"And if you elect me, I will crush all of those right-wing crazies--with my bare hands---"
Posted on 09/12/2003 12:19:04 PM PDT by EllaMinnow
Social conservatism means a serious fidelity to those beliefs and traditions which keep us civilized and decent.
Arnold Schwarzenegger is a social conservative, despite much rhetoric to the contrary. Social conservatism means a serious fidelity to those beliefs and traditions which keep us civilized and decent without resort to laws, regulations and bureaucrats.
Social conservatism is a respect for tradition and for values which have withstood the test of time. Chinese family members who respect and support one another, even at the cost of personal wishes, are social conservatives whatever their metaphysical beliefs.
This definition of social conservatism as a matter of example rather than profession does not mean we agree on every detail of moral behavior. It means instead that we root ourselves in something permanent, dignified and civic. Even eccentricity can be socially conservative. British and American peoples are famous for producing men who, for want of a better term, are cranks. That is very much a part of the culture of these two nations.
At the heart of social conservatism is fidelity. Often men who are social conservatives are ideologically left of center. Jimmy Carter is a good example. By all appearances, Carter took his marital vows seriously and his religious faith seriously. He stopped serving hard liquor at White House dinners.
That did not prevent Carter from being a petty, spiteful and almost insufferable boor. And it certainly did not prevent Carter from being wrong on almost every issue. But it does mean that Jimmy Carter was a social conservative.
Joe Lieberman is also a social conservative, even if he supports terrible policies. Every indication is that Lieberman is a religiously serious Orthodox Jew. It is impossible to imagine Joe munching a bacon cheeseburger on Kol Nidre. Bill Bradley is another social conservative who loves his wife, gained his wealth and fame through guts and hard work, and sincerely believes in all the bad ideas he proposes.
The beauty of America, of course, is that social conservatism does not require being correct as much as being sincere. It does not require conformity to a particular catechism so much as it means conformity to some catechism. The bewildering variety of religions, sects, and societies in American life is a testament to Americans respecting in social life the same freedom to be wrong that we respect in our economic life. Indeed, social conservatism is another form of market choice which helps, through competition, to elevate cultures and traditions within America.
Arnold Schwarzenegger is made of the "right stuff.” There is no odor of phoniness about him. He loves his wife and family. He worked his way to the top with sweat and diligence. He resembles a number of other social conservative Republicans around President Bush who are not generally recognized as social conservatives.
Who? How about Colin Powell? He turned down the Presidency itself in 1996 out of respect for his wife and family. Does anyone question that what Powell believes, he believes sincerely? How about Tom Ridge, who was too liberal to be the running mate in 2000, but who putters around his home for recreation and grew up in the Marine Corps.
Tony Blair and Rudy Giuliani are social conservatives who we seldom see as social conservatives. Both these heroic figures do what they do publicly and because they believe it is right. Thank goodness both are on our side now--social conservatives dig their heels in very deeply!--but even when Giuliani supports abortion or Powell supports affirmative action, they can do so looking you straight in the eye with a polygraph examiner unable to detect a hint of spin in their answers.
This type of social conservative--guys doing what they think is right because they think it is right--is precisely the sort of man that President Bush has shown incredible skill in using to make America better. Our Texan President, our proudly Cowboy President, does not demand that anyone agree with him on every issue. In fact, such silly boys can be skimmed off the corporate boards of a hundred big companies.
He wants people who are true to themselves. He wants, and we should want, real social conservatives. Rabbis who read Torah as if it were holy writ. Priests who take their vows seriously. Men who honor their parents and are faithful to their wives. Men like Arnold Schwarzenegger or Ronald Reagan or John Wayne, who will fight for what they think is right.
When Governor Schwarzenegger takes office, President Bush will find honor more valuable than agreement and grit more important than obedience. It will be a winning team, perhaps a team that can transform America.
"And if you elect me, I will crush all of those right-wing crazies--with my bare hands---"
Only 32 posts before we get a Nazi reference. The desperation is so thick you can cut it with a chain saw.
I think Tom Sowell has lost his bearings.
Oh.. and what do you think of President Bush 41? He just donated to Schwarzeneggers campaign.
I think that speaks for itself.
When you drop a hammer on a planet with positive gravity, it falls to the ground.
The sun rises in the East and sets in the West.
A candidate polling 40 percent of the vote less than a month before an election deserves more support than another polling 4-5 percent.
That is called moral relativism. Have you ever heard of it?
Arnold's supporters are really getting deseperate. So if you are pro-abortion, pro-gay rights, pro-gun control, and pro-illegal immigration then you are a social conservative? This makes a lot of sense.
True. Cruz is on a budget you see, and posts to FreeRepublic are a heck of a lot cheaper than having to buy TV time.
I only make a nazi reference because this piece of writing is propaganda that would have made Goebbels proud. If you want to make something more out of it than that, you're projecting.
Arnold Schwarzenegger would even think it was ridiculous on its face. He himself, and this is a direct quote, said, "I'm an extreme liberal on social issues", end quote.
LOL. The only "deseperation" being displayed here is by supporters of one of the losing candidates in the race.
National Catholic Register
August 24-30, 2003
Commentary & Opinion
by JOHN ZMIRAK
It's impossible for a satirist to improve upon the farcical situation facing voters in California.
The upcoming recall election features some 135 candidates, arranged in a random order by bingo-hoppers across the state, which include a porn "star," an Austrian weightlifter best known for playing an animatronic murderous robot and the even less life-like sitting governor, Gray Davis.
As a fiction writer, I would never have the nerve to make such stuff up. It's all too implausible, even for the great state that gave us Jerry Brown, Haight-Ashbury and EST. (To readers under 30 who might suspect that these are names of Scottish novelists or cable TV stations: Do a Google search on each for hours of guilt-free laughter.)
This landmark of American democracy in action makes Gov. Jesse Ventura and the hanging chads of Florida seem like chapters from a civics textbook. Reading The New York Times these days you'd think it had merged with the online sarcasm site The Onion.
So I'll dispense with the cheap shots and get to the point.
As much as it might all seem like a Mardi Gras parade, there are some deadly serious issues at stake in the California race. At the moment, it seems all too likely that, by sheer force of name recognition, Arnold Schwarzenegger might receive his very first position in government as the head of America's largest, most populist and once-richest state.
He'll do his on-the-job training holding the welfare of tens of millions in his bone-crushing hands. I know that at least one actor made the same leap, with enormous success: the beloved Ronald Reagan. Of course, Reagan had long been active in politics, campaigning for Barry Goldwater, and before that leading the successful purge of communists from the Screen Actors Guild. That means we shouldn't beat Arnold to death with his resumé.
I'm much more concerned about the incipient front-runner's views. As Christian leaders across California are desperate to remind Republican voters, Schwarzenegger has publicly and plainly endorsed abortion on demand and the legalization of homosexual "marriage."
These two issues alone should ban him as a biohazard - too toxic to touch. We have unambiguous statements from the Vatican that make clear it is sinful to support such a candidate, particularly when there are reasonable alternatives. Read about them online at www.traditionalvalues.org.
This isn't a case of choosing the lesser of two evils - and that's perhaps the one positive aspect of this electoral pandemonium: The structure of the recall election prevents the two parties from offering voters a choice between pro-abortion Tweedledee and Tweedledum.
If pro-life, pro-normal-marriage voters united behind a single candidate, he might very well win with only 25-30% of the vote. It's unlikely he could do much to restrict abortion in California, whose legislature legalized the procedure years before Roe v. Wade snatched it from voters' reach. But he could provide leadership, thunder from his bully pulpit or nibble away at public funding for destruction of the unborn. Small steps - little things - but real ones. The road to heaven is paved with them.
More importantly, the defeat of a socially libertine Republican would prevent the powerful pro-abortion faction in that party from growing still more influential.
The governors of major states have a powerful say in writing party platforms, boosting or crushing the hopes of pro-life and pro-family congressmen, and dishing out cash from the party war chest. It's a major blow to the pro-life cause that Republican George Pataki is the governor of New York; the only consolation is that in presidential elections Republicans have largely written off the place.
But Karl Rove and George Bush (perhaps fantastically) hope to carry California in 2004. When its newly elected governor speaks, they will feel pressure to listen. Think what it would mean to have two parties from which to choose - one that is officially, wildly pro-abortion and pro-homosexual "marriage" and another that is neutral or lukewarm on the issues. Would we bother to vote?
It's also telling that Mr. Schwarzenegger has chosen as campaign manager former Gov. Pete Wilson, who for all his virtues as a competent head of that state was a leader in trying to neutralize pro-life voices in his party. And things get uglier: Schwarzenegger has designated as his chief economic adviser Warren Buffett Jr. - a man who when he isn't enriching his fortunate investors busies himself pouring untold millions into Planned Parenthood and even worse organizations that promote forced sterilization throughout the developing world.
If I could get Mr. Schwarzenegger alone for a few minutes, I would remind him of a scene from his wonderful film Terminator II, which I saw in the theater nine times. For all its onscreen violence - don't bring the kids - the movie enfolds throughout its story a real reverence for human life, even a sense of its sanctity.
One scene I cannot forget pits the young John Connor (Edward Furlong) in an argument against the Terminator (Schwarzenegger), who came from the future to save Connor and the human race. Up to then, the Terminator had been remorselessly mowing down anyone who got in his way - like a good utilitarian. Appalled at the carnage, Connor pulls the cyborg aside and argues with him: "You just can't go around killing people!"
The Terminator is confused. "Why not?"
"You just can't."
"But I'm a Terminator."
"You're going to have to trust me on this. You just can't."
At some point, argument breaks down. You can't prove to someone that human life is sacred; especially if he doesn't feel that way about his own. It's a truth that's conveyed a thousand ways, through acts of compassion, empathy and reverence that human decency suggests and Christian faith demands.
After the exchange, the Terminator switches gears and only shoots to wound, using minimal force against police and army units - even in his mission to prevent a nuclear war. In other words, he fights according to just-war principles. This fact alone makes the film worth watching again.
So if I could corner the Terminator, that's what I'd say to him.
"You have to trust me on this. You can't go around killing people. You just can't."
J.P. Zmirak is author of Wilhelm Röpke: Swiss Localist, Global Economist (www.isibooks.org).
Hitler had only one testicle. You don't suppose ...
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