By Brian Ochsner (baochsner@aol.com) We need to get back to basics, and be the party of big ideas again. Also need to get back to fundamentals. As Vince Lombardi said to his team on the first day of training camp: "Men, this is a football." Or to Republicans: "Ladies and gentlemen, we are the party of lower taxes and spending, limited government, and personal responsibility. Any questions?" Bush and Owens really killed us by abandoning conservative principles. Some folks want to bash social conservatives for the party's problems, but that isn't the cause IMHO. 43 passed, Ref. I failed, that's proof right there.
How not to apologize: Kerry as a sulking sibling
By Krista Kafer (krista555@msn.com) Anyone who grew up with a sibling knows how to make a non-apology. Mom or Dad demanded you apologize for making little sister cry. Though without any genuine remorse you had to say sorry or risk punishment. The non-apology worked like a charm.
There are several varieties of the faux apology:
Attack Non-Apology: “I’m sorry but she hit me first” says it’s her fault and I’ll do it again if need be.
Blame Non-Apology: “I’m sorry but she made me do it.” Similar to the Attack Non-Apology, this technique allows the speaker to take others down on the way.
Denial Non-Apology: “I didn’t do it but I’m sorry anyway.” Again, not sorry. Most likely guilty but not at all contrite.
Imitation Non-Apology: “I’m sorry you feel that way.” It looks like an apology but it really means I’m sorry I got caught or I’m sorry you’re making a big deal out of it.
Mistaken Non-Apology: “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it that way.” Translation – I meant it when I said it but I didn’t know it would get me in trouble.
Pretend Apology: “I’m sorry.” This technique requires more guile. The key is to look remorseful (a tearful eye helps) even though one is planning to do it again, with pleasure.
All of these techniques are used to appear repentant without actually being so. A rhetorical tool devoid of sincerity (much like selective moral outrage http://www.backboneamerica.net/2006/10/24/stop-with-the-selective-moral-outrage) faux remorse is popular among politicians particularly this campaign season.
Senator John Kerry used several mock apology techniques though without much success this past week. It all started when he said,
"You know, education, if you make the most of it, if you study hard and do your homework, and make an effort to be smart, uh, you can do well. If you don't, you get stuck in Iraq.” That's the audio in its entirety, verbatim, the whole sound bite, period. Okay? Well...
Not surprisingly most Americans don’t like it when someone calls our service men and women stupid. People were (are still) mad. He had to do something. Like a sulking kid before an angry parent demanding an apology, Senator Kerry issued the first of the faux apologies blaming Tony Snow and Rush Limbaugh. Including the gratuitous weight remark about Rush Limbaugh, the press release read something like “It’s Snow and fatty Limbaugh’s fault.” Classic Attack Non-Apology.
He delivered his second faux apology in Seattle where he blended the Attack, Mistaken and Denial Non-Apology techniques. He was misunderstood – it was botched joke about the President not the troops. He then demanded the President apologize.
After much criticism and having to cancel election appearances for Democrats Senator Kerry committed his third act of mock contrition. Of the Imitation Non-Apology variety, the Senator said he was sorry people were offended. He then went back into attack mode.
Perhaps a Pretend Non-Apology in the beginning would have worked better. That or having some real respect for the men and women risking their lives for ours.
How I voted in Election 2006
By John Andrews (andrewsjk@aol.com) Your ballot is your business. But since I'm often asked about mine, here is how I voted when our absentee envelopes went in the mail today.
On the amendments, it was... Yes 38... Yes 39... Yes 40... No 41... No 42... Yes 43... No 44.
On the referendums, it was... Yes E... No F... Yes G... Yes H... No I... No J... Yes K.
More detail on my reasons for the ballot issues appeared in this September column. My case for Bob Beauprez in the governor's race appears here.
So for Bob and the other candidates, it was a straight Republican ticket, and with disappointment that we don't have party ID for city councils, school boards, RTD board, and yes even judges, in place of the current, dysfunctional nonpartisan system.
Speaking of judges, I cast a polite, impersonal no vote on retaining any and all of them. Some are conservative, some liberal, and no doubt most are honorable individuals doing their best. But that's not the point.
I simply believe the whole judicial system needs a wakeup call from we the people as to our discontent with its imperial tendencies, and a substantial vote tally in the "do not retain" column is one way to start sending that message.
Sizing up Colorado, two centuries on
By John Andrews (andrewsjk@aol.com) This morning my view from a hotel window toward Pike's Peak is obscured by a driving blizzard. Harsh autumn weather like this bedeviled the Pike expedition, first American explorers of our state, in late 1806. We're in Colorado Springs for an El Pomar Foundation lecture series I co-chair; last night's program used the Pike bicentennial as an occasion for some political self-examination.
The peak that later bore his name was, Pike wrote, "never out of sight in our wanderings" through the region. America's founding principles should stand as a similar landmark for Coloradans today, I believe. Pending a full report later on my 10/25 debate with Ed Quillen, here's the outline we spoke to:
“The American Experiment, 200 Years after Zebulon Pike”
Resolved: Colorado’s practice of liberty and equality today would meet with Thomas Jefferson’s approval
John Andrews, Former Senate President, taking the affirmative Ed Quillen, Denver Post columnist, taking the negative
1. Do you agree or disagree that Colorado’s practice of liberty and equality today would meet with Thomas Jefferson’s approval?
2. What are three strong points of evidence to support your conclusion? What points of contrary evidence would you acknowledge as valid?
3. Taking other prominent American Founders such as Adams, Washington, Hamilton, James Madison or Patrick Henry, can we identify certain founding principles for the American experiment on which all would agree?
4. Does it really matter what Jefferson or any of the Founders would think of our state and nation today? Why or why not?
5. What improvements do you believe are needed in Colorado’s practice of liberty and equality? What other key indicators besides these two should we be monitoring? What serious threats to the future of the American experiment are evident in our state today?
Though GOP's not pretty, alternative is worse
By Brian Ochsner (baochsner@aol.com) I saw another reminder of why voters shouldn't vote for Democrats this election. It's a Texas Democratic campaign poster that shows how seriously Dems take -- or don't take -- illegal immigration.
Look, I'm one of the biggest critics of Republicans not acting like Republicans in DC and Denver. It's disheartening to tally up what my party is "for" these days -- not securing the borders, not even trying to rein in out-of-control federal spending, and passing stupid laws and initiatives like the smoking ban and Referendum C.
But when the other party sees illegal aliens just as potential voters, and turns a blind eye to the increased crime and costs to American taxpayers (not to mention the national security threat from Other-Than-Mexicans crossing the border), it's insane to think most Democrats won't toe the party line on this issue.
Having said that, I think GOP leadership in Washington and Denver need to get back to the basics of what Republicans ought to stand for: Lower taxes, limited government, and personal responsibility. If they didn't support Ref C or the smoking ban, and took decisive, concrete steps to secure the border and stem the invasion of illegal immigrants, Republicans would have easier campaigns this election season.
GOP leaders (namely in the Colorado state party) need to remember that when you act and campaign on clear, conservative principles, you'll usually win. Remember the 'crazy cowboy' named Ronald Reagan who steamrolled Jimmy Carter and Walter Mondale? And the Contract with America that Newt Gingrich proposed in 1994, which led to Republicans taking both the House and Senate?
It's been said that people who ignore history are doomed to repeat it. My hope is that Republicans remember what we stand for as a party, or risk losing legislative power for years to come.