Monday, November 08, 2004
The Lie of the "Conservative Republican"
The title of my post notwithstanding, I am not a vapid ideologue of any sort. I will shortly get to my point, but first, a little preemptive self-defense:
I am not a Republican. I am not a Democrat. I am not a Conservative. I am not a Liberal. I am not a Moderate. I do not stand waiting to catch the prevailing winds. I have beliefs, and I take stands. However, these beliefs and stands do not equate directly to any major party or ideology. (If you believe that I am a spineless Moderate or whacky Liberal or something, feel free to ask me about any given positions and I will honestly respond.) On that, I base my above statements that I am not a Republican, not a Democrat, etc. I have never voted for a Democrat or Republican for POTUS. I have, however, voted for members of both parties for local and statewide office.
Now, with that out of the way, I shall get on with it J.
There is a prevailing notion that there are strong standard bearers of Conservatism who bestride our airwaves like the great Colossus. These people have names like Hannity, Limbaugh, Ingram. I could go on, but I believe you get the idea.
These men and women claim to be Conservative Republicans. They are not. They are Republican Conservatives. You may argue that this is simply an issue of semantics. I believe it is more than that. By putting “Conservative” first in one’s self-affixed label, one leads others to believe that he is a “Conservative” first, fighting for those values. And further, he only goes on to the “Republican” part of the title, after he has prevailed on the “Conservative” front. None of the people I mentioned can honorably make this claim.
In “Conservative” talk today (radio and television), it is obvious to any onlooker with a modicum of intelligence that said rhetoric is “Conservative” only in token form. The rhetoric is Republican first, Conservative second, if ever. These “Conservatives” do not care that a Republican POTUS has increased non-defense government spending, has increased government regulation, has decreased our level of some freedoms, and has generally been on the side of the Federal Government on State’s Rights debates.
I find all this sad, as I agree with many true conservative positions. I wish our “Conservative” commentators would try to use their voices more to get conservative policies enacted, and they’d use their voices less for the sole purpose of keeping/getting Republicans in office.
|
The title of my post notwithstanding, I am not a vapid ideologue of any sort. I will shortly get to my point, but first, a little preemptive self-defense:
I am not a Republican. I am not a Democrat. I am not a Conservative. I am not a Liberal. I am not a Moderate. I do not stand waiting to catch the prevailing winds. I have beliefs, and I take stands. However, these beliefs and stands do not equate directly to any major party or ideology. (If you believe that I am a spineless Moderate or whacky Liberal or something, feel free to ask me about any given positions and I will honestly respond.) On that, I base my above statements that I am not a Republican, not a Democrat, etc. I have never voted for a Democrat or Republican for POTUS. I have, however, voted for members of both parties for local and statewide office.
Now, with that out of the way, I shall get on with it J.
There is a prevailing notion that there are strong standard bearers of Conservatism who bestride our airwaves like the great Colossus. These people have names like Hannity, Limbaugh, Ingram. I could go on, but I believe you get the idea.
These men and women claim to be Conservative Republicans. They are not. They are Republican Conservatives. You may argue that this is simply an issue of semantics. I believe it is more than that. By putting “Conservative” first in one’s self-affixed label, one leads others to believe that he is a “Conservative” first, fighting for those values. And further, he only goes on to the “Republican” part of the title, after he has prevailed on the “Conservative” front. None of the people I mentioned can honorably make this claim.
In “Conservative” talk today (radio and television), it is obvious to any onlooker with a modicum of intelligence that said rhetoric is “Conservative” only in token form. The rhetoric is Republican first, Conservative second, if ever. These “Conservatives” do not care that a Republican POTUS has increased non-defense government spending, has increased government regulation, has decreased our level of some freedoms, and has generally been on the side of the Federal Government on State’s Rights debates.
I find all this sad, as I agree with many true conservative positions. I wish our “Conservative” commentators would try to use their voices more to get conservative policies enacted, and they’d use their voices less for the sole purpose of keeping/getting Republicans in office.
|
Comments:
Post a Comment
