Comments on: Jack Kemp: Bleeding-Heart Conservative

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Sat, 29 Aug 2009 03:19:28 +0000

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By: jeffp

jeffp — Fri, 08 May 2009 17:18:53 +0000

If you really wanted to make a strong argument you'd just say “Their words not mine”

Keep posting justontime, I love what your saying

By: jeffp

jeffp — Fri, 08 May 2009 15:18:53 +0000

If you really wanted to make a strong argument you'd just say “Their words not mine”

Keep posting justontime, I love what your saying

By: justontime

justontime — Thu, 07 May 2009 16:25:20 +0000

But it's so much easier to score points in an argument with someone if I can put them in a box and argue against that strawman than against the actual thoughts and writings of another real person.

By: BlueDeacon

BlueDeacon — Wed, 06 May 2009 18:51:31 +0000

That's really unfair, however. I for one oppose abortion and gay marriage even while disagreeing with the Republicans on almost everything else.

By: justontime

justontime — Wed, 06 May 2009 18:18:31 +0000

Republicans and their Rovian tactics are all sell-outs – to corporate interests and neo-con hawks. I'm surprised you didn't ferret that out by now.

By: justontime

justontime — Wed, 06 May 2009 18:16:42 +0000

My mistake. When I respond to people I always assume that because they, in their specific comment, refer kindly to one particular Republican/conservative individual or principle that they must adhere to and support every single other Republican/conservative principle or individual. It's an effective way of engaging in conversation, in my mind.

By: BlueDeacon

BlueDeacon — Wed, 06 May 2009 17:58:04 +0000

There's a difference, however. King's critics were regionally-based, generally outside the South, because Southerners generally came to understand that, if they wanted to stay alive, “nonviolence” was the way to go. Those voices, including Malcolm X and the Black Panthers, have been consigned to history. You can't yet say the same for Kemp's critics, however.

That said, I share Wallis's views — I didn't agree with Kemp generally but he was doing some really good things. I was responding to justontime's retort about never trusting Republicans, which I thought was a bit beyond the pale.

By: 1Grace

1Grace — Wed, 06 May 2009 17:34:54 +0000

"Being myself a severe critic of the conservative agenda, I'm sure many of the conservatives who frequent this blog would laugh"

"Sigh" No not laugh... Unfortunatley expected some remarks about a person who recently died and his friendships that did not reach up to soujourner standards of righteousness and truth .
It was looked actually Rick much the same way if Martin Luther King was just struck down , in his case murdered , but death the same . In stead of people speaking of his sincerity to his cause , his life in a special way , some African Americans say Chicago brought in their views he was a sellout , way to peaceful and not forceful enough . Thus opening the gate for statements that followed .

No , no one laughed at your opening statement . Jim Wallis showed some class as he can do .

By: BlueDeacon

BlueDeacon — Wed, 06 May 2009 16:03:01 +0000

Their words, not mine.

By: nuclearferret

nuclearferret — Wed, 06 May 2009 15:53:46 +0000

Sell-out? Don't try and overlay your own position of the Republican Party today on the party of when Mr. Kemp was actively working. It simply wasn't the case.

By: BlueDeacon

BlueDeacon — Wed, 06 May 2009 15:05:53 +0000

Being myself a severe critic of the conservative agenda, I'm sure many of the conservatives who frequent this blog would laugh upon reading that. As I said earlier, Kemp took some heat from true-blue conservatives for even talking to people not like themselves and coming up with real solutions to the urban crisis.

By: justontime

justontime — Wed, 06 May 2009 14:52:43 +0000

The “big fat idiot” Limbaugh would be proud of you defending your Republican friends and their scorched-earth tactics. The vast majority of us are not convinced.

By: Lord_Voldemort

Lord_Voldemort — Tue, 05 May 2009 19:50:04 +0000

Jim,

Speaking as an old Kempie, I appreciate the kind words on behalf of one of my heroes.

LV

By: 1Grace

1Grace — Tue, 05 May 2009 18:37:33 +0000

Yes this was refreshing . I always liked Jack kemp also . A man of principle , but a man who would listen . He was very concerned in the end because he feared what was happening now was the opposite of what he believed in and has proven to work . But it was easy to see he was concerned for the sake of people , not power .

By: BlueDeacon

BlueDeacon — Tue, 05 May 2009 18:15:56 +0000

To be truthful, Dole also changed a number of his positions when he was running for president, so you can't blame just Kemp for that. Primarily, Dole did not subscribe to "tax-cut" fever when he was in the Senate but signed on to that when he became a Presidential candidate. Let's also remember that this took place 12 years ago, when the political climate was much different.

And besides, who'd have said that Kemp would have kept that position had they been elected? Politicians at that level often make empty promises to win votes that are either at odds with their true positions or they know they can't keep. So, I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt.

By: BlueDeacon

BlueDeacon — Tue, 05 May 2009 18:06:23 +0000

Keep in mind, however, that such an “economic boom” had a steep price — the 'hood became a more bleak place than it had been (and I found that somewhat ironic in this case). Wallis' opposed “supply-side” economics because it just couldn't work for those of lesser means, and we just can't always sweep those philosophical differences aside for the sake of “getting along.”

By: justontime

justontime — Tue, 05 May 2009 18:01:43 +0000

The black community is wrong to trust him. Kemp was a sellout. Take off your blinders.

Mr. Kemp announced that he was supporting a mindless plan to expel the children of illegal immigrants from public schools. Up until his reversal, Mr. Kemp had worn as an emblem of courage his rejection of Proposition 187, the 1994 California ballot initiative for closing the schools to immigrant children. In the same interviews, Mr. Kemp revealed that he was ending his opposition to another California ballot initiative that would abolish affirmative-action programs in the state.
http://www.nytimes.com/1996/08/15/opinion/the-j...

You can never trust Republicans. You should know this.

By: 1Grace

1Grace — Tue, 05 May 2009 16:38:24 +0000

Thanks Jim. jack kemp was so glad when Reagan was elected and his beliefs of opportunity for all gave way to one of the biggest economic booms in our history .
He was saddened at the sell out of the many principles you mentioned about recent republican methods in the Bush Administration making compassion sometimes just a word instead of an act . He was a good man who realized The Sword of the Spirit is never meant to chop anybody down.

By: xfree9

xfree9 — Tue, 05 May 2009 15:17:31 +0000

Thanks, Jim, for what I observe as a genuine attitude of goodwill toward a man with whom you found disagreement but could validate his life and passions. I hope you continue to think and write about others with whom you disagree in a favorable manner, even if there are points of disagreement.