Dependable Erection

Sunday, April 09, 2006

President of what country?

George Allen is widely expected to seek the Republican nomination for President in 2008. He was in Durham yesterday to address the Conservative Leadership Conference, the ifrst of what threatens to be an annual event sponsored by the John William Pope Civitas Institute.

As reported by the Herald-Sun, Allen had a few things to say that, while not exactly interesting or ground breaking, define the conservative position clearly:

"Our strategy in the war on terror needs to be we win, they lose. There is no substitute for victory," said Allen to resounding applause.


I suppose if you're fighting the battle for good over evil in Narnia you can get away with bullshit like this. But in the real world where hundreds of people are being blown to bits weekly in Iraq, many of them by our erstwhile allies in the GWoT currently being waged in Mesopotamia, such demagogy is less than worthless.

The second mission: becoming "the world capital of innovation." Allen addressed the country's need to create more jobs in science and technology in order to compete with countries like India. He also stressed the need for the development of new energy sources. "We need more energy to be made here in America," Allen said.


OK, let's let this play out a bit, shall we. How and when did this country cease to be the world capital of innovation? Why? Is it possible that our Republican policies of encouraging corporate profits to be used to build second and third houses and buy 140 foot yachts, rather than invest in advanced research facilities, is a little bit at fault? We need to create more jobs in science and technology to compete with fucking India? While Republicans and conservatives around the country are waging battles to have intelligent design and other anti-scientific dogma made a basic part of our curricula in public schools everywhere, a self-styled Republican conservative has the balls to say we need to compete with India on jobs? That's just code for saying our workers are still making too much money, and we need to bring wages down to third world levels, or our capitalist decision makers are going to keep sending jobs overseas.

At least the former chair of the NC Republican party was honest when he spoke:

"It's really simple: to be a good conservative, you need to be a good Christian and vote Republican. That's all you have to do," said (Frank) Rouse as the audience laughed and cheered him on.


If George Allen wants to be President of the United States, he's gonna have to not only distance himself from George Bush (not only does news coverage of the conference avoid mentioning the current President's name, but neither does the website of the John William Pope Civitas Institute in its conference materials), but he's going to need to find a way to create some space between him and the Frank Rouse's of the world, whose policies are directly responsible for the inability of the US workforce to compete globally in the technological arena.

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