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.
Haha! What a joke. Always some losers who will twist things to their own short sighted view of the world.
You're spot on about infiltration here. It's not the same site as is was even a year ago. The gloom and doomers are spreading their rain of death on the GOP. It's not going to work.
Since the author does not give examples to support his fraudulent claim it is hard for me to take the rest of the article seriously. GWB is WYSIWYG as far as politicians go.
The is a cry from the political wilderness from libertarians who have wandered there for decades because they refuse to extract the radical element from their midst. It is those radicals who are the public face of the Libertarian Party and until the moderates take over (if there are any left) they remain politically impotent.
The only correct thing in this article is the last sentence, however "disenchanted Republicans" should remember the outcome of the '92 election should they choose once again to send a message to the Republican party.
Does "Down with Madden since 1992" mean that he is gay?
You don't have to be a Michael Palooka for President supporter to understand that the GOP is a liberal big government party.
The author conveniently forgets to mention several, salient points:
1. More people consider themselves religious and attend a place of worship more regularly than they have in 50 or so years. Religious belief and participation is a hallmark of a conservative society.
2. More people have an ownership stake in their society thanks to 401(k)'s, record home ownership, increased upward mobility, etc., than at any other time in American history. People with property want it protected. This is also a hallmark of a conservative society.
3. Census data does not lie: within the next 50 years, blacks (iron-clad liberal voters) will become a staistically insignificant portion of the population. The WWII generation (wedded to the New Deal) is dying off. Hispanics are the fastest growing segment of the population and they tend to be both conservative and Catholic or Evangelical Christians.
4. Slowly but surely, the entire leftist social agenda is being modified or phased out not by government fiat but by social pressure. Welfare reform, the elimination of abortion on demand, the defense of traditional marriage, etc., are all topics better left to the unwritten rules of society than they are to legislation. This is also a conservative hallmark --- it's called "self-regulation".
Put this all together and what do you have?
With the decline in the black popualtion and the dying off of the New Deal population, the Democratic base constituencies are declining. With the general increase in real wealth, more people now have more to protect and enjoy. With the increase in the numbers of people attending church and the increase of socially-conservative Hispanics, the conservative base is increasing in numbers. Social mores are on the upswing and pressing against the bastions of liberal thought silently, but relentlessly. If this doesn't make America a more conservative society than it was before Reagan, I don't know what does.
Where conservatism is failing, however, is in having to govern in a non-traditional (for conservatives) way (i.e. prescription drug benefits, increased education spending, increased social spending, etc). These are tactical retreats intended to make the conservative line more attractive to swing voters. This is what the author seems to have a problem with (i.e. Compassionate Conservatism). This is not what conservatism is, it's just the political enviornment it finds itself operating in these days.
However, we have to be aware that while republicans and conservatives are being elected in record numbers, we should not get big-headed about it and lord it over the rest of the population. A complete conservative victory in all areas of policy would be just as dangerous as a full-throttle liberal victory. If either side actually was allowed to impplement everything they stand for, there would be open revolt in the streets.
There will only be a conservative collapse when conservatives get it in their heads that they can just demand whatever they want and have it magically appear or be rubber-stamped by a conservative-majority government. We still live in a constitutional republic, you know.
Your speculation about what I want aside, you didn't answer the question.
I'll stick with the party that is closer to being a dominant, conservative party than your party will ever be!
What party would that be? If leaping to conclusions were an Olympic event, you would win gold.
The Republican Party can be reformed. Only those people who want everything overnight are losing faith.
No luck so far, they have moved significantly left.
Only those people who want everything overnight are losing faith.
Again, you are clueless to me ever having had any faith in the Republican party. Not to mention, all the things I want are NEVER going to come from the Republican party, and 200 yrs ain't overnight. That's how long people have been wanting things.
See post 40.
The fact is we'll get a lot farther by trying to further conservatism in the Republican party right now (because of guys like McClintock, Tancredo, Pence, etc.) If the Democrats disappear, then we can talk.
That is the key for any 3rd party.. Build from the ground up.
Oh yeah. I got Janice Rogers Brown on the DC court, Roberts on the Supreme Court, LNG plants coming and more energy plants. More logging. If you think you are getting shafted because you don't get every last thing you want, come see me and I'll give you a pacifier.
> As long as the democrat party exists voting constitution only helps the left.
I hear what you're saying, but the only way (AFAIK) these backsliders will listen to us is if we threaten (credibly) that we're going to walk if they continue to spend like drunken sailors. I'm not above a little blackmail if it will help to save my country.
But I'm open to suggestion. What's an alternative way to get 'em to change their minds and start going back to fiscal responsibility? At this point I'm willing to try anything. Bending over and taking it up the kazootie every time they pass another gargantuan handout ISN'T WORKING.
Blah, blah, blah. Yammer, yammer, yammer. Once again the retards at World Nut Daily open their yaps and show their irrelevancy. Lovers of Losers Unite You Have Nothing to Lose But Victory. The Constipation Partay is just another Joke.
You are delusional.
Pence in 2008, before it's too late.
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