Author Topic: The GOP Needs Kentucky to Step Up  (Read 460 times)

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Offline Luis Gonzalez

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The GOP Needs Kentucky to Step Up
« on: January 16, 2026, 10:57:36 am »
The GOP Needs Kentucky to Step Up
Two senators, decades of influence, almost no results. The Bluegrass State must deliver real Republican victories.

The Last Wire

Kentucky sends two Republicans to the United States Senate. One performs resistance. The other performs control. Neither delivers outcomes. One sells liberty as a brand while federal power expands unchecked. The other manages decline with procedural precision while conservative priorities stall. The result is a state with enormous political leverage and almost no practical influence on Republican governance.

Rand Paul has built a career on ideological consistency. He speaks fluently about civil liberties, limited government, and fiscal restraint. His objections are principled. His rhetoric is polished. His visibility is constant. What is missing is results. After fifteen years in the Senate, Paul’s legislative record remains thin. One meaningful law stands to his name, the FDA Modernization Act 2.0 passed in 2022. Whatever its merits, a single legislative success over a decade and a half does not constitute effective representation.

Paul’s broader body of work consists largely of bills that sound correct but go nowhere.

Continue reading at The Last Wire

"The growth of knowledge depends entirely upon disagreement." - Karl Popper

“Life, liberty, and property do not exist because men have made laws. On the contrary, it was the fact that life, liberty, and property existed beforehand that caused men to make laws in the first place." - Frederic Bastiat

“You can vote Socialism in, but you’re gonna have to shoot your way out of it.” - Me

Offline Hoodat

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Re: The GOP Needs Kentucky to Step Up
« Reply #1 on: January 17, 2026, 12:02:02 pm »
Speaking of Kentucky, look for Andy Beshear to be the Democrat candidate in 2028 (unless the leftist wackos mess it up for them).  And he will win.
If a political party does not have its foundation in the determination to advance a cause that is right and that is moral, then it is not a political party; it is merely a conspiracy to seize power.     -Dwight Eisenhower-

"The [U.S.] Constitution is a limitation on the government, not on private individuals ... it does not prescribe the conduct of private individuals, only the conduct of the government ... it is not a charter for government power, but a charter of the citizen's protection against the government."     -Ayn Rand-

Offline Free Vulcan

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Re: The GOP Needs Kentucky to Step Up
« Reply #2 on: January 17, 2026, 12:07:20 pm »
Hence my tagline. The GOP right now only seems to want to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.
The Republic is lost.

Offline Hoodat

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Re: The GOP Needs Kentucky to Step Up
« Reply #3 on: January 17, 2026, 12:15:02 pm »
Hence my tagline. The GOP right now only seems to want to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.

Only because they're good at it.
If a political party does not have its foundation in the determination to advance a cause that is right and that is moral, then it is not a political party; it is merely a conspiracy to seize power.     -Dwight Eisenhower-

"The [U.S.] Constitution is a limitation on the government, not on private individuals ... it does not prescribe the conduct of private individuals, only the conduct of the government ... it is not a charter for government power, but a charter of the citizen's protection against the government."     -Ayn Rand-

Offline Bigun

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Re: The GOP Needs Kentucky to Step Up
« Reply #4 on: January 17, 2026, 05:48:14 pm »
The GOP needs a hell of a lot more than Kentucky to step up!


https://twitter.com/Real_RobN/status/2011849304999412232
"I wish it need not have happened in my time," said Frodo.

"So do I," said Gandalf, "and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us."
- J. R. R. Tolkien

Offline DCPatriot

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Re: The GOP Needs Kentucky to Step Up
« Reply #5 on: January 17, 2026, 06:41:58 pm »
The GOP needs a hell of a lot more than Kentucky to step up!



Personally, have found myself adopting @roamer_1 's philosophy recently.

"Not my circus!  Not my monkeys!!"


"It aint what you don't know that kills you.  It's what you know that aint so!" ...Theodore Sturgeon

"It was only a sunny smile, and little it cost in the giving, but like morning light it scattered the night and made the day worth living" F. Scott Fitzgerald

If we had just let them eat the Tide pods, none of this would be happening right now

Offline Bigun

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Re: The GOP Needs Kentucky to Step Up
« Reply #6 on: January 17, 2026, 06:54:09 pm »
Personally, have found myself adopting @roamer_1 's philosophy recently.

"Not my circus!  Not my monkeys!!"


Just another copout. It is your circus and monkeys!
"I wish it need not have happened in my time," said Frodo.

"So do I," said Gandalf, "and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us."
- J. R. R. Tolkien

Offline roamer_1

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Re: The GOP Needs Kentucky to Step Up
« Reply #7 on: January 18, 2026, 12:49:16 am »
Personally, have found myself adopting @roamer_1 's philosophy recently.

"Not my circus!  Not my monkeys!!"


@DCPatriot
See? Sympatico!  :laugh: :beer:

Except that Paul is one of the few I would back to the nines. Regardless of the article's view, Paul is seldom wrong. And of course he doesn't pass legislation. As one of a couple who observe libertarian principles, he only has power to block legislation - which he does often, and to good effect.

There isn't much else a good Conservative can do.
« Last Edit: January 18, 2026, 12:50:22 am by roamer_1 »

Online Smokin Joe

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Re: The GOP Needs Kentucky to Step Up
« Reply #8 on: January 18, 2026, 05:22:50 am »
Only because they're good at it.
They ought to be. They've had plenty of practice.
How God must weep at humans' folly! Stand fast! God knows what he is doing!
Seventeen Techniques for Truth Suppression

Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience.

C S Lewis

Offline mountaineer

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Re: The GOP Needs Kentucky to Step Up
« Reply #9 on: January 18, 2026, 07:27:24 am »
See also Thomas Massie. Talk, talk, talk, few accomplishments in the House.

Offline Luis Gonzalez

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Re: The GOP Needs Kentucky to Step Up
« Reply #10 on: January 18, 2026, 09:29:07 pm »
« Last Edit: January 19, 2026, 10:20:53 am by Luis Gonzalez »
"The growth of knowledge depends entirely upon disagreement." - Karl Popper

“Life, liberty, and property do not exist because men have made laws. On the contrary, it was the fact that life, liberty, and property existed beforehand that caused men to make laws in the first place." - Frederic Bastiat

“You can vote Socialism in, but you’re gonna have to shoot your way out of it.” - Me

Offline Hoodat

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Re: The GOP Needs Kentucky to Step Up
« Reply #11 on: January 18, 2026, 10:46:16 pm »
Personally, have found myself adopting @roamer_1 's philosophy recently.

"Not my circus!  Not my monkeys!!"


It's better in the original Polish:

Nie mój cyrk. Nie moje małpy.
If a political party does not have its foundation in the determination to advance a cause that is right and that is moral, then it is not a political party; it is merely a conspiracy to seize power.     -Dwight Eisenhower-

"The [U.S.] Constitution is a limitation on the government, not on private individuals ... it does not prescribe the conduct of private individuals, only the conduct of the government ... it is not a charter for government power, but a charter of the citizen's protection against the government."     -Ayn Rand-

Offline Bigun

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Re: The GOP Needs Kentucky to Step Up
« Reply #12 on: January 18, 2026, 11:08:42 pm »
It's better in the original Polish:

Nie mój cyrk. Nie moje małpy.

It's bull shit in any language!
"I wish it need not have happened in my time," said Frodo.

"So do I," said Gandalf, "and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us."
- J. R. R. Tolkien

Offline DCPatriot

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Re: The GOP Needs Kentucky to Step Up
« Reply #13 on: January 18, 2026, 11:15:12 pm »
Just another copout. It is your circus and monkeys!

@Bigun

I'm 80, the end of August.

Have not only played the back nine, am sitting next to the fireplace in the clubhouse.

With a long sleeved sweater, freezing.

Tonight there was a memorable line in the Landman season finale.

Tommy wonders to himself: "Do I have one more Homerun"?

No sir, I don't.
"It aint what you don't know that kills you.  It's what you know that aint so!" ...Theodore Sturgeon

"It was only a sunny smile, and little it cost in the giving, but like morning light it scattered the night and made the day worth living" F. Scott Fitzgerald

If we had just let them eat the Tide pods, none of this would be happening right now

Offline Bigun

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Re: The GOP Needs Kentucky to Step Up
« Reply #14 on: January 19, 2026, 09:03:41 am »
@Bigun

I'm 80, the end of August.

Have not only played the back nine, am sitting next to the fireplace in the clubhouse.

With a long sleeved sweater, freezing.

Tonight there was a memorable line in the Landman season finale.

Tommy wonders to himself: "Do I have one more Homerun"?

No sir, I don't.


I'm pretty much in the same boat my friend and whether or not there is one more homer in me I don't know. Probably not. But a Tim Robbins line from "Shawshank Redemption" has been stuck in my mind since I saw the movie. "We have two choices in life; get busy living or get busy dying!"  I choose the former. @DCPatriot 
« Last Edit: January 19, 2026, 09:05:07 am by Bigun »
"I wish it need not have happened in my time," said Frodo.

"So do I," said Gandalf, "and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us."
- J. R. R. Tolkien

Offline Luis Gonzalez

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Re: The GOP Needs Kentucky to Step Up
« Reply #15 on: January 19, 2026, 09:20:34 am »
I'm pretty much in the same boat my friend and whether or not there is one more homer in me I don't know. Probably not. But a Tim Robbins line from "Shawshank Redemption" has been stuck in my mind since I saw the movie. "We have two choices in life; get busy living or get busy dying!"  I choose the former. @DCPatriot 

Hear! Hear!

We die once. Let’s live every other day.
"The growth of knowledge depends entirely upon disagreement." - Karl Popper

“Life, liberty, and property do not exist because men have made laws. On the contrary, it was the fact that life, liberty, and property existed beforehand that caused men to make laws in the first place." - Frederic Bastiat

“You can vote Socialism in, but you’re gonna have to shoot your way out of it.” - Me

Offline Luis Gonzalez

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Re: The GOP Needs Kentucky to Step Up
« Reply #16 on: January 19, 2026, 09:22:05 am »
@Bigun

I'm 80, the end of August.

Have not only played the back nine, am sitting next to the fireplace in the clubhouse.

With a long sleeved sweater, freezing.

Tonight there was a memorable line in the Landman season finale.

Tommy wonders to himself: "Do I have one more Homerun"?

No sir, I don't.


Yeah maybe.

But we have many singles and maybe even doubles to score with.

One day, I will die.

Every other day, as best as I can, I will live and swing for the bleachers
"The growth of knowledge depends entirely upon disagreement." - Karl Popper

“Life, liberty, and property do not exist because men have made laws. On the contrary, it was the fact that life, liberty, and property existed beforehand that caused men to make laws in the first place." - Frederic Bastiat

“You can vote Socialism in, but you’re gonna have to shoot your way out of it.” - Me

Offline Bigun

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Re: The GOP Needs Kentucky to Step Up
« Reply #17 on: January 19, 2026, 09:31:06 am »
Yeah maybe.

But we have many singles and maybe even doubles to score with.

One day, I will die.

Every other day, as best as I can, I will live and swing for the bleachers

 :amen: pointing-up
"I wish it need not have happened in my time," said Frodo.

"So do I," said Gandalf, "and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us."
- J. R. R. Tolkien

Offline roamer_1

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Re: The GOP Needs Kentucky to Step Up
« Reply #18 on: January 19, 2026, 10:11:03 am »
It's bull shit in any language!

No it's not. It's supposed to be a representative government. THAT is what I will participate in. What's bullshit is voting for what you DON'T want to block the other guy, you DON'T want either. Either way it goes, you get what you don't want. That's ridiculous.

I'll make the play when it is what I want. I will throw money at it. I will even get on the phone. I still back Conservatives, 100% ... Just as I always have.

I just don't back mere Republicans anymore.

And guess what? The customer is always right. Just like in any other thing.

Offline Bigun

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Re: The GOP Needs Kentucky to Step Up
« Reply #19 on: January 19, 2026, 10:31:51 am »
No it's not. It's supposed to be a representative government. THAT is what I will participate in. What's bullshit is voting for what you DON'T want to block the other guy, you DON'T want either. Either way it goes, you get what you don't want. That's ridiculous.

I'll make the play when it is what I want. I will throw money at it. I will even get on the phone. I still back Conservatives, 100% ... Just as I always have.

I just don't back mere Republicans anymore.

And guess what? The customer is always right. Just like in any other thing.

WE have exactly one federal government so if it isn't our circus and our monkeys whose is it?
"I wish it need not have happened in my time," said Frodo.

"So do I," said Gandalf, "and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us."
- J. R. R. Tolkien

Offline roamer_1

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Re: The GOP Needs Kentucky to Step Up
« Reply #20 on: January 19, 2026, 11:20:40 am »
WE have exactly one federal government so if it isn't our circus and our monkeys whose is it?

It sure as hell ain't mine. It is little more than legal pillaging of its citizens. It does not protect your rights, or mine, which is its function. It does everything but.

NOPE not my monster. I didn't vote for this shit.

Offline Bigun

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Re: The GOP Needs Kentucky to Step Up
« Reply #21 on: January 19, 2026, 11:21:32 am »
It sure as hell ain't mine. It is little more than legal pillaging of its citizens. It does not protect your rights, or mine, which is its function. It does everything but.

NOPE not my monster. I didn't vote for this shit.

 *****rollingeyes*****
"I wish it need not have happened in my time," said Frodo.

"So do I," said Gandalf, "and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us."
- J. R. R. Tolkien

Offline roamer_1

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