Is there a bigger lie being perpetrated by Democrats, the media–and, pathetically, RINO Republicans–than their definitions of “conservatism?”
Listening to the drivel that passes for analysis, one would have to believe every conservative is a red-neck Neanderthal with a Bible in one hand, and a semi-automatic rifle in the other. We don’t have reasonable beliefs, we “cling” to superstitions. Democrats believe we’re more dangerous than Islamic jihadists, the media believes we’re stupid, teabagging, racist rabble-rousers, and RINOs think we’re misguided oafs who need to be herded into a “big tent” of watered-down liberalism in order to compete with a morally and fiscally bankrupt Democratic party.
The hell with all of them. They don’t get to define conservatism unless we let them, and this is one conservative who is way past the point of giving a damn what any of them think. Even more importantly, no political party gets my support simply because they’re the “lesser of two evils.”
Are you listening, Michael Steele? How about you, Newt Gingrich? Dede Scozzafava, your hand-picked Republican party horse in the 23rd district in upstate New York just showed you exactly what happens when party matters more than principle. If conservative Doug Hoffman wins that race–even after Ms. Scozzafava endorsed Democrat Bill Owens–you and all the other RINOS will have even more egg to wipe off your faces than you do right now. And just in case you think none of us have noticed, we know your newfound support for Hoffman is nothing more than hitching your losing wagon to a winning star.
Even if Hoffman loses, the battle has begun. Principles are the only antidote to the insanity emanating out of Washington, D.C. Our principles as we, not you, or the other contemptible liars trying to denigrate them, define them. And just by comparison, it is ludicrous for anyone to suggest a party dominated by conservatism is even remotely as radical as what Democrats have become. Our belief in limited government, the Constitution as written, and American exceptionalism can’t compete against a party that worships out-of-control spending, an activist judiciary and American apologies to a manifestly undeserving world?
Spare me.
The mini-Waterloo occurring in upstate New York is not an isolated incident. It is the crack in the dike for the sleep-walkers who gave us John McCain, simply because it was “his turn.” And make no mistake: if you insist in force-feeding us liberal-light politicians–Florida’s Charlie Crist immediately comes to mind–don’t think for a nano-second that lightning can’t strike twice. Better a three-party political system, even if it means a few more election cycles in the wilderness, than a never-ending succession of choices between Republican bad and Democrat worse. Better long-term hope than continuous despair.
Twenty-five years ago, Ronald Reagan won forty-nine states, and he sure as hell didn’t do it by espousing watered-down liberalism. Those jaded enough to compromise their principles for power have had their turn.
Today it’s small district in upstate New York. But as far as conservatives are concerned, it’s a shot heard round the country.
atahlert@comcast.net
Have PoliticalMavens.com delivered to your inbox in a daily digest by clicking here
