Posted on 12/31/2015 11:28:34 AM PST by Isara
“If you analyze it, I believe the very heart and soul of conservatism is libertarianism…The basis of conservatism is a desire for less government interference or less centralized authority or more individual freedom, and this is a pretty general description also of what libertarianism is.” – Ronald Reagan
We’re entering an unusual time in politics. It used to be conservatism versus liberalism; that was the standard by which everything was judged. There was little to no nuance within the two groups. I’m not saying that was incorrect. For the time, it was perfectly appropriate. Now, however, we’ve become a less homogenous voting public. We’ve become fractured–and that’s not a bad thing. This fracturing has revealed to us who people really are.
There was a time when I believed Rick Santorum was a conservative. The problem with this belief is that it’s too broad. There are aspects of Santorum’s policy that are conservative, but his overall political belief system is not conservative.
Rick Santorum is a theocrat.
This fact was made clear when the former Senator appeared on Newsmax TV’s “The Steve Malzberg Show” Monday, and attacked Ted Cruz for being too constitutional. Yes. Your eyes do not deceive you.
Here’s the exact quote from Santorum:
“Most of the social conservative votes are going to Cruz and Trump, neither of which are particularly strong social conservatives. I mean, Donald Trump has never been a social conservative up until the last few months. And Ted Cruz takes the position of very much the Tenth Amendment and State's rights, you know, which is sort of a Rand Paul/Ron Paul position.”
Uh, what?
Specifically referencing gay marriage and marijuana legalization, Santorum said:
“[Cruz] doesn’t agree with it but he’s not going to fight it…That’s not what people are looking for. They’re looking for someone who has a very clear vision of what’s right and what’s wrong and be able to lay that vision out for the American people.”
Ted Cruz is a constitutional conservative, and as such, he believes strongly in the Tenth Amendment, which says that the powers not enumerated to the federal government are to be left to the states. It’s a powerful amendment that was designed to protect Americans from federal overreach. Given this belief, Ted Cruz has stated numerous times that while he is personally opposed to gay marriage and marijuana legalization, it’s a question that must be left up to the states, per the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution.
Now, for Rick Santorum, this is a bad thing. He believes that the federal government should dictate these decisions. This is in defiance of the Tenth Amendment–but he doesn’t care. He wants to use his authority–were he to have it–to impose his will on the entirety of the American people. Even if the majority of Americans were in favor of gay marriage, he would have it banned on a federal level.
I’m as socially conservative as they come, but I understand that there are certain things that cannot and must not be decided federally. I also understand that there is good reason for this rule. Overabundant centralized power never works out; it metastasizes, and eventually strangles the people. The Tenth Amendment is a wall protecting us from the wolves of federal aggression. As a constitutional conservative, I can look at the issue of gay marriage and know that while I may personally oppose it, it is not the role of the federal government to make the call as to whether or not it is legally recognized.
This is one of the differences among conservatives that has been made exceedingly clear this election cycle. Some running are constitutional conservatives, while others are theocrats. Some are status quo Republicans, while some are hybrids.
A constitutional conservative is what we need. We’ve moved so far away from what the Founders designed that we need someone who will take us back to our original framework. Ted Cruz is that person. Rick Santorum is a theocrat, and he has a right to be a theocrat, but to castigate Ted Cruz for not being conservative enough is ludicrous.
I guess polling at 0.5% makes one mad.
I can’t. I think very highly of EV as person and as a pro-lifer who has taught me things on that subject (and he knows that because I’ve told him), but I see no reason to jump on Cruz like that.
I hear that Trump’s body has such perfect metabolism that it perfectly utilizes every calorie ingested and thus there is no waste product produced. This is yet another reason to vote for him. No bathroom breaks.
The terms “conservative” and “liberal” and “left” and “right” have had so many different meanings and usages that they are mostly meaningless.
The conservative of Cruz is close to Goldwater and Reagan but from from Burke. And consider the issues.
I remember attending Youth for Goldwater and Young People’s Socialist league in the same week in spring of ‘64. We YFG evangelicals were considered anti-tobacco and homo friendly (as long as they stayed in the closet).
YPSL was extremely pro-tobacco and extremely anti-homo. All homos were accused of being spies for J Edgar Hoover.
Now the roles and definitions are flipped.
As recently as 2002 all conservative talk ratio hosts had the Wall Street Journal capitalist -Let the Free Market decided- position on immigration. They ridiculed Pat Buchanan for being the only anti-immigration conservative, as did McLaughlin and conservatives on TV. My Congressman Phil Crane, the ACU candidate for president in 1980, was known as one of the most open borders politicians in DC.
Then between 2002 and 2004 most conservatives totally flipped, rejecting capitalism and pushing a big government approach to immigration. And these new big government conservatives get indignant when the truth is pointed out to them.
Then there are the neo-Cons. Pre-neo-Con, conservatives were for big national security, big defense because they were anti-communist. The neo-cons are pro-big government both domestically and internationally. For example, their nation-building plan for Iraq was to neuter all the local village and provincial political power and centralize everything in one big single branch in Bagdad. And that bears the label conservative.
Of course, the same could be said for the label: liberal.
So if Ron and Rand wear their pants zippers in front, Rick will wear his in the back? Wotta maroon.
I think marriage is marriage nationwide. Calling every org*sm marriage doesn’t make it true. Still, the states rights argument is the only one gaining any traction. I’ll take it over nothing at all.
My main point was that Cruz never changed positions. Both positions are better than Trump’s position, which essentially says it has already been decided and there is nothing more to be done.
That's what he does.
Repeatedly. Habitually. Constantly.
And, Edmund, if you continue challenging him, you will be warned about God's wrath.
Santorum is not a theocrat. He does believe in our society being founded on Judeo-Christian values. That is another matter. All the founders of this nation agreed with that and they were certainly not theocrats.
The charge is just a smear used by those who want to keep moving our society more and more to the radical left and who fear that someone with some common sense might try to unravel the garbage the left has entangled us in.
Wow.
It's going to take someone drunk to do that, most likely.
“My question is, why is Rick even putting forth the effort? Does he seriously think he has a chance?”
Rick is a member of the elite group that self-identify as “former Presidential candidates.”
It is a career path, which leads to a nice six-figure income and lifestyle, of TV appearances, book, speaking engagements, etc.
The same people that have or would vote for him, for his theocratic political philosophy, will effectively support him indefinitely.
Huckabee will be going back to it, also. So in 2020 do Santorum, Huck, Fiorina, Carson, Perry, Walker, Cain, Gingrich, Bush, Christie, Pataki, Jinhdal, Rand Paul, Lindsey Graham, maybe Ron Paul, Pat Buchanan, and who know who else come out and clog up the GOP process?
Will it start in 2018? Will there get to be 20 candidates?
Well Pharisee types are like that. Televangelists, Intervangelists...liberals. SSDD.
LOL, pree-cisely
LOL!!
Oh my. To hide behind God. How unbiblical of me.
(Open area left for irony detection!)
Yeah God has wrath, and if He says there is some chink, ANY chink, in your armor against him... He can give you the royal shaking treatment (or technically, tell the devil to go ahead and do it to you, because as the bible says, He does not willingly grieve the sons of men) until you’re ready to lay your pride down and let Him through the chink. Then you’ll wonder why you ever opposed Him, what a stupid thing to do towards such a kind God.
I mean, if He SEES such a chink... really this God bends over backwards to be gracious to ANY hint of willingness...
Santorum is what used to be called a “Rose Window Conservative”: much more concerned with conserving the heritage of Medieval Scholasticism and the Council of Trent than in conserving the American Founding. The whole Anglo-Scottish “Enlightenment” on which the American Founding was based is one step too far for him, just like the Continental “Enlightenment” was a step too far for those of us whose conservatism is shaped by Burke, Acton and Kirk.
> “Ted Cruz is a constitutional conservative, and as such, he believes strongly in the Tenth Amendment, which says that the powers not enumerated to the federal government are to be left to the states. It’s a powerful amendment that was designed to protect Americans from federal overreach.”
It was badly ‘designed’ because it did not take into account that Congress would be captured by the NY Fed, thereby detaching the People from responsive representation. The number of lobbyists inside the Beltway has quintupled since Ronald Reagan and the reason is the money. The NY Fed has been channeling digitally created money through the bond markets to the US Government. The bond traders have grown very rich and fat, and they setup lobbyists for their own purposes as well as for foreign clients such as Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the like.
The 10th Amendment was for a time when money was not created from nothing, but was backed by gold.
Bottomline is the 10th Amendment will never be enforced by any portion of the Federal Government. It is written for the States but there is no enforcement mechanism save by concrete action of Congress which will not act because the members are mere conduits for Fed created money and will not submit funding bills that contain riders tha limit federal funds to conditions arising from 10th Amendment concerns,
What is needed is an Article V Amendment that is controllable by a threshold of 30 States to provide a means to void any action of federal government.
Project we much, and if much, then project we will..
“We” being “You”. “Project” being your whole post. “Much” being the quantitative descriptor of the level involved.
You know, the thought of having to look at those same faces over and over again...
But I see your point.
That sounds like a Roman Catholic take on Christianity.
This is better than NO take on Christianity, of course. God can fix distorted belief better than NO belief.
While Cruz isn’t technically a NO belief situation, indulge me in a little “concern trollery” as to whether he buys into the dominionist wishes of his papa towards him (his papa’s son). If he does... that’s a heaping helping of self will sitting where faith in Christ really ought to be. Jesus refused the devil’s offer to give him the kingdoms of the earth prematurely (before God snatches them from him) over this issue... it’s not the most trivial thing in the world, let’s say that.
Please take this not as an absolute statement of bad news, but as a pointer to a wisp of smoke coming from his house. Maybe he just burned the beans, or maybe his house is on fire. We might want to look.
I’m gathering that God will give me the royal shaking treatment for my pride-—or, in other words, because I challenge Hi-Tech.
Am I reading that right, Norm?
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