There is no "value" in "conservative values" so why are we here?

I mean, really.

How the Republicans can win back moderates is simple; climb out of the political Dark Ages into the 21st century we're living in. Stop using old epithets like calling people Commies and Socialists; stop alienating people of alternative lifestyles or other ethnic cultures; start saying "Yes, we are for free enterprise but not corruption, greed, and monopolies"; start realizing that education and cultural arts ARE worthy of economic support, from the private and govt. sectors; Stop taking the hypocritical moral high-ground while in practice keeping the bribery, the sex scandals, and moral corruption within the party members. Stop sounding like old school bigots with the rhetoric and start fighting against prejudice of all kinds; be inclusive, not divisive. Embrace the current and future technologies so you don't seem like techno-dinosaurs to the younger generations. Return to the principles of good government, not the trivialities and talking points of demagogic "party-line" mongers. Start getting your facts right BEFORE formulating a policy. Start realizing that waving the flag and hating "enemies" is not patriotism in practice. Start accepting that dissent and other opinions should be valued, respected, analyzed, instead of denigrated and the opinion-holders called "pinheads" or "traitors".

That's just the tip of the iceberg...but it might make a start toward bringing people back to the party.

Same old crap under false pretenses.

No wonder he won't give his real name.

Fraud.

America remains a center-right country

America remains liberal on the social front and bankrupted by your boy Bush on the economic front (yes, you voted for him, don't prevaricate). You have no credibility on either front.

Moderates are leaving your party because the very agenda that the Republicans brought into office meant starving government caah flow to everyone else but the corporations. Big business has not allowed shit to trickle down to the rest of us, and has sold us out for cheap labor, so your economic promises are dust. You can't even govern the country competently! You are lost between failed economic conservatism and the crazies. You have no future. Just quit and start over is my suggestion.

Until this week's entry, Wingnut has done a passably good job putting the best face possible on conservative politics, the GOP and former Pres. Bush -- but THIS one? Hardly worth reading.

Bush and the GOP are the "victim" of ONLY THREE THINGS? Bad luck, bad planning and distortions by the media and Democrats? No policy mistakes, or other errors of any sort? Oh, please. Don't insult the intelligence of your readers, as well as a clear majority of voters, with such blather. American voters are pretty savvy most of the time.

And the vapid Miss California, whose opinion is no more or less important than that of ANY other American, hasn't "won the country" as far as I can see. What possible evidence supporting such a wild conclusion can be presented?

While I'm at it, THIS reader is more than a bit tired of the ending flourish added to every Wingnut column so far: "I hope that helps." More than a whiff of condescension rises from THOSE words.

I doubt many would dispute that "establishment" and "conservative" are entwined, if not necessarily identical. And the fact of the matter is that mainstream media is as establishment as you can get. This "liberal media is making us look bad" is such a pathetic attempt to be the victim - and it is wearing thin enough to be transparent. With shows like Maddow's on the air, people are beginning to realize what true liberal journalism is like. Most of what people see is nothing like that on any network - that is simply self-evident.

So when neo-conservatives whine about the "liberal" media, they are showing their inability to see reality. True conservatism needs to embrace reality. When that happens, they might be able to stop wandering in the wilderness.

...trying to rule us, whether through pitiless cheap-labor forced concessions or draconian, evil activities, spying on, arresting, and otherwise destroying your "enemies."

For the love of God, you don't friggin' run the planet. Maybe try to make a friend of someone NOT out to destroy everyone not perfectly aligned with you, arm-bands, goose-stepping or not.

Center-right? Nope...

It will take more than piss and bile to win more than the Fox News addicted idiots to the party.

The tent is getting pretty pathetic. Limbaugh, Ingraham, Hannity, O'Reily, Bachmann, etc...

All outstanding functional brain donors but it's showing.

All of the right wing echo chamber appear to not be satisfied until the ghost of Stalin springs forth to take the reigns of this country and drive it into the ground. It's no Ayn Rand that is driving the GOP, it's a real desire to drive the country into the sewer...

Give me hot or give me cold, but lukewarm? I spit it out!

F!T!S!

Pabst Blue Ribbon!

Is GlennAllen Walken Robert Reich???

I grew up in Iowa, which remains a good-government state. A state with great schools, good people, and a centrist population. I supported Republicans like Jim Leach and Terry Brandstad, and there are things I like about Sen. Grassley (his support for government whistleblowers and his criticism of the FDA). However, I have switched to the Democratic party since 2002, and I will not be returning.

Glenallen Walken doesn't provide a solution. Here's what the Republicans need to do: be the party of good government and pragmatism. Be the party of Eisenhower. Be the party of Teddy Roosevelt. Stop distracting voters with social issues. Concentrate on making government efficient, but realize that we need government. Realize that paying private contractors to do government work is not "small" government. Realize that antitrust and regulation are good things. Realize that we cannot sustain an economy solely through financial institutions. We need capitalism. We need to build things again. I like many of the things Democrats are doing right now, but I think it is a huge problem that they are themselves coddling these corrupt and bloated financial institutions. I hate it that Charlie Rangel has a senior leadership role in the party. They won't back off their unconditional support for Israel. There is a role for a pragmatic center-right party.

Why is there no voice in government saying, look let's put these banks in receivership? That's what Ronald Reagan would have done.