Posted on 02/19/2008 4:55:34 PM PST by K-oneTexas
Why I Will Vote for McCain Conservative resolve (mine, not his).
By Daniel Oliver
John McCain is not a conservative, but I will vote for him anyway.
After all, in 1952, conservatives, grumbling that Ohio senator Robert “Mr. Republican” Taft had not been nominated, voted for Eisenhower because he was clearly the better alternative to Adlai Stevenson. And they voted for Ike again over Stevenson in 1956.
In 1971, a Who’s Who of conservatives, including the senior editors of National Review, suspended their support of President Nixon because of both his domestic-policy failures and his tendencies in foreign policy.
In 1972, however, National Review endorsed the reelection of Nixon, describing the Democratic candidate, George McGovern, as “not something with which a grown-up superpower can play.”
Was Eisenhower a conservative? No. Nixon? No. Bush (either one)? No. McCain? No. Republicans, yes — it’s a famously big tent — and with some conservative positions. But having conservative positions is not the same as being a conservative.
What is a conservative? Essentially, someone who is temperamentally suspicious of government. That’s why conservatives argue for limited government, economic freedom, low taxes, and fewer regulations. The bumper-sticker version might be: “If in doubt, keep government out.” That demonstrates a healthy skepticism of both government’s competence (think Katrina clean-up) and its fuzzy benevolence, which generally involves toying with any activity that begins with the letters A through Z, scolding people for their behavior (and, er, persuading them to change it), or redistributing their wealth.
The skeptical view of the redistributionist function of government can be described, with apologies to William Graham Sumner, as A and B deciding how much C should give to D.
The behavior-modification efforts of government can be seen in innumerable campaigns and diktats like anti-smoking and anti-obesity crusades and campaign-financing laws.
A useful rule of thumb is: No one who voted for, or signed, the McCain-Feingold Act can be considered a conservative. Unless he recants and repents.
John McCain also opposed Bush’s tax cuts (though his vote may have been less an anti-tax-cut vote than an intemperate anti-Bush vote — but that is not good either) and he favors global-warming programs that most conservatives think are foolish and harmful (if in doubt, keep government out). And — sigh! — he favors importing prescription drugs from Canada, which is not just economic nonsense of the first order but suggests college-level economic illiteracy.
Nevertheless, McCain is clearly a Republican, with some conservative positions. He has promised to appoint judges who will interpret the law, not make it. He has promised to make the Bush tax cuts permanent. And he has promised to fight government spending, to veto any bill with earmarks, and to roll back entitlement programs—positions that, these days, it is an act of nostalgia to describe as “Republican.”
Meanwhile, Senator Barack Obama has been named the most liberal member of the U.S. Senate by National Journal. Senator Clinton can’t be far behind. Against them, Senator McCain would seem the obvious choice for conservatives. But some of them think a term or two in the political wilderness would be beneficial.
Conservatives have been here before. As National Review said in 1972, “There are those, including some of our colleagues, who believe that four years of McGovern would catalyze a recrudescent conservatism. We disagree that the chance is worth taking. McGovern is the erector set of big-think intellectuals, otherworldly dreamers, and children. Belloc warned that dangerous toys should not be given to little boys.”
Senator McCain might help his cause with conservatives if he stopped calling himself a conservative. He is damaging their brand name. And conservatives should stop, now, demanding that he be a conservative: that is not a condition precedent for being the better choice for president. Conservatives should remember that the fault McCain is not a conservative is partly their own: They have not succeeded in making conservatism the iPod in the marketplace of political philosophies.
To conservatives, John McCain sounds like the Devil. That is his fault, not theirs. He has dissed them and enjoyed it. That is not presidential, and if he does not stop he will not be president. He should make—and is making—amends, and not for his own sake, or for the conservatives’, but for the country’s.
It is time for conservatives to accept reality (accepting reality is another conservative trait); and the reality is (1) John McCain will be the Republican nominee for president and (2) he will make a far better president than the Democratic alternative.
Dangerous toys should not be given to little boys.
Or to little girls.
— Daniel Oliver was chairman of the Federal Trade Commission under President Reagan. He is now a senior director at White House Writers Group and chairman of the board of National Review.
Yes, that thought crossed mind as well should Hillobama win.
None of the presidential candidates, Republican or Democrat, are worth a bucket of warm spit. I shall vote for other legislative candidates.
SENATOR MCCAIN STATEMENT ON CESAR ESTRADA CHAVEZ STUDY ACT OF 2007
January 17, 2007
Washington, D.C.-U.S. Senator John McCain (R-AZ) today made the following statement about the Cesar Estrada Chavez Study Act:
Mr. President, I am pleased to be joined today by Senator Salazar in reintroducing the Cesar Estrada Chavez Study Act. A similar version of this bill was introduced by Congresswoman Hilda Solis last week. This legislation, which is identical to the bill we introduced in the 109th Congress and passed the Senate by unanimous consent during the 108th Congress, would authorize the Secretary of the Interior to conduct a special resource study of sites associated with the life of Cesar Chavez. The bill would direct the Secretary of the Interior to determine whether any of the sites significant to Chavez’s life meet the criteria for being listed on the National Register of Historic Landmarks. The goal of this legislation is to establish a foundation for future legislation that would then designate land for the appropriate sites to become historic landmarks.Mr. Chavez’s legacy is an inspiration to us all and he will be remembered for helping Americans to transcend distinctions of experience and share equally in the rights and responsibilities of freedom. It is important that we honor his struggle and do what we can to preserve appropriate landmarks that are significant to his life. This legislation has received an overwhelming positive response, not only from my fellow Arizonans, but from Americans all across the nation. It has also received an endorsement from the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.
Cesar Chavez, an Arizonan born in Yuma...
...Cesar Chavez was a humble man of deep conviction who understood what it meant to serve and sacrifice for others. His motto in life “It Can Be Done,” epitomizes his life’s work and continues to be a positive influence on so many of us. Honoring the places of his life will enable his legacy to inspire and serve as an example for our future leaders.
Funny... I don't see the word "Communist" in there anywhere!
Here’s the link on Seville. Long read but a real wealth of info on their game plan. Also check out Agenda 21... Pass this around.
http://www.unesco.org/mab/doc/Strategy.pdf
Thanks. I’m familiar with Agenda 21—haven’t read about biospheres though.
I’ll check this out.
They're winning. :-(
"The establishment of an American Soviet government will involve the confiscation of large landed estates
in town and country, and also, the whole body of forests, mineral deposits, lakes, rivers and so on."
-- William Z. Foster, National Chairman of the Communist Party,
restating point one of the Communist Manifesto in 1932,
“The abolition of private property.”
I like it a lot.
bttt
So will I..I cannot enable Hillary or Obama to become Commander in Chief..I will vote for McCain despite my dislike of him.
I’ve known this stuff in detail since 1996 when I joined Concerned Women for America (Yes, they allow men to join).
I have visited fourteen National Parks and 40 of the 50 states... Many historic places are now under some form of UN convention or declaration, although such is not advertised too publicly. I remember a visit to Yellowstone NP in 1995 and, upon entering, seeing to my astonishment the title of ‘International Biosphere Reserve’ on its signs.
In 1987 I began a sobering study of UN documents, and discovered a wealth of Marxist and pagan death cult associations, particularly where UNESCO is involved. This prepared me for Al Gore and his agenda of “Anthropological” Climate Change long before any of its preposterous claims were in the public eye. This prepared me for the assault against our children’s innocence and the dissolution of parental rights. This prepared me for the oncoming homosexual agenda before the myth of the HIV-AIDS connection was promulgated and programmed across the world. And this is why I so staunchly reject “the lesser evil” proponents. I know the lesser evil is nothing but a distraction from the great evil that is being advanced incrementally among us.
No, I do not sleep well. The truth of the collectivist plans for humanity and the dismemberment of sovereign nations is depressing... not so much for its goals, but more for the startling degree to which their advocates have achieved success in implementing the agenda.
Being able to connect the dots across history is not a pleasant experience. In light of our nation’s consistent path towards socialism since Woodrow Wilson and FDR, I wonder if we will recognize America at all by the election of 2012... if such an event actually occurs.
2012 is a very important year. If you are a student of the Mayan calender and its pictographs, it is the beginning of the Fifth World, and the end of the present order. Similar prophesies appear in the writings of the Hopi Indians. The Tilma of Our Lady of Guadalupe is a virtual road map of Mayan symbols and that is why the Mexican Indians converted to the Catholic Faith by the tens of thousands in a very short space of time, despite all the previous attempts to Christianize them by generations of missionaries.
May you live in interesting times goes the Chinese proverb... We are living in interesting times, indeed.
And shame on all the hissy-fit suicides who don't get it.
Oh, terrific! My home state's Karl Marx wannabe. McCain doesn't work with Republicans at all does he? I have yet to hear of the McCain/(Pubbie) bill for anything.
This legislation, ..., would authorize the Secretary of the Interior to conduct a special resource study of sites associated with the life of Cesar Chavez.
And he had the gall to make fun of the Woodstock Museum funding bill?
As for Eisenhower, he deliberately destroyed Joe McCarthy and shut down investigations into active pro-Soviet espionage that the FBI knew was going on at army labs, and told off those concerned about such things at least as mightly at Bush or McCain did over immigration.
This is hardly the first time there has been a fight between a party mainstream eager to be competitive electorally by moving to the political center, and strident activists hot and bothered over legitimate policy issues, who blew up into treasonous conspiracy any deviation from their own panting concern in the matter.
In other words, you are just a new Bircher in the making, ready to waltz off the deep end and lose it. And no, the party doesn't need to follow you.
Fine. If McCain is elected you can pick up my share of taxes to pay for 40 million naturalized illegals and the entitlements they want. And the trillions he wants to spend on Global Warming.
“So will I..I cannot enable Hillary or Obama to become Commander in Chief..I will vote for McCain despite my dislike of him.”
60 percent of us here will do so so far in the poll.
It will be interesting to see if that number increases as time goes by. But certainly convincing fellow Freepers is not where most of my energies will go in the months to come.
Thanks for the post, RTO. It sounds like you have gotten quite an education, as unpleasant as the subject is. Some of the folks I'm pinging to your post (I know I will forget many) have taught me a lot about this stuff, but I have much to learn. In California, we are fighting these battles almost daily--and what they have been able to achieve with a Governor(R) has been greater than any Democrat could have ever achieved (imo). Depressing, indeed.
Interesting that you mention CWA--it seems to be one of the few groups around lately that is on he correct side of most issues.
I never try to convice...I have finally settled my mind about this election and that was hard enough.
Something else for you to bite into: Do you know the history of the ZIP Code?
The ‘Zone’ Improvement Code was established to track shipping through the Panama Canal Zone. Its original scheme was subject under the Admiralty Laws, to wit: Maritime Law (You may recognize this phrase from LOST, the Law of the Sea Treaty) This is also a fiat method of imposing the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC, Contract Law) upon all goods, services AND individuals. Up until the time the ZIP Code became a ubiquitous global system, all Individual citizens of Western nations were typically adjudicated under some variant of the Common Law that derived from English Law, and were not subject to the UCC unless an instrument of commercial contract was at issue, or some special circumstance appropriate to maritime adjudication.
When the ZIP Codes were expanded North and South of the Panama Canal Zone, the real effect was to place all commerce AND private contracts under Admiralty Law... including private property and the inhabitants dwelling there upon.
The Constitution became ipso-facto subordinate to International Maritime Law. And this is how we lost our republic to the internationalists. Each time you send or receive a letter, a package, or whatever through the U.S. mail, you publicly give your impromptu and validate the claim of International Maritime Law over those rights guaranteed you by the US Constitution. The real effect is that American citizens are not protected by the Laws of America. Moreover, because we all come under the purview of International Admiralty Law and the UCC, if and when the United States Government defaults on its debt, every American man, woman and child will be legally held libel to the debt... to wit: they own us.
Think about that the next time you send a letter.
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