by Jack Lee
What is a traditional Conservative? The answer may surprise you.
American conservatism is generally accepted as having a deep respect for and strict adherence to...the Constitution, inalienable rights and the rule of law. It does not directly seek to preserve the Christian religion above all others, but it does acknowledge Christianity's fundamental role in forming our national idealism and it's influence upon our laws.
The term conservative incorporates several variations and the noted historian Gregory Schneider defines the subsets of conservatism: (1) Economic conservatives and libertarians favor small government, low taxes, limited regulation, and free enterprise. (2) Social conservatives see traditional social values as threatened by secularism, so they support school prayer and oppose abortion and homosexuality. (3) Neoconservatives want to expand American ideals throughout the world and show a strong support for Israel. (4) Paleoconservatives, in opposition to multiculturalism, press for restrictions on immigration. It's interesting to note these are competing ideologies, yet they are united under one banner.
William F. Buckley wrote, "Among our convictions, it is the job of centralized government (in peacetime) to protect its citizens lives, liberty, and property. All other activities of government tend to diminish freedom and hamper progress. The growth of government (the dominant social feature of the century) must be fought relentlessly."
This sums up the new Libertarian conservative movement which began about 60 years
ago and its ideology is strongly reflected within the Republican Party. Republicans embrace many of the traditional conservative ideals as well as the neoconservative ideals.
Political party's are a reflection of the attitudes of the time in which they exist. As social values change, so do the party planks. Therefore, all political parties are given to change, unlike the principles or doctrine that founded this nation.
It is entirely unlikely that the party you remember from years ago will be exactly the same party today, but traditional conservative idealism is founded on certain enduring truths. In order for something to be true it must be universal, self evident and stand the test of time. This is the foundation of fundamental conservatism, all other forms of political ideology are subject to modification as may be seen prudent at the time.
Here are the principles of the GOP. As you read them how do they line up with your values?
What we believe
We're fortunate to live in America
The Republican Party believes that the United States has been blessed with a unique set of individual rights and freedoms available to all.
You can be what you are, and become what you are capable of becoming
The Republican Party is inspired by the power and ingenuity of the individual to succeed through hard work, family support and self-discipline.
Helping those around you is worthwhile
The Republican Party believes in the value of voluntary giving and community support over taxation and forced redistribution.
Small government is a better government for the people
The Republican Party, like our nation's founders, believes that government must be limited so that it never becomes powerful enough to infringe on the rights of individuals.
You know what to do with your money better than government
The Republican Party supports low taxes because individuals know best how to make their own economic and charitable choices.
Free markets keep people free
The Republican Party is supportive of logical business regulations that encourage entrepreneurs to start more businesses so more individuals can enjoy the satisfaction and fruits of self-made success.
Our Armed Forces defend and protect our democracy
The Republican Party is committed to preserving our national strength while working to extend peace, freedom and human rights throughout the world.
Sorry to be the one to say this, but the GOP emperor has no clothes. That list is not represented by the GOP that wants my vote in November. They believe in free markets, but they all voted for TARP and they all supported the bonuses for the corrupt bankers that basically looted the country. The Republican led House and Senate under George Bush passed No Child Left Behind which expanded federal government and forced the States to expand their government and ended up being a big giveaway to testing companies and curriculum companies like McGraw Hill. That same Republican government passed Medicare Part D which was a huge giveaway to drug companies and they started two wars, and they passed the Patriot Act which infringed on our civil liberties and gave the government license to ignore the constitution. They also created the Department of Homeland Security which ended up infringing further on our civil rights and freedoms. That GOP Congress and Senate approved billions of dollars of cash to be shipped to Iraq to stimulate their economy, but those same politicians voted against spending money to stimulate the US economy.
What I just described above is exactly why the Tea Party came into existence. Republicans are sick and tired of being told by the fools we vote for that they stand for one thing and then vote for something else. Just because Republican politicians told me all the things I listed above were good things does not mean that they are and Republican voters know it so they revolted in 2008. And the Tea Party ended up getting hijacked by the RNC and now it stands for nothing.
And now the RNC is askig me for money to support Mitt Romney who is a complete tool and has zero chance of beating Obama, when the only guy that could have at least given him a run for his money was shunned by the Republican National Committee and run out of the race.
The only brilliant thing Obama did was make the Affordable Care Act an almost carbon copy of Mitt Romney's Massachussetts care. If you look at the wording for Romney's birth control segment and compare it to Obama's it is almost identical. There is no way Romney is going to get away from that. Obamacare is almost the exact same thing as Romneycare and that just proves even more that Obama didn't care about improving health care for Americans he was working on getting re-elected right from the beginning because he knew he was going to be running against Romney.
Republican voters deserve better than we have gotten from the Republican party. As far as I'm concerned they are all corrupt scumbags and they have marginalized and run off every decent candidate that tried to make a difference. We deserved a candidate like Jon Huntsman or Tim Pawlenty. Not these clowns.
I don't know how any Republican can read the list posted above and look at our Republican party and say that it has represented conservative values in any meaningful way since Ronald Reagan left office. They have not.
Real Republican voters have nowhere to turn these days.
Princess you're painting the GOP with a very broad brush and this is being very unfair to millions of good republicans who support your ideals.
Sure, I know the republicans in Congress have done incredibly stupid things, same for W. I write about their stupidity and transgressions all the time. However, I know there are enough good republicans that it makes sense to endorse the party at election time and then hold them accountable to their promises and when they stray. Eternal vigilance is the price of good government and that means you go with the party that supports most of your ideas and then make them stay as good as you can. That's all anyone can do. If I were not a republican I would be a libertarian. But, I really identify myself not by the party, but by idealism...and that is conservative.
I guess I should have made it clear that those things I am saying are about the Republican National Committee. Republican voters are desperate for representation for our beliefs and values on a National level.
Republican voters want what is best for America. Republican politicians and the national Republican party want what is best for themselves.
I am sorry to be so frustrated but I am sick of hearing Republican politicians tell me how much they love America, freedom and the constitution, when they supported and continue to support the Patriot Act.
And I am tired of hearing that they are worried about jobs and the economy when all I see every day is BS. For instance, today the Speaker of the House (Boehner) is in hysterics over birth control which has been a law since 2000. The only difference is the AFA doesn't have a co-pay. I don't have a single friend who thinks the problem in America is too much birth control. But Boehner and the lame-stream media said nothing--NOTHING--when President Obama signed legislation that allows him to kill American citizens. And I'm not real impressed with the love of the Bill of Rights as the media is kept away from Occupy Wall Street protests, arrested and removed from hearings that should be public anyway.
The Tea Party said all of this and more 2 years ago but the National Republican Party shut them up and took them over. Again, I am angry at the National party and politicians, not the voters who are just as mad as I am.
Princess, your comments give me hope for a more sane Republican party. If more Republicans thought like you, we would have better options on election day, a better national dialogue and a better country overall.
Princess may I ask, will you vote at all? If you will, who will get your vote. How do you think that person(s) would better serve your principles and values? Also do you think Obama would better serve your values if re-elected?
I can't disagree with what Princess has said about Republican representatives and leadership.
What I am willing to do is add some perspective...don't I always!
This nation (that's you and me) have been on a progressive path for many, many years. The people have voted in support of these things again and again. They have been cajoled and shamed into many of the things we've done.
Republicans have written legislation to do something about the unsustainability of dependency programs. They were villified as heartless and the legislation was deemed "unpopular" and defeated.
Reasonable tax legislation, budget legislation, even school vouchers for poor kids in bad schools have been blocked and defeated by leftwing rhetoric and lies and a willing press to "inform the people".
None of the limitations that Republicans in Congress have managed to place on the the progressive legislation that Democrats put forth is ever seen by the public. This tough work happens while we are all doing our own thing. A lot of our representatives have worked very hard to try to reverse some of the insanity in government. They need to know that the people are behind them and they need more power in Congress. Also when they have been in power they may not have been able to get as much as we'd like done but they have still done a better job than the Democrats with their progressive liberal agenda and big government solutions.
When dumb Republicans ideas, like creating the EPA were done, who would ever have imagined it would be expanded and abused as it has in recent years? The abuse is a direct result of liberal (often phony) ideas.
When all is said and done our leadership is a reflection of we the people. We have become less reliable, less responsible, less likely to depend on ourselves. We look to government to solve problems instead of ourselves. We put faith in them and then go to sleep. We either likie the fact that government has become oppressive or we tolerate it. We let the media and the left political leadership feed the public BS for a long long time without objecting. We mistook big government programs for kindness and compassion. We let the lewft takeover our schools and legal structure without objecting for too long. A book could be written just listing what we the people have done, or not done, to bring us to this place.
A lot of that is changing for many of us. Many of us are speaking up and entering the debate full voice. People are noticing that progressive liberal policies and ideas do terrible things to nations and people. They want to know what works better; they want a better solution to problems. The progressive model is a counterfeit but it will take a great deal of energy, sustained over many generations, to save or restore what we hold dear.
The founders made it difficult to change our laws. They warned that we would lose the republic if we fell asleep at the wheel. They were right. Now it is up to us to turn the ship of state back toward the intent of the founders. We need to better educate future generations and continue to fight for the values and ideals we hold. Its not enough to just blame our leadership.
Gotta go...
I hate to tell you Chris but most Republicans that I know think like me. The media loves to talk about how the Tea Party was a racist movement against Obama. That is what the media turned it into. It started out as a bunch of angry people who were sick of two wars, thieving banks and a crashed economy. Most of the Tea Party people I knew were more angry at Republicans than Democrats. We expected the Democrats to fail us, we had higher hopes for the Republicans who let us down and we wanted it to stop. The Tea Party would have been there even if McCain was elected. People weren't thrilled with him either.
I will not vote in the Republican primary for Mitt Romney and I will not vote for him in the general election. The national party has got to go. They have corrupted the process so much that we ended up with the same type of people the Tea Party tried to get rid of in the first place. Pretty sad when Ron Paul, who has been running for president since Bush/Dukakis gets so much support in a primary.
I am done with voting for people just because they are supposedly Republican. And if we are going to ask the poor to let go of some of their benefits (which they should) then we should be asking (telling) farmers they have to lose their subsidie (La Malfa). If we are against subsidies then we are against them, and the giveaways, all of them have got to stop.
I mean, can anyone believe that there is even debate about whether or not members of Congress can legally trade stocks on inside information they get from sitting on their committees? Pelosi wasn't the only one doing it my friends and our good friend Eric Cantor did us the favor of trying to stop the legislation to end it. Why are Republicans against this? It is wrong.
I would totally stay home on election day but then I wouldn't be able to vote for local issues and candidates that will affect me. And I am not totally unhappy with my local Republican representation. I don't always agree, but they aren't awful like the national politicians.
At some point we have to stop accepting the candidates the RNC gives us.
There you go again Chris, twisting my words and I knew you would too! lol I just knew that you would take issue with me! You are getting too predictable.
Although, what I said is completely accurate, it's just not something one should say, it's too politically incorrect, right Chris? However, I qualified my statement by saying "virtually", as in, not all, but most... and then I followed up by stating the obvious, blacks don't get charged with a hate crime because time after time the police are told it's a non-starter by the DA who must deal with the judges. They tell the cops that because blacks are deemed to be an oppressed minority they don't fit the guidelines for a hate crime case. I disagree with this, but I have seen it and I know its true. So, take look around, search the net, and If you can't find cases of blacks being charged with a [hate crime] that is a pretty good clue for you. But don't stop there. Go to a black neighborhood, as a helpful suggestion you might try Oakland, Richmond, etc. (there's plenty to choose from). Wait till dark, then take a little stroll around for an hour or so. Lets see if there is any racial animosity directed your way. That should give you another [clue] that non-black people actually DO get victimized by blacks and it really is racially motivated. Then lets see if you can bring yourself to connect this to the absence hate crimes filed against the same black offenders...should be a wonderful experiment and very enlightening. Maybe you could get some class credit if you did a paper on your non-hate crime mugging?
Good comments Princess and believe it or not I'm right there with you! I can't count the times I have been fed up to the point of leaving the GOP. Then I think, but if I did the other side, the socialists, the far lefties win. I can't stand to let them take over because I am angry at my party. It's so frustrating isn't it? Well, we are frustrated together my friend, but lets keep on em and hope we can make some change for the better! -Jack
Jack, you responded in the wrong thread. I'll reply in the one you meant to comment on.
I'm with you too if Romney ends up being the republican candidate. It will be a repeat of the 2008 election with McCain. A waste of my time since he's "Obama-light." There isn't a big enough contrast between Romney and Obama to motivate republicans to vote.
I'll spend my time and money supporting state and local conservatives to build up a better future selection of candidates.
Princess,
Hang in there. There are many of us on the local levels of our party who are working to turn it around, but we need your help.
If you want to help change our party you have to start thinking locally. Make sure the candidates seeking your support truly share your values. Look at who supports them and why.
If we start recruiting better candidates now, someday we will have a better field to run for President. The presidential candidates we have now are the result of recruiting from 20 years ago. It's up to us now.
Wally Herger was a great guy. I think he was very respectful of both sides and was able to speak in public at schools and other events with kids in a great way that educated them about politics and Washington D.C. His office was very helpful in making arrangements for our trip to Washington D.C. But he has not represented our area well, and he has not represented conservative values well.
I'm glad he is retiring, we need a change and I hope McClintock will do a good job.
I think everyone can agree Wally is a great guy, genuinely friendly, but he just didn't get much done. Anyone can pull a lever saying I voted the way I was told. So we agree again! : )
"I'm glad he is retiring, we need a change and I hope McClintock will do a good job."
The election was held already?
If this is an appointment, rather than an election, I think you can be sure that McClintock will do no more than Herger did.