Republican Archives - Page 2 of 2 - Common Sense with Paul Jacob

McCain’s Admission

John McCain is a man on a mission. But it was his admission that Republicans in Washington have lost their way that jumped out at me as I listened to his speech accepting the Republican Party presidential nomination.

“I fight to restore the pride and principles of our party,” he told Republicans. “We were elected to change Washington, and we let Washington change us.”

Everyone already knows this. We’ve watched power politics triumph over principle.

But it was still nice to hear McCain say it. The first step toward solving a problem is to recognize you have one.

McCain went on to admit, “We lost the trust of the American people when some Republicans gave in to the temptations of corruption. We lost their trust when rather than reform government, both parties made it bigger.”

Oh, yeah, a whole lot bigger.

I began shouting about Republicans selling out principle early on, when, after Republicans took the House back in the 1990s, they quickly also took a dive on enacting term limits.

And the sell-outs just kept coming. Republicans traded their rank and file supporters for a bevy of big special interests.

McCain says he wants to take the party “back to basics,” vowing “low taxes, spending discipline, and open markets.”

That’s the right message. And McCain’s opposition to earmarks is to his credit. But are voters ready to believe it?

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.

Decrease Your Vocabulary

Do you ever get tired of hearing certain words?

This election, I’m already sick of “change.” And hey: I want change; demand it. But the only change I can believe in is change with some specifics attached.

Put “Change” on hold, politicians, go to a thesaurus and look for another word.

For a change.

Another word I’d like to hear less of is “staunch.” Somehow, “staunch” only applies to conservatives. He’s a ““staunch conservative,” they say; she’s a “staunch opponent of big government.”

Can’t we think of another word? Like, uh, “principled”?

Why not put the word “staunch” on our taboo list for a year? Or, at the very least, try applying it to liberals only for a while.

I have a friend who thinks the word “natural” should never be used by theologians or political philosophers. What’s natural, for them, he says, is to make too much of the concept. And I’ve noticed that “natural” is meaning less and less on packaging these days.

Another friend thinks itâ’s a pity that Democrats get to call themselves “democrats” when they usually oppose democratic reforms like initiative and referendum. He also regrets that Republicans have come to support imperial stances, not republican ones, including an imperial presidency. But they still call themselves “republicans.”

I guess our favorite political words become not only cliché, but become the very opposite of what they originally meant. The more things change . . .

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.