Posted on 10/18/2005 8:18:22 AM PDT by Erik Latranyi
It is time to take some conservatives to the woodshed.
With a heavy heart, I write the above after visiting Free Republic this morning.
Why?
Simply our discourse is degenerating. I am dismayed at the amount of name-calling taking place in these pages. I am even more dismayed that this name-calling is being conducted by conservatives against conservatives.
I understand the anger and disappointment stemming from the Miers nomination, but also inclusive of the budget deficit, education department, immigration, etc. These are matters that bother me as well.
Unfortunately, the tone on Free Republic bothers me even more. When conservatives call each other names and friendly disagreement over issues degenerates into those proclaiming to be "real conservatives" versus "phony conservatives" we only bow to our lowest common denominator.
Rush Limbaugh calls this the "conservative crackdown". In many ways he is right (as Rush is so often). Conservatives do not want stealth candidates. We worked hard to win and will continue to work hard to increase our majorities and enact our agenda.
We are proud conservatives and we want to proclaim this from the mountain tops!
We also want those who represent us to be proud as well. We do not want apologies. We do not want stealth. We do not need to hide behind "compassionate conservative" labels.
We are the majority and we will remain the majority as long as we continue to educate the public about what conservatism is and why we demand responsibility from both the individual and the gov't.
However, lately, we are calling each other names.
This is liberal-speak. We do not want to stoop to the level of our enemies. We should not use their tactics, either.
Conservatives use logic and reason to support our ideas. We can disagree without being disagreeable.
We are not doing that, folks!
Too many of us are so caught up lately that we forget how to be civil. If you want to call names and use the F-bomb, go to DU. You will find that language replaces truth and fact everywhere.
And that is what names do, isn't it? Names replace truth and fact.
But we are conservatives. Truth and fact are what got us this far and it will be truth and fact that continue our rise to roll back 80 years of liberalism.
Some of us back President Bush and trust his judgement. Some of us do not. That is OK. That is healthy for our movement.
What is unhealthy for our movement is this name-calling.
Let it stop. Let us debate Harriet Miers over facts and truth. Stop pronouncing yourself a "true conservative" and anybody who backs President Bush a "Bush-Bot". That is liberal-speak.
I didn't post it, but believe its a good post.
Thanks, anyway.
But which ones? The ones advising President Bush?
If I may interject, AC, sense the question wasn't asked of me.
I've come to the conclusion that more often than not, "conservatism," "real conservative," and "true conservative" are simply euphemisms for a type of identity politics. That's how I now see it.
If you want a Google GMail account, FReepmail me.
Also, please see The Backside of American History
You'll love this 187 page .pdf (1.99 MB)
Sure you could! ;^)
XOXOX
"The President is merely the most important among a large number of public servants. He should be supported or opposed exactly to the degree which is warranted by his good conduct or bad conduct, his efficiency or inefficiency in rendering loyal, able, and disinterested service to the Nation as a whole. Therefore it is absolutely necessary that there should be full liberty to tell the truth about his acts, and this means that it is exactly necessary to blame him when he does wrong as to praise him when he does right. Any other attitude in an American citizen is both base and servile. To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public. Nothing but the truth should be spoken about him or any one else. But it is even more important to tell the truth, pleasant or unpleasant, about him than about any one else."
-- Teddy Roosevelt in the "Kansas City Star", May 7, 1918
Precisely.
Labels and name-calling do not advance our agenda.
Right! Who was it that said, "Washington DC is about itself"?
One thing I have learned on here
Conservative does not= integrity and respect
I agree with you 100% on this. I just find it downright laughable when a big-government hack like William Kristol publicly denounces the nomination of Miers for not being "conservative enough."
That's the equivalent of having a bloated slob like Ted Kennedy complain that she isn't thin enough and might have a drinking problem.
The rape of the US Constitution will continue if conservatives try to preach rather than teach.
Thanks for your post! What I find so disconcerting is the group who proclaims to love the constitution so much that they are unwilling to give this woman a fair hearing because they feel that by not being a legal scholar or judge that she is unqualified to sit on the SCOTUS. That is precisely what the drafters of the constitution wanted to avoid.
I agree. Nobody is above criticism. However, the tactics being used to conduct that criticism ignore this part of your post......
Nothing but the truth should be spoken about him or any one else.
THAT is what I am talking about.
LOL. I totally agree AC, it's hypocritical.
The term "conservatism" has been dumbed down to mean anything, or nothing.
That's a good point. Someone described what happens in Washington under a change in administration from one party to the other (1992 and 2000, for example) as the equivalent of Boeing and Microsoft shutting down their Seattle operations, and Toyota and Apple Computer starting up new operations there a week later.
Social conservatives who don't really give a crap about fiscal issues, fiscal conservatives who don't really give a crap about social issues, small-government conservatives, "little l" libertarian conservatives, Southpark conservatives, evangelical conservatives
And that is what FR is all about! We can have differing political views, founded on totally different educations and life experiences and still debate in a somewhat civil manner! Just because someone does not agree with every little detail of conservatism does not make them wrong or bad, just misguided.
Smart conservatives educate.
I simply made your statement (Stop pronouncing yourself a "true conservative" and anybody who backs President Bush a "Bush-Bot". That is liberal-speak.) more Fair and Balanced.
LOL. You found me!
xoxoxo
Amen!! and whoever doesn't agree with us is a blithering fool. What would Moe Howard say about all this??
And they back Miers too, not for substantive reasons (as some do, although I disagree with them), but because they "support our President."
Pray for W and Our Victorious Troops
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