Free Republic

The radical fringe of the left came to Philadelphia last weekend for the annual Netroots Nation conference. It was extremist enough that only four Democrat presidential contenders dared to show their face there. By contrast, more than 10 came to Rev. Al Sharpton's National Action Network convention in April. Here's how kooky the Netroots conference was. The organizers created compassionate confusion with "All Gender Restrooms" offered for attendees. At one point, abortion advocates carved up a watermelon to illustrate how they would remove "pregnancy tissue." They described extracting "a wee little watermelon fetus." If ever there were an event that...

------------- Snip ------------------- The United States should be the “pre-eminent champion of freedom” and “the most generous of all industrialized nations,” Carter said. “Those are the indications of a real super-power.” Carter shared two experiences that he said have been most memorable from througout all his travels and volunteer work. He said he will never forget the image of a young woman holding her right breast, so swollen with the attempted exit of a guinea worm that it “looked like she was holding a baby in her arms.” The second image Carter recalled was of a young Ethiopian girl’s eagerness...

Boy, is this gutsy, huh. Conservatism is a paranoid, fearful personal philosophy and embracing it is a sign of emotional weakness. By its very definition, conservatism is opposed to progress. Conservatives believe we ought to "conserve" existing institutions and social norms, speaking from a positions which is always on the verge of being "led astray," and reflecting with an imperfect memory on the topics of fictional "Greatest Generations" and "Golden Ages." Nothing that sets itself against progress can claim to be on the side of good. Accordingly, conservatives, however nice they might otherwise be, for turning their energies against a...