Posted on 10/03/2005 10:38:40 PM PDT by goldstategop
hereby officially pronounce the conservative movement dead.
May it rest in peace.
It was killed by its faith in men, not principles men like George W. Bush.
The appointments of John Roberts as chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court and Harriet Miers as associate justice serve as the epitaphs for the political movement.
But even before these betrayals, conservatism was on life support.
It could not have survived the irresponsible spending by the Republican Congress, approved by the president during the last five years.
The conservative movement, in the best of times, represented a defensive effort to slow the trend toward unconstitutional, unlimited, centralized, Washington-based government.
Today, it represents, at best, only the hope of a slightly slower trend toward socialism and tyranny.
Let me state this plainly, as I do in my new updated, paperback edition of "Taking America Back": If Republicans filled every seat in the U.S. Congress and maintained control of the presidency, unconstitutional government would continue in Washington unchecked.
The confirmation of that fact came last week when former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay explained there was absolutely no place to cut the bloated federal budget. He said Republicans had done such a good job reining in government spending over the last decade, there was no fat left.
For those who still revere and love the U.S. Constitution, freedom and the goal of self-government, the death of the conservative movement might seem like a bad thing. I would submit to you it may be a necessary development to restoring the American Dream.
As long as the totality of political alternatives for the American people are represented by the Republicans and Democrats, conservatives and liberals, the drift away from the unique founding principles of American sovereignty and liberty will inevitably continue.
Quite frankly, it's time for some new creative thinking among Americans who still value what made America great.
No amount of defensive wrangling will be enough to preserve or restore our free republic.
It's time to think outside the box. It's time to exercise some courage and boldness. It's time to realize no war is won fighting defensively trying in vain to hold on to old turf with no attempt to win new turf. It's time for freedom-lovers to reframe their political objectives. It's time to set goals for expanding liberty and morality, not just beating back relentless attempts to rob us of them.
Are you looking for new strategies, new tactics? Do you see that conservatism has only lost ground for the last 17 years? Do you understand we need to do more than work to elect politicians to represent us in Washington? Do you agree that the corruption of our system now runs too deep?
This may sound alarmist to some: But, at this point in history, Americans are less free than we were under the Crown of England.
Do any of us have the courage and convictions of our Founders? How many of us are willing to risk our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor for the cause of freedom today?
That is my challenge to you today.
We can complain about out-of-control government for the rest of our lives. We can continue to watch our liberty slip away. We can leave our children and grandchildren a society far worse off than the one which we inherited from our parents and grandparents. Or we stand up to the tyranny, get organized, set goals for expanding freedom, reclaiming ground robbed from us and set above rebuilding that shining city on a hill.
I don't pretend to have all the answers. If any man does, don't believe him. But I can read the handwriting on the wall. The political system in America is broken. It cannot be repaired with a little tinkering. Freedom-loving Americans need to realize they don't have a political party that represents them. Freedom-loving Americans need to realize they don't have a political movement that represents them.
Nothing could be clearer to me. How about you?
Let's not wring our hands over the latest Supreme Court nomination. Let's not whine about spending by the Republican Congress and president. Let's not mourn the death of conservatism. Let's get organized to build a new freedom movement with an offensive strategy and the goal of taking our country back.
Dunno. Your guess is as good as mine. :)
Would you like some wine and cheese to go with your pitiful whining of about this lady?
This is what we need at a time like this. More of the nominees words and less second-guessing analysis. I for one, do not find a weakness for someone who choses to keep their opinions IN CONFIDENCE. No doubt POTUS has a very clear idea of this candidate. I am not drinking the red or blue Kool Aid.
As one of the few bold and brave FReepers around here - I dare say I agree completely with this statement and with Farah's article. I realized this was coming about a year ago, even though I voted for Bush again in 2004. (Kerry was too Skerry) For me, my disenchantment began when my husband's unit in Iraq got extended for a third time. I became so disillusioned with Bush, Rummy especially, and the GOP that I re-registered as an "independent", and have stayed that way ever since. Don't get me wrong, I strongly support the war on terror and going in to Iraq in general - but at the same time I felt the war was so poorly planned that the administration had let me and my husband down. After Bush got re-elected he seems to have fallen off the planet. He goes on with his life as though there is no war anymore. The last straw for me was when he went to go save Socialist Security. WTF? Nowadays, he only seems to speak of the Iraq war when there is public pressure to do so, as though it has been reduced to a yapping little puppy nipping constantly at his heals. So I digress...
Anyway, I will probably have ZOTs and Viking Kitties thrown at me now for daring to speak out this way.
I best hide under my desk now.
Bump!
Shaddup Farah. Nuff said about this ignorant whine.
Not to split hairs ('cause what you posted was good stuff), but wasn't the ban on PBA struck down by some whacknut judge?
NOTHING to forgive. I asked my question in earnest.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7178784/
4,500 pilots armed by March 2005
One of the best posts I've ever seen. Good work. To bad the Donner Party Losers won't bother to read it.
They might "read" it -- they just can't refute it...lol.
The % of GDP for the DEFICIT is less then under Reagan so what about 9/11 and the Iraq war.
What, because we have a DEFICIT smaller then under Reagan we need to FREEK out ?
Get a grip man and get real.
It's a fact of life and not the end of the world that we have a DEFICIT but it also is a fact that if you add the increases in defense spending it is more then the DEFICIT.
So what are you saying stop funding the military?
Man you Sunday Morning TV show armchair sheep really piss me off sometimes!
President Bush the elder gave us Justice Thomas. Would you care to tell me who is MORE conservative, on SCOTUS?
"Would you like some wine and cheese to go with your pitiful whining of about this lady?"
For pete's sake, if you're going to act superior, you could at least get a simple cliche right.
Lower courts have very limited powers. Yes, a couple of lower courts have struck it down **temporarily**, but it is still law and could easily be re-instated by SCOTUS when they next take the case up.
More importantly, passage of that law shows progress being made...Conservatism is on the march...on the offensive...so powerful that national lawmakers are catering to our demands for legislation.
In contrast, know-nothings like Farah pretend that Conservatism has done **nothing** but lose ground every day for the past 17 years. What, banned partial birth abortion and cut income taxes 3 times and deployed national missile defenses?! They never heard of it.
Some posters even here on FR cheer on Farah's drivel (if you look at the ones who posted before reading any responses early on in this thread, anyway). That's just ignorance on parade.
Ooooh, ooohh, grunt...Pubbies are as bad as Dems...grunt, grunt...
< rolls eyes >
I'll address your post point-by-point when I have the time (about to leave work); suffice it to say that I think you have been drinking the Bushbot koolaid too long.
But chew on this in the meantime....
1) He may have signed the Partial Birth abortion ban, but liberal courts are keeping it alive; this won't be finally decided for at least a decade.
2) Bush didn't kill Kyoto; the Senate did. (98-0, IIRC)
Also, don't forget the drunken-sailor spending, ignoring illegal immigration, and kissing der Slickmeister's and Uncle Teddy's @sses every chance he gets.
I'll deal with the rest of your propoganda a little later.
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