, fascist or ignorant.

[spanone]

27. Republicans always seem to show their asses sooner or later

.

[AntiCoup2K4]

29. Why should this surprise anybody?

Junior ran in 2000 as a "compassionate" centrist Republican, and before the ink was even dry on the Felonious Florida Five's court decision, he had appointed the most extreme right wing cabinet in history, with the majority of the appointees being the polar opposite of properly qualified for the position appointed to (i.e. a lobbyist for corporate polluters as Secretary of Interior, or a nutcase who thinks calico cats are agents of Satan as the chief law enforcement officer in the country)

And yet the same brainwashed sheep who think Saddam Hussein flew his personal lear jet into the World Trade Center will buy it when Junior is suddenly "moderate" again. :dunce:

[barbaraann]

30. I was just surprised to hear a rightwinger sort of tell the truth.

Doesn't he know that deception is necessary?

[jackstraw45]

31. EVERYONE who can needs to be protesting that convention.....

LOUDLY.