Mount Vernon Statement Released Today – Constitutional Conservatism?

Looks like FREEDOM is catching FIRE again! The Mount Vernon Statement is set to be signed today by 80 leading conservatives on the eve of the Conservative Political Action Committee (CPAC) event in Washington this week. Some call it a manifesto, some a resurgence of the Contract with America. May I remind readers of the true conservative manifesto? Michelle Malkin just hit on this topic and I thought it was worthwhile to write some commentary. The United States Constitution is a fantastic document written by great leaders who ensured the document would work well centuries into the future. They provided for a means to amend the document, ensuring it could “live”in that way, but they did not intend the document to be vauge. In fact, it was – and is – very clear.

I know a lot of people have been dismissing this gathering. I don’t. While I won’t agree with every pol in that group, I do know they’re much closer to being CORRECT than a similarly gathered group from the leftists.

Heck, not every member of the first Constitutional Convention agreed with everyone else. :)

These folks know we folks in the Tea Party movement are not kidding around. We can’t be bought, we aren’t just playing games, and we respect Christianity, the Constitution, and Capitalism.

Strange then, that we can say along with the drug-induced British band “The Who” the words “Won’t Be Fooled Again!”

We won’t know for sure until tomorrow, but if it is specific enough in its discussion of these principles (and their application), I think it could help. Many self-described conservatives do not quite “get” conservatism, or at least some of its crucial details. The right to freedom can be too easily dismissed by people saying, “There are limits to freedom,” a point that could be made in defense of every act of coercion. If more of us understood how the right to freedom works, as a self-limiting right (in that there is no right to the “freedom” to deprive others of their own freedom) I don’t think that this mistake would be made so frequently. That’s just an example, of course.

But my point is that the fact that these people signed the Mount Vernon Statement could cause others to read it and take it seriously, and if it were to turn out to be any good, that could cause the ocnservative community to become more focused and, on average, less confused as to what the conservative philosophy really is.

I don’t know why they didn’t just adopt the Twelve Points (http://conservatism.the12points.com; see also http://the12points.com), but with any luck, the Mount Vernon Statement will turn out to be worth something.

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.