I Am No Longer A Conservative

At one time, I was proud to call myself a conservative. No more. I would even argue that conservatives are as much responsible for the political and cultural deterioration of our country as liberals. That means Republicans share as much blame for the downward spiral of our nation as Democrats. People who believe they are voting for a substantive change of direction by voting for either major party are kidding themselves. Both liberals and conservatives, Democrats and Republicans, are heading in the same direction.

The pattern goes something like this: Democrats (liberals) use the power of political office to spearhead socialist, internationalist policies. This is accomplished over the vocal objections of grassroots conservatives. The resulting dissatisfaction with the liberal agenda usually translates into Republicans being elected to public office.

Once Republicans (conservatives) are in office, however, they do nothing to reverse the socialist policies that the liberals instituted. Instead, they set about to normalize or legitimize those policies. After all, Republicans are all about conserving the status quo; and for the past 40 years, the status quo has been incessant, burgeoning socialism. Therefore, instead of instituting a radical return to constitutional governance, conservatives actually harden the cement of socialism that has been laid by liberals.

Unfortunately, rank and file conservatives seem more than willing to accept an increase of socialism, internationalism, and liberalism as long as Republicans are overseeing it. Conservatives seem totally oblivious to the ominous direction of the country when Republicans are in charge. As a result, conservatives and liberals, Democrats and Republicans, are working together to take America further and further down the road of socialism.

With little distinction from Democrats in the actual governing policy of Republicans, liberals are soon reinstalled to public office, and the cycle repeats itself. This has been the redundant pattern in our country for the past half century.

Therefore, as someone who stands foursquare on the principles laid down in our founding documents, I refuse to be identified as a conservative any longer. Instead, call me a constitutionalist. I am convinced that the only chance that freedom and independence have of surviving the next 50 years is by a radical return to constitutional government. The status quo must go!

Only an awakened electorate who are fed up with the constant capitulation of constitutional principles by the two major parties and who are willing to courageously crusade for genuine change will be capable of actually preserving this republic for their posterity. Anything short of this will only result in a continued drift toward socialism and globalism.

"There's a world of difference between a Conservative and a Republican. At least, in my book there is."

I agree. I haven't considered myself a Republican for going on a couple of decades. I do, however, consider myself a conservative.

Do I usually vote Republican? Sure -- as the lesser of two evils. I have not wanted to vote FOR anyone, except one candidate, since I wanted to vote FOR Nixon in my first ever election. (I don't recall where my political head was during the Reagan years -- no, it wasn't drugs.)

I usually vote AGAINST the more liberal to the point of socialist candidates that Michigan seems to be overrun with.

Once (and it will probably never happen again), I actually did vote for a local Democratic candidate, on purpose, because I wanted him elected. He was more conservative than the Republican running. As it turned out, he was a Republican who ran as a Democrat because there were no Democrats running for that office. He won. He probably won, and kept winning, because too many people here in the blue Detroit metro area vote D for no other reason than that's what they've always done & that's what their parents always did. Well, we conservatives had a good time of conservative politics in this blue zone.

Really made me wonder if people even cared about the beliefs of this Dem candidate, or just voted D as usual. But, isn't that exactly what we're doing? Vote R. Vote R. Vote R.

So, what's in a name? Republican, Rhino, Republicrat, Democrat. What really is the difference anymore? Sure there's a lot of socialists masquerading as democrats. But there's an awful lot of liberals masquerading as republicans.

Personally, I'm tired of voting for 'the lesser of two evils' when the difference between the evils is getting harder and harder to distinguish.

If ALL we *conservatives* stood behind candidates that held our beliefs, instead of running them off as 'unelectable' 3rd party candidates, maybe we could get a good *conservative* candidate or two to run, then elected, no matter what party name they run under. After all, MOST of the USA was red, not blue in the 2000 presidential election. Is the red zone Republican, or is the red zone conservative that votes Republican as the lesser of two evils?

IMHO, as long as we keep running scared of Democrats getting elected, and vote for any Republican, no matter how conservative or liberal, America doesn't stand a chance.

Think about this. During the 2000 election debacle, who worked tirelessly supporting Bush & protesting of Gore? Republicans? I don't think so. That was the most awesome CONSERVATIVE grass roots effort ever.

How many then Dems, so disgusted with the antics of their party, dumped the party and became bona fide Republicans? Did their political philosophy change when the D became an R? Are these new Republicans *conservatives*?

Honestly, how many of us stood behind Bush, not as our first choice for Prez, but only to defeat Gore? Am I glad Bush is President? Yes, even though he wasn't my first choice. However, his being Republican does not give him the right to run roughshod over the Constitution, even if he does do it more gently than Gore would have.

Bush Republican? Yes. Bush conservative? I'm not sure.

How do we stop giving inches that become miles just so Democrats aren't elected? I'm looking for serious answers. Watching America going to Hell in a hand basket with a Republican president, just more slowly than it would with a Democrat president, is really tearing me up.

Flame away if you feel the need, but don't tell me my 3rd party vote guarantees a Democratic win. I just can't vote for a Republican that sounds just like a Democrat any more.

If you read this, thank you.

So, what do we *conservatives* do to get *conservatives* elected? How do we get to vote FOR someone again, instead of AGAINST someone else?

Flame away if you feel the need...

There is no need. I don't disagree with a single thing you wrote.

Why is it that the prospect of a third major national party is always something that both Ds and Rs get crazy over? Because it would upset their applecarts and disrupt the status quo.

There is no difference, these days, between the Republicans in Congress and the Dems. It's a game of mirrors that both sides play to keep the sheeple satisfied and thinking that there really is a difference. Both sides are concerned only with making sure that the gravy train never stops. They've gotten their ticket and they're going to ride as long as they can.

The situation you wrote about in Michigan only proves the point. That politician did whatever he could to get elected into the club. It doesn't matter what they call themselves...they are in it for them.

Why else would they spend millions to get elected? To make sure that you and I get a fair shake in life? To make sure that we get to share in some of the Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness? I think not.

It's kind of like some of the points Ayn Rand made in "The Fountainhead". There is no such thing as altruism. Everyone is in it for themselves. That may seem cynical, but that's the way I feel. I calls 'em like I sees 'em.

I've been flamed by others before for stating the sentiments above and today probably won't be any different. Tough.

Really made me wonder if people even cared about the beliefs of this Dem candidate, or just voted D as usual. But, isn't that exactly what we're doing? Vote R. Vote R. Vote R.

Around here, if you're black or a senior citizen, you automatically vote Democrat. Why? For blacks it is because of the same stupid reasons they vote democrat all over the country. In regard to senior citizens, it is because too many of them haven't paid attention to politics in years, and they actually think that the Democrat party is the conservative party. They're operating on a paradigm of the 50s and 60s, a time when southern democrats were conservative.

Now that the reason for party voting has been established, I'll attempt to discuss who gets elected. In many cases, it is who has been in office. It doesn't matter if the guy is a terrible socialist, even if a Republican. Too many people do not pay attention to politics and the issues. In my opinion, their voting without paying attention to the issues is a severe disservice to our country, as the wrong men are being elected. What also helps elect a candidate is the number of signs. A candidate that doesn't place any signs doesn't have much of a chance to win if he isn't the incumbent.

Thanks for the smile your comment put on my face.

"An irony that strikes me is that enterpreneurs, who tend to be mostly Conservatives, fail to advertise the fact to university students that the marketpace is the basis of freedom."

Maybe entrepreneurs aren't allowed to share this truth on college campuses because it so goes against the liberal agenda of colleges today? Maybe entrepreneurs find that since *everyone* got the right to a college education, and colleges have had to lower their academic standards to a high-school, even junior-high, level (why is Pre-Algebra being taught in COLLEGE?) in order to accommodate this new 'right', this truth is really over the intellectual heads of many college students? Maybe we have so overregulated the marketplace that it is no longer the basis of freedom? One of those 'in theory but not in practice' types of concepts?

Your irony connected with my irony and the following is not aimed at you, but the result.

I've often wondered why, in general:

Big business, supposedly supported by a Republican government and despised by a Democrat government, overwhelmingly and with huge dollar amounts supports Democrats.

Jews overwhelmingly support democrats who support the Palestinian cause, and not Republicans who support Israel.

Blacks overwhelmingly support Democrats who, to no end, have them collectively convinced that they really do need to keep being enslaved by the government in the form of educational, financial, and affirmative action support to be able to compete in America. Do Blacks really consider themselves somehow inferior just BECAUSE of the color of their skin, that ever more government support is necessary to level the playing field so blacks can compete in America?

I was mortified that America's Black leaders (?) went public so loudly claiming that blacks were collectively just too stupid to know how to vote in the 2000 Pres election in Florida, and black person after black person was more than willing to be interviewed for national news programs saying just that, "Hey, I'm too stupid to know how to vote BECAUSE I'm Black." It didn't just happen in Florida. It happened in St. Louis, Baltimore, Detroit, Chicago, and other large cities where the Dems could count on black people allowing themselves to be called 'too stupid to know how to vote' and get away with it to cover Dem voter fraud. ?????

Where was any public outcry by black people of this national coloring of black people as too stupid to know how to vote?

(Hey PC police, I am NOT being racist. I genuinely wonder how a group of people can let themselves be so abused by democrats and just keep taking it. BTW, I quit using 'African-American' when told by a conservative black person that the term was offensive.)

Why do certain ethnic groups of immigrants who come to this country legally and become citizens of the USA support democrats who encourage the breaking of the very same laws that these people abided by to become US citizens with their (democrat) support of illegal immigration? Oh, wait a minute, it's our Republican elected officials that support illegal immigration. Now I see why legal immigrants to America support democrats.

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