10 Republicans Who Should Stay

My articles '10 Republicans Who Should Go Away' and '10 Democrats Who Should Go Away' both made the 'Most Popular on HuffPost' list two weeks in a row, making it clear that:

1. There are lots of Republicans and Democrats people really would like to see go away.
2. Thousands of Republicans don't like me.
3. People like top 10 lists.

Due to their overwhelming popularity, I've decided to run a regular 'Top Ten' list, as they are fun to do, and they generate some fantastic debate.

So, in the latest installment of the 'Top Ten' list, I thought it might be a more positive to list 10 Republicans who should stay in the political and media arena for their good behavior.

1. Colin Powell

Powell managed to extricate himself from serious political circles the day he presented the 'evidence' of Saddam Hussein's Weapons of Mass Destruction to the United Nations. The entire debacle was shameful, and Powell was deeply embarrassed about the matter and clearly wracked with guilt. His name tarnished, Powell slipped away from the limelight after Bush's first term and remained largely out of sight for a number of years. However, Powell re-emerged during the Presidential election to elect Barack Obama, stinging his friend John McCain, and blasting his choice of running mate. Powell said of Palin:

"Now that we have had a chance to watch her for some seven weeks, I don't believe she's ready to be president of the United States, which is the job of the vice president. And so that raised some question in my mind as to the judgment that Sen. McCain made."

And with that, Powell bounced straight back into credibility. If the Republican party wants to survive, it must start listening to people like Powell, who are above all, sane.

2. Ron Paul

Ron Paul won pretty much every Republican debate hands down, proving that brains and ideas won't get you far in the GOP. The doctor from Texas ultimately failed because he decided to tell the truth about the massive hypocrisy and corruption of the Republican Party, and tried to offer something similar to the original Republicanism of small government, civil liberties, and a humble foreign policy. Paul's small government libertarianism may be outdated (probably by a hundred years or so), but his analysis of the United States fiscal and foreign policy were incredibly accurate and insightful.

On Bush's version of capitalism, Paul said:

Deficits mean future tax increases, pure and simple. Deficit spending should be viewed as a tax on future generations, and politicians who create deficits should be exposed as tax hike

On the war in Iraq, Paul less kind:

Cliches about supporting the troops are designed to distract from failed policies, policies promoted by powerful special interests that benefit from war, anything to steer the discussion away from the real reasons the war in Iraq will not end anytime soon

.

Amen. Please stick around Ron

3. Chuck Hagel

This is what a real 'Maverick' looks like.  Despite the Nebraska Senator's vote for use of force against Iraq in 2002, the Senate's No. 2 Republican Leader stood staunchly against its continued occupation once he realized he'd been repeatedly lied to.  In 2007, Hagel joined the Democrats in supporting legislation to begin removing troops from Iraq within 120 days, and he described the plan to build up more troops in Iraq as "the worst foreign policy blunder since Vietnam."  Hagel stood firmly against the Bush Administration's attempt to instigate conflict with Iran, suggesting that impeachment chargescould be brought up against a President who was unresponsive to the political will of the public.  During the 2008 Presidential campaign, Hagel was the foil to Joe Liberman, praising Obama and criticizing the GOP and it's nominee.  Unlike other Republicans, Hagel has refused to trade principles for popularity. 

4. Peggy Noonan

It is impossible not to respect Noonan as a writer. She is clear, reasoned and very well informed. Her traditional conservatism is refreshing for liberals to read as she offers sharp criticism that doesn't lecture, and doesn't assume superiority. Noonan has been on the wrong side of pretty much every argument since Bush was inaugurated until it became abundantly clear that the Republican party had been hijacked by a bunch of ideological nut cases. When Sarah Palin hit the scene, Noonan had clearly had enough and spoke out forcefully about her party's plummet into insanity. Here's what she had to say about the Governor from Alaska:

In the past two weeks she has spent her time throwing out tinny lines to crowds she doesn't, really, understand. This is not a leader, this is a follower, and she follows what she imagines is the base, which is in fact a vast and broken-hearted thing whose pain she cannot, actually, imagine. She could reinspire and reinspirit; she chooses merely to excite. She doesn't seem to understand the implications of her own thoughts.....

In the end the Palin candidacy is a symptom and expression of a new vulgarization in American politics. It's no good, not for conservatism and not for the country. And yes, it is a mark against John McCain, against his judgment and idealism.

Noonan may be on the Right, but she tries hard to be fair in her commentary, a much appreciated attribute in the world of talking head warfare and vicious partisanship.

5. Andrew Sullivan

The British born, Gay, Catholic, Conservative blog maestro isn't really a Republican anymore (given his support for John Kerry in 2004 and Barack Obama in 2008), but Sullivan maintains his roots in 'small c' conservatism proudly. Sullivan is a huge asset to political discourse in American. Sullivan's blog is one of the best around, and his unique perspective on current events makes 'The Daily Dish' a must read. Sullivan has been a voice of conservative sanity while the Republican party spirals into oblivion, providing constant reminders that the clowns in power are a nothing more than a twisted aberration. Sullivan is anti torture, pro environment, and pro gay, proving conservatives aren't all mean SOBs. Sullivan's anti Clinton tirades are somewhat tiresome and his views on the economic crisis aren't that well thought out, but overall, he is a powerful voice for true conservatism and a welcome one at that.

To read the next five, click here.

Comments

[gbrooks]

Excellent article, Mr. Cohen. Thanks for recognizing a guy that has been completely smeared--Ron Paul, along with highlighting that you don't have to be an evil, stupid jerk to be a Republican.

Remember, Lincoln was one of the original Republicans, and what Democrat doesn't love him?

[LABC]

"And don't think you're off the hook, voters, you're the ones who made this bed. Now you're the ones who are going to have to move over so a gay couple can sleep in it. Tomorrow you're all going to wake up in a brave new world, a world where the Constitution gets trampled by an army of terrorist clones, created in a stem-cell research lab run by homosexual doctors who sterilize their instruments over burning American flags. Where tax-and-spend Democrats take all your hard-earned money and use it to buy electric cars for National Public Radio, and teach evolution to illegal immigrants. Oh, and everybody's high! You know what, I've had it! You people don't deserve a Republican majority! I quit!"

Stephen Colbert - yes, a "republican" I would love to see stick around.

[Lionsden]

Ohmygosh, how embarrassing. The author of this article wrote:

"Ron Paul won pretty much every Republican debate hands down, proving that brains and ideas won't get you far in the GOP."

Doesn't he know? Though republicans DO have a problem with brains and ideas, our dear Dr. Paul considers democrats lacking even more so. That is why Dr. Paul cannot BE a democrat. They are beyond hope.






Ron Paul won pretty much every Republican debate hands down, proving that brains and ideas won't get you far in the GOP.

[zyodei]

Well, Bravo. We must recognize that, as both political parties in this country are hopelessly corrupt, what matters is the few courageous individuals within those parties - namely, the few who have the courage to call out their own party establishment's failings. I'm not sure that all of these people meet that criteria, but a few do.

The only way we are going to move ahead in this country is by recognizing the what honest conservatives and honest liberals share. One of Ron Paul's best strokes of the campaign was setting down these four key principles, clearly defining a common cause between him, Nader, green McKinney, and old right Baldwin:

Foreign Policy: The Iraq War must end as quickly as possible with removal of all our soldiers from the region. We must initiate the return of our soldiers from around the world

Privacy: We must protect the privacy and civil liberties of all persons under US jurisdiction. We must repeal or radically change the Patriot Act, the Military Commissions Act, and the FISA legislation.

The National Debt: We believe that there should be no increase in the national debt.

The Federal Reserve: We seek a thorough investigation, evaluation and audit of the Federal Reserve System and its cozy relationships with the banking, corporate, and other financial institutions.

[phatphing]

Wow, redemption for peddling an unjust war that killed hundreds of thousands is a simple comment against the Republican party. Help the Democrats in any way and even genocide is forgiven.

And according to whom is Libertarianism outdated? ...Socialists and Trotskyites? At least have the courage to repudiate the Constitution and the Founding Fathers if you've grown tired of individual liberty.

There are only two honest man in Congress worth keeping, Paul and Kucinich. And Dennis is misguided because he doesn't understand money and free market economics.

[guerilla]

Good catch phatphing. I wasn't aware liberty and freedom and peace (the tenets of real libertarianism, not beltway libertarianism) were anachronistic.

Oh pray tell Ben Cohen, when did we evolve past freedom? Is that why people are penned in and being slaughtered in Gaza? Is this part of a wonderful New World Order, where liberty isn't even a political ideal?

I'm happy to see Ron Paul mentioned in a sincere and genuine manner, but on a list that includes Colin Powell, the Iraq war liar numero uno as #1 and Chuck "Globalist" Hegel as #3, the honor might be somewhat diminished.

Palin? Maybe keep her around for a doorstop? She's one campaign from showing some nipple in a wardrobe malfunction in a pathetic cry for attention and help.

And Sullivan quite frankly is an idiot. First he wanted to mass murder brown people because he figuratively crapped the bed in fear of WMDs, and now it's ok to kill them as long as it's in the name of democracy. If any of them live in Sullie's world, they can vote for the US/globalist puppet dictator.

I'll look for that democrat list to attack later today. Hopefully Backtrack Obama made #1.