Posted on 01/20/2016 11:54:10 PM PST by WTFOVR
So! YOU. STILL. DON'T. GET. IT!
It is an irony of politics that we often get that which we most despise yet doggedly work to bring into fruition - mediocrity ...
Purists want nothing less than complete lock step with whatever definition each one of them individually defines to be their ideology. But life, in a land that upholds as sacrosanct the historically novel idea of individual freedom, must by its very nature admit as many diverse opinions as their exists individuals.
The nexus of the problem is that the purist can never bend in the wind - and so he snaps - at everything and everyone, friend and foe alike. Not settling for anything less than 100 percent of that which defines his personal orthodoxy, he or she will cast out those who otherwise might be his best ally in the fight.
So goes the present contest of wills between two groups, each of whose chosen leader now battles for the number one position in a political struggle that will decide the fate of this American Republic for generations to come - that is, if our nation manages to survive as a republic.
Thus, it is to the "conservative purists" that I direct this rebuke ...
You, oh most orthodox believer in the church of "conservatism," would have all other members march, in perfect Hun tradition, as one gloriously synchronized goose-stepping phalanx. You, oh most pure of ideologues, would brutishly force all to go lock step to the beat of your most holy drum, left-right-left, without but a millimeter of deviation nor a nanosecond of doubt - even while the entire edifice burns and crumbles down around you ... Boldly you shall continue to sing only the most orthodox of conservative hymns, while holding up your fist in defiance and rage, obstinately certain of your "ideological purity" throughout the ensuing sociopolitical collapse.
Shall we attempt to douse the flames? NO! The water is contaminated with impurities! We dare not allow it to touch our sacred conservative tabernacle! We must not defile ourselves! We should rather perish! But the flames will surely spread and burn down the city ... So be it! Better to die than compromise our precious bodily fluids! Commander Jack D. Conservative will have none of it! OK, have it your way ...
The total destruction of EVERYTHING Americans ever were, or could ever hope to be, is but a minor thing; for you will happily perish in the flames of political Armageddon, gladly be reduced to ashes, because you may proudly shout from your graves that never did you deviate in the slightest from your dogma ... Let the irony of your indifference forever echo above the charred destruction ... Let the epitaph of this Republic be chiseled into the cold granite of your obstinately monolithic stupidity:
"Here lies Pure Conservatism - His cause perished with his country, but at least he pridefully never gave one inch!"
And you, oh purist, with your willing accomplices, made certain that neither could any other, less you beat them into submission with incessant mockery and damnable calumny - "Burn the heretics! Long live the Church of Pure!"
In your absolute arrogance, you forgot one very important axiom of life - a tree that never bends in the wind, snaps.
There is nothing so constant as change, and if it is not allowed to develop organically, then it will come by way of destructive revolution. Nor is there any object so elusive as the entity without blemish. Nothing in this life is pure - not even gold, and least of all political ideology ... There will always be heretics and compromising hellions to muddy the waters. Oh, the shame of it all!
The fact is that the political brinkmanship is not about electing the the most ideologically pure candidate ... The contest is and always has been one of choosing the MOST ELECTABLE ideological candidate ... You don't get 100 percent unadulterated conservatism - you settle for the mutt, because in politics the purebred is a myth - a figment spun only in the imaginations of those who have not acquired the ability to courageously face life's awful truths. Reality often sucks for ideologues.
No, you do not get the "purist" candidate - for reason that there is not one political animal who can win a national election by the weight of his ideological purity alone. Why? Because there is not one individual voter who is made up of 100 percent unadulterated anything. We're all political mutts! No citizen this side of sanity, who functions productively within our Constitutional Representative Republic, is so self-absorbed in their orthodoxy as to play the purist fiddle while the nation burns to the ground around them.
This is not a dress rehearsal, there is no do-over. This is our moment of trial. We have a nation in financial and cultural chaos, a Republic sitting on the precipice of the abyss. We have but one last opportunity to perhaps pull her back from the edge; and in this hour of peril "purity" takes a back seat to self-preservation.
We are now in a "fight to the death" with forces that unabashedly mean to destroy us and all we have ever been. Let me remind those who perhaps have forgotten those fateful words past spoken:
"... Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. ..." - Abraham Lincoln, The Gettysburg Address
We need ALL hands on deck - the purists and the not so pure; the ideologue and the pragmatist; Republican, Democrat, Libertarian, Independent, man, woman, young, old - every one who believes in what this country stands for ... We need every creed, color, race and ethnicity who, at their very core, are AMERICANS FIRST!
Which now brings me to the point of my rant: Donald J. Trump ...
OK, I get it - Trump is not a straight down the list "pure" conservative. Well, golly gee, all you followers of Captain Obvious, thanks for pointing that out to me - I might never have guessed! But then again ... Neither is Senator Ted Cruz, his protests to the contrary notwithstanding.
In fact, I doubt you ideological bloodhounds will ever find such a creature among us, because we each hold to a different idea of what defines that ubiquitous moniker of "conservative" - and that reality check IS the point that Governor Palin made in her endorsement speech for Donald Trump.
On the other hand, the enemy we face IS VERY "pure" - and VERY focused on one singular evil goal - the utter destruction of our Republic ... He is the Dragon of fascist governance - let's call this beast "Smog," if you please, and we are the Hobbits.
Smog is the guardian of the gold that lies beneath the seemingly impenetrable mountain fortress of The Establishment, whose evil overlords have plotted down through the centuries so to protect their ill-gotten gain - and thus, by treachery of their warring dynasties, cast a perpetual darkness upon the Land of Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness. Their proxies promise reform - some promise to "spread the wealth;" and still others promise to "punish the wicked and restore justice." But somehow the smothering darkness never yields its grip on the land, no matter how often the dynastic throne changes hands, because the Dragon allows none but its heirs to enter his gold filled lair.
This Dragon, this entrenched and most powerful adversary, desires to crush our rugged individualism; he desires to extinguish the guiding spirit that beats in every American heart; any who dare threaten his power are burned out of existence - the orthodox and not so orthodox alike ... For all must accept their serfdom, never to be more than drones, existing but not prospering in this planned utopia of Dynastic crony collectivism.
Unfortunately for the cause of freedom, those who demand nothing less than "ideological purity" consistently act to deny admittance to those falling short of their personally prescribed measure. Thus the purists help our Dragon adversary achieve his evil goals.
We are a nation in search of a champion; but,more than a Bilbo Baggins, we need a Brave Heart ... We need a leader who will exploit the Dragon's weakness, see the chink in the Dragon's allegedly invincible armor, and let fly the arrow of liberty to its fateful mark. We need a new breed of warrior, one who fights to win; not merely for the purists, but for all Americans: the red, the white, the blue - and all the shades in between. That individual may not be the most "pure" of conservatives, but he's the only man consistently hitting the target ... A lean, mean fighting machine, named Donald J. Trump.
Epic post!
It is the PRIMARY, vote your conscience. Not a time for compromise...vote for the candidate that is the closest match to your values.
How could things be any worse?
To put things in perspective, we are attempting to send their front runner to prison.
and rightfully so of course.
but regardless, you can bet, they will come at our nominee with everything they have. No expense will be spared. Nothing will be off limits. The eligibility issue will definitely be in play with Cruz.
They have nothing to lose and a whole lot to gain by dragging this issue into court one way or the other.
I’m backing Trump too but I think you could have made your point and had your rant with one paragraph.
At some point extra words just become a word soup.
Just sayin’. Everyone is entitled to rant as they wish though.
You may not realize it but you just exactly put forth the GOPe/RNC argument that brought us Romney and others.
It’s deja vu all over again.
It might as well be Carl Rove or Prince Rebus or Hugh Hewitt.
So much infighting could be defused if it just ends up being Trump/Cruz on the ticket, assuming Trump wins the GOP nomination and the question of Cruz’s eligibility has been clearly resolved.
Brilliant!
As Sarah Palin said yesterday: “It is now or never.”
The friction between Cruz Supporters and Trump Supporters is epic. I think might well sit things out here for a while and come back around the night of the Iowa Caucus to see how things are thrashing out. Then again, maybe not...
Politics is more fun than soccer. Trump or Cruz, I am fine with either. Although I do believe that Trump can carry a general more-so than Cruz. In either case, the GOPe won’t let either one come out of Cleveland alive. It will be Rubio or Kasich and the direction of FR will change as to how we are all going to hold our nose and hope Rubio doesn’t screw us too much.
Word is, Trump is going to kick ass and take names.
Reality is what it is, regardless of what folk may agree or disagree about.
Oh, and this country is going to be great, again!
Thanks. I agree with your assessment ... But I think Senator Cruz is in for a really rough ride.
Nationalism got a bad rap because it’s one of the words in the acronym NAZI. Unfortunately ‘labor’ (e.g. unions) never had the same negative impact (Arbeit).
Great editorial. We’re fortunate Trump showed up when he did. A good portion of this country has been waiting years for something like this. Perfect timing.
We’d better get it right this time. We are literally out of chances.
Nominate the pompous blowhard and find out.
Funny thing is that this is actually a reasonable argument to make in the general election; in a primary, though, it's absurdly misleading.
Exactly why I am worried we are going to waste this precious opportunity on Trump.
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