Posted on 08/30/2020 5:19:57 AM PDT by Kaslin
It's clear that as the battle for the heart and soul of conservatism rages, President Donald Trump is fundamentally redefining what it means to be a conservative. However, the vital question is whether, on balance, he has advanced or degraded the vision of our Founding Fathers.
We turn for explication to Peter Wehner's July 28, 2019 interview in The Atlantic with the archetypical Republican, George Will.
Will argues that Trump has undermined traditional conservatism because he's a populist. As Will states, "[p]opulism is a direct translation of popular passions into governments through a strong executive." But the question is whether Trump merely responded to a nascent populism — underwritten by the "deplorables" who have been ignored by Democrats and Republicans alike — or whether he is, in fact, governing as a populist.
In a recent visit to rural Maine, Trump said, "As the workers of Maine know well — and that's for many decades — Washington politicians shipped away your jobs, outsourced your supply chains, and offshored your industry" [1].
That's why Trump's agenda has focused on tax reform to encourage blue-collar job creation and wage increases and an unapologetic defense of religious freedom, the unborn, and the 2nd Amendment. Additionally, he has brought a clear-eyed perspective to our foreign policy, one driven by America's national security interests, eschewing the Neocons' misguided pipe dream of nation-building. Trump has tirelessly pursued these goals, guided by unambiguously conservative principles, not by an impetuous populism.
(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...
George Will is an arrogant, elitist, pompous ass. His self esteem has been threatened by the President and he would rather maintain his delusional status, to the point of the dark forces of the left take control.
Wilson preferred governance by a self-selected, elitist group of 'learned men' to lead the benighted, unwashed masses.
Those roots have been nourished ever since by faithless politicians, which created our massive federal regulatory apparatus."
So don't let them tell you that Southern Democrats were always more "conservative" than thou.
Good read, but:
“the battle for the heart and soul of conservatism rages”
False. NeverTrump globalist neocon pseudoconservatism is an ever-shrinking echo chamber, and escapes the ignoring it deserves only because some of its adherents still hold high office.
I will take Trump’s conservatism over Will’s any day. Will’s “conservatism” always gives in, never fights and is globalist in nature. Trump’s conservatism fights, stands for what is right and doesn’t let the Left and media push him around. Will is too enthralled with his own press and as far as I a concerned does not stand for a damn thing.
Perhaps a member of the very first Supreme Court, one appointed by none other than President Washington, may have left words of wisdom for such a time as this:
"The only real security of liberty, in any country, is the jealousy and circumspection of the people themselves. Let them be watchful over their rulers. Should they find a combination against their liberties, and all other methods appear insufficient to preserve them, they have, thank God, an ultimate remedy. That power which created the government can destroy it. Should the government, on trial, be found to want amendments, those amendments can be made in a regular method, in a mode prescribed by the Constitution itself [...]. We have [this] watchfulness of the people, which I hope will never be found wanting." - Elliot, 4:130 - Justice James Iredell (NC) - Appointed by Pres. Washington to first US Supreme Court
The time may have come for a rejection of the tired old ideas of tyranny which dominate so-called "progressive" politics of 2020.
Rather than being dispirited, we might examine what the Founders of the American Republic called, the role of "Divine Providence," whose pathway to the minds and hearts of youth can bypass even the most ardent and determined efforts of those so-called "progressives."
Now that "progressive/socialistic" politicians have captured their attention, we have some responsibility for directing attention of youth to the ideas of the Founders, all to be found online now, not in some dark stacks on remote floors of university libraries.
For instance, a recent Sons of Liberty portrayal of Samuel Adams might allow us to introduce to Millenials his clearly-articulated understanding of liberty versus tyranny.
"The liberties of our Country, the freedom of our civil constitution are worth defending at all hazards: And it is our duty to defend them against all attacks. We have receiv'd them as a fair Inheritance from our worthy Ancestors: They purchas'd them for us with toil and danger and expence of treasure and blood; and transmitted them to us with care and diligence. It will bring an everlasting mark of infamy on the present generation, enlightened as it is, if we should suffer them to be wrested from us by violence without a struggle; or be cheated out of them by the artifices of false and designing men. Of the latter we are in most danger at present: Let us therefore be aware of it. Let us contemplate our forefathers and posterity; and resolve to maintain the rights bequeath'd to us from the former, for the sake of the latter. - Instead of sitting down satisfied with the efforts we have already made, which is the wish of our enemies, the necessity of the times, more than ever, calls for our utmost circumspection, deliberation, fortitude, and perseverance. Let us remember that "if we suffer tamely a lawless attack upon our liberty, we encourage it, and involve others in our doom." It is a very serious consideration, which should deeply impress our minds, that millions yet unborn may be the miserable sharers of the event." Samuel Adams - Essay in the Boston Gazette, October 14, 1771"When designs are form'd to raze the very foundation of a free government, those few who are to erect their grandeur and fortunes upon the general ruin, will employ every art to sooth the devoted people into a state of indolence, inattention and security, which is forever the fore-runner of slavery." - Article signed "Candidus," in Boston Gazette, December 9, 1771
"If the public are bound to yield obedience to laws to which they cannot give their approbation, they are slaves to those who make such laws and enforce them." Samuel Adams- As Candidus in the Boston Gazette, January 20, 1772
"The right to freedom being the gift of God Almighty, it is not in the power of man to alienate this gift and voluntarily become a slave... These may be best understood by reading and carefully studying the institutes of the great Law Giver and Head of the Christian Church, which are to be found clearly written and promulgated in the New Testament." Samuel Adams - Rights of the Colonists, November 20, 1772
"It is the greatest absurdity to suppose it in the power of one, or any number of men, at the entering into society, to renounce their essential natural rights, or the means of preserving those rights; when the grand end of civil government, from the very nature of its institution, is for the support, protection, and defence of those very rights; the principal of which, as is before observed, are Life, Liberty, and Property. If men, through fear, fraud, or mistake, should in terms renounce or give up any essential natural right, the eternal law of reason and the grand end of society would absolutely vacate such renunciation. The right to freedom being the gift of God Almighty, it is not in the power of man to alienate this gift and voluntarily become a slave." - The Rights of the Colonists, November 20, 1772
"Is it now high time for the people of this country to explicitly declare whether they will be free men or slaves. It is an important question which ought to be decided. It concerns more than anything in this life. The salvation of our souls is interested in this event. For wherever tyranny is established, immorality of every kind comes in like a torrent, it is in the interest of tyrants to reduce the people to ignorance and vice.” - Samuel Adams
And, as it pertains to Biden/Clinton/Sanders' "free stuff schemes":
“The utopian schemes of leveling and a community of goods, are as visionary and impractical as those which vest all property in the crown. These ideas are arbitrary, despotic, and, in our government unconstitutional.” - Samuel Adams
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