 |
|
The Kosher Gourmet by Megan Gordon With its colorful cache of purples and oranges and reds, COLLARD GREEN SLAW is a marvelous mood booster --- not to mention just downright delish
April 18, 2014
Rabbi Yonason Goldson: Clarifying one of the greatest philosophical conundrums in theology
John Ericson: Trying hard to be 'positive' but never succeeding? Blame Your Brain
The Kosher Gourmet by Julie Rothman Almondy, flourless torta del re (Italian king's cake), has royal roots, is simple to make, . . . but devour it because it's simply delicious
April 14, 2014
Rabbi Dr Naftali Brawer: Passover frees us from the tyranny of time
Eric Schulzke: First degree: How America really recovered from a murder epidemic
Georgia Lee: When love is not enough: Teaching your kids about the realities of adult relationships
Gordon Pape: How you can tell if your financial adviser is setting you up for potential ruin
Dana Dovey: Up to 500,000 people die each year from hepatitis C-related liver disease. New Treatment Has Over 90% Success Rate
Justin Caba: Eating Watermelon Can Help Control High Blood Pressure
April 11, 2014
Rabbi Hillel Goldberg: Silence is much more than golden
Susan Swann: How to value a child for who he is, not just what he does
Susan Scutti: A Simple Blood Test Might Soon Diagnose Cancer
Chris Weller: Have A Slow Metabolism? Let Science Speed It Up For You
April 9, 2014
Jonathan Tobin: Why Did Kerry Lie About Israeli Blame?
Samuel G. Freedman: A resolution 70 years later for a father's unsettling legacy of ashes from Dachau
Jessica Ivins: A resolution 70 years later for a father's unsettling legacy of ashes from Dachau
Matthew Mientka: How Beans, Peas, And Chickpeas Cleanse Bad Cholesterol and Lowers Risk of Heart Disease
April 8, 2014
Dana Dovey: Coffee Drinkers Rejoice! Your Cup Of Joe Can Prevent Death From Liver Disease
Chris Weller: Electric 'Thinking Cap' Puts Your Brain Power Into High Gear
April 4, 2014
Amy Peterson: A life of love: How to build lasting relationships with your children
John Ericson: Older Women: Save Your Heart, Prevent Stroke Don't Drink Diet
John Ericson: Why 50 million Americans will still have spring allergies after taking meds
Sarah Boesveld: Teacher keeps promise to mail thousands of former students letters written by their past selves
April 2, 2014
Dan Barry: Should South Carolina Jews be forced to maintain this chimney built by Germans serving the Nazis?
Frank Clayton: Get happy: 20 scientifically proven happiness activities
Susan Scutti: It's Genetic! Obesity and the 'Carb Breakdown' Gene
|
| |
Jewish World Review
Oct. 3, 2007
/ 21 Tishrei 5768
Republicans should visit Vermont
By
Cal Thomas
| 
|
|
|
|
http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | WOODSTOCK, VT. — The Wall Street Journal, no left wing publication, reports that Republicans may soon lose the votes of some economic conservatives. In part, it's because of the unending war in Iraq and social policies they don't like, but they might swallow hard and continue to vote Republican anyway if GOP fiscal policies did not mimic the Democrats when it comes to the deficit and spending.
Maybe what the GOP needs is a fall foliage trip to Vermont where there is an oasis in a desert of fossilized '60s liberalism. You might not think so at first glance because here, someone seems to have pushed the "pause" button on the Age of Aquarius.
A trip to local bookstores is like visiting Democratic National Committee headquarters. No, that's not quite accurate. It's more like visiting MoveOn.org headquarters. Buttons that say "Impeach Cheney First" compete with bumper stickers with messages like "Freedom of Religion Means Freedom FROM Religion" and "Never Have Sex with a Pro-Lifer."
The most conservative book I could find was one by Jimmy Carter. There are "EmbarrassMints" with a picture of President Bush on the lid of the confection tin. I bought an Elvis Impersonation Kit just for fun. You get the idea.
President Bush has avoided Vermont during his presidency, but he might want to consider leading a pilgrimage of Republican candidates back to a little hamlet just down the road, which produced a Republican president with ideas his party desperately needs.
That hamlet is Plymouth Notch and that president was Calvin Coolidge. Today's Republicans seem to have an identity crisis. Their focus groups and pollsters have been unable to tell them what they believe. Sen. John McCain is an Episcopalian who wants to become a Baptist, but won't "convert" until after the election, lest it seem like opportunism. Rudy Giuliani is pro-choice, but promises to name judges who interpret the Constitution as written and doesn't care if the Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade. Fred Thompson believes the opposite of what he said he believed a very short time ago. Ditto Mitt Romney. Those GOP candidates who have been consistent in their convictions — like former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, Sen. Sam Brownback and even Rep. Ron Paul — are back in the pack. Does that say more about us than it does them?
| FREE SUBSCRIPTION TO INFLUENTIAL NEWSLETTER |
| Every weekday NewsAndOpinion.com publishes what many in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". HUNDREDS of columnists and cartoonists regularly appear. Sign up for the daily update. It's free. Just click here. |
|
The president ought to visit Vermont and Coolidge's birth and burial place. It looks pretty much the way it did when Coolidge lived there and visited as president. The state and private contributors (including me as I serve in an unpaid advisory capacity) have kept it that way.
Coolidge has received a bad rap from historians like Arthur Schlesinger Jr., comedian Will Rogers and the columnist H.L. Mencken. But his wisdom survives precisely because it transcends generations. At a time when people are busy looking for "new" ideas, Coolidge — whom historian Paul Johnson has called the last president of the 19th century — speaks immutable truths.
On taxes, how could any modern Republican improve on this pearl from Coolidge: "Collecting more taxes than is absolutely necessary is legalized robbery."
In a rebuke to the "progressives" who engage in class envy and class warfare, while seeking to redistribute other people's wealth, Coolidge instructs: "Don't expect to build up the weak by pulling down the strong."
There's something for the "law and order" crowd that might reduce the prison population and improve neighborhood safety: "I sometimes wish that people would put a little more emphasis upon the observance of the law than they do upon its enforcement."
One of my personal favorites is: "Industry, thrift and self-control are not sought because they create wealth, but because they create character." Ah, character. It was taught in Coolidge's era. It has been largely abandoned in ours.
Maybe that's why Coolidge warned in his July 5, 1926 speech on the meaning of the Declaration of Independence about the consequences of forgetting things that matter most: "we cannot continue to enjoy the result, if we neglect and abandon the cause."
Yes, President Bush should lead his fellow Republicans to Vermont to study the thoughts and principles of Calvin Coolidge, though they might wish to stay out of the bookstores.
Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.
| BUY THE BOOK |
|  Click HERE to purchase it at a discount. (Sales help fund JWR.). |
|
Cal Thomas Archives JWR contributor Cal Thomas is co-author with Bob Beckel, a liberal Democratic Party strategist, of "Common Ground: How to Stop the Partisan War That is Destroying America," which will be published Oct. 9. Comment by clicking here.
© 2006, Tribune Media Services, Inc.
|
|
Columnists
Toons
Lifestyles
|
