[Texasforever]

I assume you want an honest opinion so I will give mine. There is no such animal as a "neo-conservative" because that would make the greatest conservative president we have ever had a "neo"-conservative. He voted for FDR 4 times and called him the greatest of all presidents. He was a democrat for as long as he could and only left the democrats when it became apparent that communists heavily influenced the party. That was of course Ronald Reagan. The real debate should be, are Paleo-conservatives conservatives? The answer is no. They are what is left of the once powerful John Birch Society. They have splintered into various forms of libertarians, Southern party secessionists and Pat Buchanan Populism. They fall on the very furthest range of the far right. The conservative movement has never embodied that element.

Conservatives have always been and remain, free-market, free trade and pro-business and moderate to conservative on social issues. Conservatives are not protectionist nor are they isolationists. Conservatives can be roughly split 2 ways, Fiscally conservative but social moderates or both fiscally and socially conservative. The term conservative cannot define the extreme right because the extreme right share many of the same characteristics and goals of the extreme left and neither extreme has any ability to compromise their "principles" to make incremental gains. They brook no breach of political purity and take stances so extreme that only a tiny percentage of people see them as rational.

[logician2u]

. . once powerful John Birch Society . .

ROTFLMAO

(Coca-Cola and snot on the keyboard delayed my reply.)

[tpaine]

"The real debate should be, are Paleo-conservatives conservatives? The answer is no. They are what is left of the once powerful John Birch Society. They have splintered into various forms of libertarians, Southern party secessionists and Pat Buchanan Populism. They fall on the very furthest range of the far right. The conservative movement has never embodied that element. - tex -
__________________________________
How strange that you mention 'States Rights' --- "Southern party " extremists ------- "They fall on the very furthest range of the far right".
-- Indeed they do, as you should know, tex, having admitted being on that furthest range many times on many posts.
- You believe that states have an absolute power to control human behavior regardless of the restrictions made by our bill of rights.

You finish by claiming:
"The term conservative cannot define the extreme right because the extreme right share many of the same characteristics and goals of the extreme left and neither extreme has any ability to compromise their "principles" to make incremental gains. They brook no breach of political purity and take stances so extreme that only a tiny percentage of people see them as rational."

I agree. Your views on constitutional individual rights are so extreme as to be seen as irrational. Thus, they cannot be seen as 'conservative'.

[Robert_Paulson2]

dang that was good....

[Kevin Curry]

Nice post, Tf. Cogent, well-written, and precisely accurate.