So what’ should the Minnesota GOP’s message be?
We’ve talked about prosperity – achieved through cutting taxes and spending – and education.
Today, Security.
Security means a lot of things; the Constitution refers to the people’s right to be secure in their homes and possessions. National security is one of very few real clear mandates upon the federal government. Of course, if you’re a liberal, a complex formula of dairy price supports and support for the National Endowment for the Humanities are vital elements in national security.
But at a state level, it means a few really important things:
- Afflicting the lawless and comforting the law-abiding: Law enforcement should be a burden on criminals and ne’er-do-wells, not on the law-abiding citizen. Quit finding new ways to criminalize legal behavior.
- Laws are for enforcing: Dangerous people belong in jail. End Minnesota’s revolving door for career criminals. Quit subsidizing criminal behavior in this state.
- Police are not social engineers: if people break laws, any laws, then prosecute them. That means everyone from CEOs to illegal immigrants. Focus on keeping streets safe, rather than canoodling about as government social policy enforcers.
This makes sense if you’re a Republican – or a citizen who may not be a Republican, but pays their taxes, works hard, and wants to know their neighborhood is their neighborhood, not the scum’s.
It’s easy to make the case that…:
Republicans: Common Sense and Safety.
…presuming we manage to actually embrace common sense: punish criminals, leave the law-abiding alone, quit tolerating (much less subsidizing) bad behavior.
So what’s the alternative? Revolving door justice. Criminals who should be in jail attacking, raping and killing people, and illegal immigrants soaking up our resources while the DFL legislature looks for ways to punish the law abiding citizen (the gun owner) and harass those who run afoul of their picayune social policies (Saint Paul’s dwindling number of small landlords). Our streets grow more dangerous, as the DFL diverts resources away from enforcement and into subsidizing more bad behavior.
Democrats: Chaos and Fear.
It should be an easy sell:
Republicans: Common Sense and Safety. Democrats: Chaos and Fear.
Tomorrow: Getting along.
Instapundit has a chart up showing that Gallup has found a strong trend _away_ from banning handguns since 1959.
This has more implications than may first appear. The entire left/liberal/democrat message is that a citizen’s security is a collective task best managed by the state. If people do not trust the government to lock up violent criminals, or at least send a cop to your house in a timely manner if you have a break in, how can they trust the collective to provide them with financial security or medical care?
Answer: They can’t and they know they can’t. But the GOP, through corruption, through too close identification with the business class, through poor messaging, drove enough of a naturally conservative, freedom loving people to vote for fascism.
Security: Defense against all foes foreign and domestic.
Fearful? Vote Republican!
I think the notion of “punishing all wrong-doers” needs to be revised and extended, like a politicians remarks. Wrong-doers should be punished based on a preponderance of the evidence against them, not on the trivial technicalities of how that evidence was obtained. After that, if there were rights violations by the police, then THEY should be prosecuted and, if necessary, punished for that. You don’t punish all wrong-doers if you let obvious wrong-doers escape justice, for ANY reason.
Republicans aren’t afraid that if they drive a big car THE ENTIRE WORLD WILL BURN UP THE PUPPIES INCLUDED!!!!!
Well that’s cause Republicans are stupid, Terry.
The Minnesota DFL-fighting to keep Katherine Soliah and Olga Franco out of jail.
I disagree, el clowno.
Tell me, suppose things do warm up even to the INSANELY DANGEROUS LEVELS you AGW zealots are predicting. Even if you’re right (and the science is uncertain there, to put it mildly) how bad will things be? Considering that the Medieval Warm Period was actually much warmer and that civilization flourished even more then than in other periods.
Then there’s your innumeracy. Suppose we do have to spend money mitigating the effects of “Climate Change.” How much will that cost vs. how much will burdening our economy with the costs of indiscriminate energy cuts? Hint: it’s a hell of a lot cheaper to mitigation.
But then again, the threat of AGW/Climate Change/nom-du-jour fits in with liberal philosophy so well you’ll never abandon it. The idea that something might change in an manner that you liberals don’t control frightens you, much as the idea of an independent, free thinking opposition does.
The idea of idiots running the country is what frightens intelligent people like Angryclown, nerd. Thankfully, that’s no longer a problem.
Thankfully, that’s no longer a problem.
Because the “smart people” are letting Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid run the country!
Oh yes, such smart people are running the country now that I feel we must all change and learn to speak that Austrian our Glorious Leader talked about.
And I’ll believe that liberals actually believe we’re in a Climate Change Crisis when Pelosi starts flying coach.
Does anyone else wonder why it is the US has more people in jail relative to our population numbers than any other country in the world?
Even if only some of the other countries are not acurately reporting the numbers in their jails, there should be a more cost effective way to deal with criminals that makes it a lot less expensive for the general public, and a lot more effective in reducing crime rates.