Orrin Hatch: It’s Dog Track Time
Lord, please save us from our friends….
From The Salt Lake Tribune, Donald Meyers reporting:
Sen. Orrin Hatch has a message for the Tea Party movement: Work with the GOP or see conservatives lose more ground.
“If we fractionalize the Republican Party, we are going to see more liberals elected,” Hatch warned a crowd of 300 at a town meeting at American Fork Junior High School on Wednesday night, amid jeers from Tea Party supporters.
Hatch blamed extreme conservatives for the 2008 defeat of Sen. Gordon Smith, a politically moderate but fiscally conservative Republican from Oregon.
Hatch said if the Tea Party had not backed a constitutionalist candidate in that race, Smith wouldn’t have lost to Democrat Jeff Merkley, whom Hatch described as “the most liberal senator,” by 45,000 votes.
And…
“It’s our job to vote out people we don’t like,” someone yelled from the audience.
“And it is my job to help you,” Hatch said.
Dan Riehl is all over Senator Hatch. Regarding the first snippet [emphasis mine]:
…Not only did Hatch lecture people he’d better start listening to, instead – he didn’t have the slightest clue what he was talking about. The Tea Party movement didn’t even exist in 2008. It’s out of touch Republicans like Hatch, presumably living in some elitist echo chamber who can still snatch defeat from victory for the GOP in 2010 if no one fills them in. Based upon this nonsense, Hatch doesn’t seem to have a clue what’s going on at street level in America today.
Regarding the second:
Imagine that! Hatch is from the government and he’s here to help you! Where have I heard that one before?
Arrogance it is, pure and simple. It is the arrogance born out of too many years of being a pampered Senator in Washington D.C. where the day-to-day realities of life do not seep into the bubble that is elected office.
At one time, very early in his Senate career, Orin Hatch was a hero to we young [at the time] conservatives — he was honest, decent, and true. However, like so so many others, too long a time spent in office has caused him to mutant into nothing more than a political hack of the worst kind. Such a twisted creature cares nothing about philosophy any longer. Everything that was good in the person is suppressed in order to get along with the boys and girls in the club, be loved by The Establishment [gotta get those invitations to the 'right' dinner parties], and maintain the perks of office. Their greatest fear is to be out of office and no longer able to deliver things and, therefore, no longer be in demand and in the spotlight. Orin Hatch is just such a man. He loves being loved by The Smart Set he’s a part of. He’s been inside the beltway for so long that he’s forgotten that real and meaningful living occurs outside of politics. In other words, he’s discarded his conservative understanding of life for the false glitter of celebrity.
Senator Hatch…
…It’s Dog Track Time.
The Memeorandum thread is here.
Tip of the fedora to the Left Coast Rebel, who weighs-in here.
““If we fractionalize the Republican Party, we are going to see more liberals elected,” Excuse me but how deluded can you (Orin) get? The Tea Party was formed not to serve the Republicans but to get the attention of both parties. Republicans are the ones that need to get with the program.
Right-on, Sista, right-on!
The TEA Party will do itself a giant disservice by aligning with any one party.
All these dinosaurs who’ve been around forever have got to go. People are finally waking up to what crap statement’s like Hatch’s is … Republican does not equal conservative.
Maybe Hatch should have said something more along the lines of, “I repent. I’m sorry for being a supporter of Big Government. I am ashamed. If Republican politicians don’t start acting as principled conservatives, we’re going to fractionalize and destroy the Republican Party. It’s our fault. The American people are right!”