ArtLindsey.com

Alright.

So, everybody is up in arms over Arlen Specter. I suppose that’s a predictable reaction, but let’s be honest here. We need to get our priorities straight, and we also need to cut through the BS, here.

While I do understand the dismay of Senator Specter leaving from the standpoint of it giving the Democrats a 60-seat majority, which would essentially give President Obama the final piece of the puzzle he needs to be the fascist he truly is, there’s nothing we can do about it, and were going to have to weather the storm and shake this off. It’s going to be scary, and times are going to be tough, but we will survive this. We always do.

We have to put aside the blind emotion and look at this logically. Let’s not freak out and pretend that Arlen Specter was some kind of conservative lynchpin. Let me ask you this, my fellow conservatives, when was the last time that any of us sat back and said, “Oh, that Arlen Specter! He’s a leader! He’s the glue that holds us all together!”

We didn’t, did we?

No, I’ll tell you exactly what we did. The last time any of us really thought about Senator Specter, we were sitting here, mouths agape, saying, “What? He voted for a $787 billion dollar stimulus package? Why, that dirty sellout son of a…”

Yep. That’s what we did. So let’s cut the crap.

This is a good thing. It’s time to clean house. Arlen Specter is no skin off my back, nor should he be to anyone else. Who the hell cares? It’s obvious he’s a liar, because just six weeks ago he assured us that he wouldn’t change parties. Well, so much for that. Now, think about this for a moment. If we can’t trust him at his word with something as simple as that, how in the world can we trust him to vote conservatively on key issues?

Big news, kids! We can’t! If his stimulus vote didn’t wake us up, nothing will. Specter doesn’t care a bit about the conservative movement. Senator Specter is a liberal. Period. The simple fact is that he saw some polling data, and at this point it’s fairly clear that Pat Toomey will hand him his butt in the 2010 GOP Pennsylvania primary. As with most senators (and especially at his age) the only thing that Specter is interested in is power. If he loses his job, I’m sure that in his mind he will lose his very identity, and then he would most likely (and quite literally) wither and die.

We need to realize that we can take this “event” and turn it into the foundation of something great. In my experience, I have met and spoken to way too many people who use the GOP as focal point of concern, when they shouldn’t. That is like putting the cart before the horse. If we are so bound and determined to “fix” the GOP, conservatism should be the starting point. Does anybody remember what that is anymore? If we nominate and elect conservative candidates, the GOP is repaired by default. Got that? Conservatism first, GOP second. Now, before I get an email from some half-cocked idiot saying, “What are you saying? Are you saying we should abandon the GOP and start a third party or something? You’re a freak! We have to fix the party! Party! Party! Party!“

No, that’s not what I’m saying. I’m a registered Republican, OK? I get it. But we have to think of it like this. Imagine the GOP is a race car, okay? Well, you need fuel to make a race car run. Do you know what the fuel would be in this instance?

Conservatism!

That’s right, boys and girls, if we fill our GOP race car with the fuel of conservatism, it will take off like a shot, and no Democrats with their shoddy “Prius” of liberalism will ever catch us again. The model for victory is so simple. We’ve done it before, we can do it again. We just need to stop doing stupid things like nominating John McCain. (Stupid, stupid idea.) Actually, as if that wasn’t stupid enough, we had some Beltway geniuses floating the idea of Joe Lieberman for VP. You know who you are, and you are the dumbest people on earth this side of Meghan McCain. I know I’ve mentioned this before, and I’ve even written at length about it. But, it just infuriates me to the point where I can’t get it out of my head. The people who posited the idea of Joe Lieberman as VP need to be punched in the face, three times. Once for thinking it, and *twice* for saying it out loud.

Now, some people are in a knot over Chairman Steele coming out and saying, “If Senator Specter survives in the fall — get ready to go to the mat, baby, because we’re coming after you and taking you out.”

I think that’s great. It’s about time he stepped up and started being the man we all thought he could be, rather than just being some dumb bobble head, going after Rush Limbaugh while making the TV talk show rounds. Way to grow a set, Mr. Chairman. Now take us to the Promised Land.

Personally, I’m tired of this “Big Tent” garbage. We shouldn’t allow the media to paint pictures such as “If the GOP can’t keep a moderate like Arlen Specter, how can it be a national party? It makes me want to vomit. Senator Specter is as much a moderate as I am an Olympic sprinter. Again, cut the crap. It’s this big tent junk that got us here in the first place. Why do we relegate ourselves to being the party of the political career fast track? Don’t believe me? Take a look at Michael Bloomberg. Take a look at Arnold Schwarzenegger. If I have to explain any of that to you, we’re in a more hopeless position than I realize.

Hopefully, you “Beltway Brainiacs” Have learned something. Nobody likes moderates. Moderates don’t believe in anything. As much as it pains me to say it, the GOP deserved exactly what it got. Now, let’s stop being idiots and fly right. In fact, I would ask all Beltway “Conservative Intelligencia” pundits who can’t offer legitimate conservative solutions and opinions to either keep their mouths shut or to just go ahead and jump ship, because you’re screwing it up for the rest of us.

Pol or pundit, if you’re not a conservative, stop crowding up our space and take a walk we don’t need you, or want you. We have some rebuilding to do, and you’re in the way.

Popularity: 68% [?]

You know, I wish I wasn’t able to be surprised so much by ignorance these days, but sadly, the amount of ignorance on this planet keeps growing. Now, that being said, I myself am far from a genius; however, I pride myself on being able to see past the end of my nose.

Today, everybody seems to be all bent out of shape about the AIG bonuses. When you look at it in reality, it’s quite laughable. Here’s why:

First, AIG received $173 BILLION on bailout money. That’s billion, with a B. Now, the bonuses in question total $165 MILLION. That’s million, with an M. By the way, for those of you who don’t know, million is less than a billion, and in fact 165 million is less than .001% of 173 billion. So, in reality, it’s nothing when put in the proper context.

Secondly, employees are the most valuable asset of any company. So, in a lot of ways it makes sense for employees to get these bonuses. As I say this, I can hear people complaining about how people who fail shouldn’t get bonuses. On the surface, that is true, but we have to look at this through the prism of realism. When you take the time to do this, you can see the true upside to it, which I will get to in a moment.

What everybody seems to miss is that the government is complicit in this problem. The US government did not have to bail out AIG, but it did, and there is nothing we can do about it. It is what it is. Most importantly, the government gave AIG money with NO STRINGS ATTACHED. If you want to blame somebody, blame Congress for granting unlimited power to the treasury secretary, whoever it has been, or will be.
In short, AIG was given money to stay in business. AIG was given money to keep doing what it does. Right or wrong, that was the deal. Understanding that basic principle, one must conclude that in order for AIG to do that, they have to honor their contractual commitments to their employees. No company can survive without its employees. That is just a fact of business. More than that, if AIG doesn’t honor its contractual obligations, the employees can sue and receive even more money. Keep in mind that court proceedings can, and often do cripple productivity. This, of course, compounds the problem.

In terms of the bonus money, we must look at it properly. In order to do that, we must ignore the “class envy” reflex that many of us have. The point I’m making is that this isn’t about who got what. The point is that this $165 million should be looked at as private sector stimulus. People who receive bonus money often treat it as just that. A bonus. Now, I ask you, what do people do with bonuses? They *spend* them! While I agree that this path isn’t the best way to go about it, we are still talking $165 million being directly infused into the economy. This means that in the end, despite the way AIG got the money, we see capitalism in the process. Oh no!

Now before I go, let me clue you in on the best part. Even though it’s misguided, let’s go back to the fact that everybody is screaming mad about these bonuses. I’m fine with that, anybody who wants to be mad with AIG, go ahead. That’s great. Let’s say enough people get so angry over this tiny little business decision that they stop buying AIG’s products. What happens then? AIG goes out of business, that’s what.

Do you know what that’s called? That’s called “the free market”. ‘Member ‘dem days, kids?

That’s how our economy is supposed to work, and *THAT* is the bigger picture.

Popularity: 74% [?]