A Smokin' NY Times Editorial...

[mefoolonhill]

http://nytimes.com/2003/12/28/opinion/28SUN1.html

THE NEW YORK TIMES
Lead editorial, December 28, 2003


The New Republicans

The Republican Party has been in charge of the national agenda for
almost three years now — Democratic majorities in Congress don't crimp
George W. Bush's style the way they did for his father or Ronald Reagan when they were in office. We have thus had an unobstructed view of what the 21st-century version of the party looks like. It's very clear this is not the father's G.O.P.

The most striking thing about the new Republicanism is the way it
embraces big government. The Bush administration has presided over a
$400 billion expansion of Medicare entitlements. The party that once
campaigned to abolish the Department of Education has produced an
education plan that involves unprecedented federal involvement in local public schools. There is talk from the White House about a grandiose new moon shot. Budgetary watchdogs like the Heritage Foundation echo the Republican Senator John McCain's complaint about "drunken sailor" spending.

All this has left Democrats spluttering over their own hijacked agenda
while old-style Republican conservatives despair. "We have come loose
from our moorings," Senator Chuck Hagel of Nebraska concluded as
Congress left Washington at the end of the year. It was probably
inevitable that a big central government would look a whole lot better
to Republicans when they got control of it. And since this page tends
to favor activist government, we have little reason to complain when
the Bush administration agrees.

What has happened to the Republicans does not seem to reflect an actual shift in ideology; indeed, the philosophic center of this
administration is hard to pin down. Yet whatever the reason, some
formerly reliably Republican doctrines seem to have disappeared.
Federalism is a case in point. After decades of extolling state
governments as the best laboratory for new ideas, Republicans in
Washington have been resisting state experimentation in areas ranging
from pollution control to antispam legislation to prescription drugs.

More....

[aquart]

1. Our agenda has not been hijacked.

The vocabulary may have been stolen and misapplied to legislation and situations clearly NOT our agenda, but our agenda itself has never been considered by these so-called Republicans and never will be. We want to help Americans and, by extension, the world. They want to rob us without our noticing and, by extension, the world.

These are remarkably dissimilar agendas.

[Skittles]

4. THANK YOU

THEY ARE NOT EVEN FREAKING CLOSE

[TiredTexan]

6. Other than the absurd statement that

the GOP has highjacked our agenda, the editorial is very, very critical of the Bush administration.

But that just makes the misrepresentation worse because it implies that our agenda supports cronyism, loss of liberties, pollution, etc., and that the GOP is just doing a better job at it than we are.

[virtualobserver]

8. the NYT seems to be saying that the Repubs stole the "big spending" agenda

from the Democrats

[Beetwasher]

9. Bingo! They Stole The Words

and use it for cover for huge corporate welfare programs. Perscription drug benefits for the elderly for example sounds good, however it's just a euphamism and a cover to give away billions of dollars to pharmaceutical companies, while screwing seniors and telling them their getting sunshine...

[The Zanti Regent]

2. But the SCREW YORK TIMES is a major enabler of this evil agenda!

The last honest person at the Screw York Times is Krugman.

Everyone else whores for the GOP!

[Cocoa]

3. they should be calling for investigations daily

they fail to mention that the "New Republicans" use gangster tactics.

[Name removed]

10. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Skittles]

11. it isn't INFANTILE

it's TRUE. THAT'S what you REALLY can't stand.

[Logansquare]

5. Well, they stuck their toe in the water

Relative to the pervasive timidity of our media, this counts as a bold editorial. Perhaps two other other media outlets not owned by Murdoch, Hollinger, or Clear Channel will say that Republicans are maybe, kinda not doing logical or rational things.

[0007]

7. This nation spends too much time playing these games.

The mafia is well and alive with it's new name. The Republican Party.

[Clyde39]

12. It's about time!

Very little has been reported about the complete dissolution of the Republican party.........Eisenhower, etc. is toast to these power hungry people.