Posted on 09/19/2005 8:10:32 AM PDT by Mikey
The turn of the century was supposed to be the triumph of the conservatives. From the dark era of the Democrat-dominated '60s and '70s, conservatives began their protracted march toward electoral power, culminating finally in the long-awaited capture of all three branches of the federal government. The Reagan Revolution was finally to be realized in earnest!
But just as most Republican Supreme Court nominees have turned out to be treacherous supporters of big government – activist liberals in disguise – their legislative- and executive-branch colleagues likewise revealed themselves to be every bit as unfaithful to conservative principles of small government and individual freedom. As is all too often the case, conservative success carried within it the seeds of its own demise.
President Bush's recent speech on his administration's planned long-term response to Hurricane Katrina marked an interesting point in the continued devolution of American conservatism. Whereas his first five years had previously been a strange combination of strategic Wilsonian foreign policy and tactical Keynesian domestic policy, the president managed to make it abundantly clear that in domestic terms, his presidential guiding light is Lyndon Baines Johnson, not Ronald Wilson Reagan.
Real conservatives now understand they have been betrayed – badly – by this fraudulent man. Compassionate conservatism, as it turns out, is simply another name for Great Society liberalism, and not even the Texas swagger is original. Genuinely conservative Republicans are dismayed by the president's unveiling of his core liberalism and rightly fear for the future of a party which has likely seen its high-water mark already.
But nothing dissuades the Three Monkeys from screeching and howling their enthusiasm for their Dear Leader's every action. They have redefined conservatism to be the actions of one known as a conservative, so the individual is no longer defined by his ideology, the ideology is defined by the individual.
Consider radio host and former WND columnist Hugh Hewitt's take on the president's speech:
My acquaintances at the nation's leading "conservative" blog, Powerline, agreed:
Unfortunately, celebrating the realization of that which one opposes is the predictable end result of pragmatism, which is nothing more than a euphemism for the slow sacrifice of one's principles. Longtime readers may recall that I wrote the following in 2003:
As I feared, that tide has continued to rise under the aegis of a Republican House, Senate, presidency and Supreme Court. So, are there truly no conservatives left in the Republican Party today? Or is the determination to see, hear and speak no evil about the present gang of Republican charlatans in office based on a fear of giving aid and comfort to Hillary Clinton in 2008?
In either case, it is apparent that mainstream politics in America has been reduced to a Seinfeldian sport wherein voters are simply rooting for laundry.
Since the Republican Party has dedicated itself to racing its Democratic rivals in offering more bread and circuses to the underprivileged masses, there is no longer any reason for conservatives to support it. Disenchanted and dismayed Republicans will do well to remember these pragmatic betrayals of conservative principle when The Most Important Election of Our Lifetime rolls around again three years from now.
Vox Day is a novelist and Christian libertarian. He is a member of the SFWA, Mensa and the Southern Baptist church, and has been down with Madden since 1992. Visit his Web log, Vox Popoli, for daily commentary and responses to reader email.
It's not the "only" thing we know. We've also learned that if it comes from WND, it's typically hysterical crap.
Interesting comment. A favorite question on push polls.
"Is the country going in the right direction?"
Zogby push-poll...Circa 2004
Yes, the country is going in the right direction under President Bush. And the majority of Americans agreed last Nov.
BTW, for the reading impaired among you lefty cheerleaders, please cite any post where I or anyone else on this thread ever said they wanted "Every last thing".
Um, OK, supporters on FR of President Bush are now called "lefty cheerleaders"? LOL
The Stafford Act - Mandates what the Federal Government must do in a disaster
http://www.fema.gov/library/stafact.shtm
Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act, as amended by Public Law 106-390, October 30, 2000
UNITED STATES CODE
Title 42. THE PUBLIC HEALTH AND WELFARE
CHAPTER 68. DISASTER RELIEF
[As amended by Pub. L. 103-181, Pub. L. 103-337, and Pub. L. 106-390]
(Pub. L. 106-390, October 30, 2000, 114 Stat. 1552 - 1575)
[snip]
Libertarians are always Mensa's, or is it visa versa?
The most important tenants of modern day conservatism reside in social issues, not economic.
In fact, I have always resented those people who smugly say "I'm a fiscal conservative and a social liberal." (They're just afraid to admit they are liberals)
Fiscal conservatism, after all, is virtually impossible without some semblance of social conservatism.
Withholding $$ from the less fortunates in society while watching that same segment live disfunctionally is not only destructive to the American quality of life, it goes against the grain of what it means to be a good citizen.
As for the govt. plans to spend a lot of $$ in Louisana, Mississippi and Alabama, what are we supposed to do? Tell the victims to just live in the mud and filth until the federal government has a surplus??
C'mon. President Bush is doing exactly the right thing. He has struck the right chord in the wake of a national tragedy, and I am hopeful that he might even convert more than a few "former" Democrats to a new vision of social conservatism while he's at it.
The problem is that the Democratic Party has drifted so far to the left, that many liberals even believe that the party has left them, so they have joined the GOP and watered the party down significantly.
Actually part of this can be credited to Ronald Reagan. Reagan made the GOP palatable to many who never even gave the GOP a second thought. But it has come at a price.
Save me from another Perot. He was a disaster for this country. The gullible people who voted for him gave us the Clinton presidency which we will be suffering the effects of for decades. I pray that the electorate is not stupid (or idealistic) enough to repeat that mistake. I doubt we could survive another 8 years of the Clintons.
Yes, Nixonian Republicans used to be only "Kaynesians". Now " Compassionate Conservatives" are "Johnsonians".
bump
Your opinion is different than mine. And it is just an opinion, not a fact. From the perspective of freedom, limited government, personal responsibility, constitutional direction, expansion of the welfare state and spending restraint, it is going the wrong direction. You must have different priorities. Oh well.
And the majority of Americans agreed last Nov.
That is a poor analysis. The majority were scared of Democrats. Fear sells.
Um, OK, supporters on FR of President Bush are now called "lefty cheerleaders"? LOL
You are among the reading impaired. I never mentioned Bush. And anyone who cheers big government and lost rights is a lefty cheerleader. I don't know where you stand on that, except you seem to have the same delusion as the other kids around here.
I think both Republicans and Democrats have sold us out. Both Clinton and Bush are both free traitors and globalists. The Republican Party is dominated by the big business interests and what happened to Pat Buchanan in 1996 is a good example of the fate of populist insurgents trying to work within the GOP. For years, I have been working to move the Democratic Party back to mainstream values on social issues, but that is an uphill battle to say the least. If a viable third party with the right kind of values came along, I would join it immediately.
We need a party that will really look out for the long-term interests of our nation and the American people. Those of us who are independent thinkers are a diverse group who are not inclined toward compromise and reaching agreement on a platform. I would like to see a party that would be except for gun control would be basically the opposite of the Libertarian Party.
We need a political party that will stand for traditional social values (pro-life and pro-traditional marriage), for the right to keep and bear arms, controlling our borders and restoring our national sovereignty. We need a party that will maintain a social safety net but promote the right kind of values in society. Most Americans don't want to go back to a 19th Century level of government, but we do want our tax dollars to be spend efficiently and government needs to get back to a pay as you go basis. We need a party that is pro-small business but recognizes that the greed of the marketplace cannot be allowed to run wild, that some market activities must be regulated and multi-national corporations must not be permitted to rule the world. We need a party that believes in economic nationalism and supports the interests in working Americans. What is needed is a party that is socially conservative and economically populist. The rejection of both Social Security privatization and gay marriage in public opinion polls suggests that there would be a constituency for such a party. If a party blended anti-corporate Naderism with a gentler and kinder Buchananism, I think they would be well received by working and middle Americans although certainly hated by the elites. The party could appeal to both working social conservatives now in the GOP and labor Democrats.
I have a lot of respect for the folks in the Constitution Party. They seem to be true Patriots and good Christian people. I do think that their view of the role of government is a too narrow to have broad public appeal and their desire to adopt Biblical law might also frighten away a lot of fairly traditional folks. The Reform Party is in shambles. The Libertarian Party is simply wrong about most things - legalizing hard drugs, open borders, wide open free trade, gay marriage or just abolishing government recognition of marriage altogether. The Green Party is dominated by Pagan peaceniks who would probably focus on animal rights if elected. We need a viable third party that will represent real America.
You have some good points. I think the author made a mistake using the word conservative. He should have used Republican instead. The Republican Party can only be called conservative by comparison with the Democratic Party. Your strategic retreat is actually a rout with the Republican Party leaving its conservative base to fend for itself. Such tactics will not win you any support with the troops.
I think that, for the reasons you state, both current parties are going to be replaced.
I would love to see the US move to a parlimentary system in the House. There would still be an alliance of conservatives that would look like todays Republican party, but there would be more opportunity to vote against a pork loving incumbent (R) without having to vote for an even worse pork loving challenger (D).
I understand the author's point but there are a lot more than three monkeys.
This forum is full of them.
But you types are lucky, the current Republican party fits the bill for you nicely.
The Dems wanted to crush GW at any cost....read trash the (then) fragile economy.
To avoid (above) serious recession/depression, GW's been spending on pork, etc to keep the economy humming (tho artificially, so)
Nah. Bush I gave us Perot when he dissed the Reagan Democrats. Perot could not have gotten all those votes on his personality. Perot got votes because voters had a choice. When the voters heard his views in the debates, Perot got votes from both majors. The majors will make sure 3rd parties never make the debates again.
You make my point. One is treatable, the other is not.
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