The One On The Right Is On The Left
Otto at The Otto Show on Feb 04 2008 at 6:51 am | Filed under: Election 2008
“The one on the right is on the left
and the one in the middle is on the right
and the one on the left is in the middle
and the guy in the rear…said ‘Oh dear’.”
I’m thinking of a candidate…a man…a politician who, once elected, would enthusiastically support amnesty; would raise gasoline taxes; would sign on to some of the most liberal abortion legislation the country has ever seen; would embrace and negotiate with an enemy at the horror of his political base; would expand tax credits to include millions of poor people who don’t pay taxes; would pull our military off our own foreign base after being attacked; and would expand the reaches of the already thinning social security program while throwing more money at it to keep it afloat; and would befriend, embrace and even (gasp!) compromise with a party that perpetuated a foul image of that candidate.
What a liberal!
Actually, he might be conservative.
He’s no conservative!
Well, he is a Republican.
What an embarrassment to the party! I’m going to vote for Kelsey Grammar or that hairy guy from the Borders By Bullets Party.
The man of course is Ronald Wilson Reagan. Now I’m not an expert but it does seem that Reagan’s name comes up a lot when discussing conservative icons. But how can we dare mention Reagan and conservatism in the same breath when has done so many horrible and horribly wrong things? Seriously, immigration is an issue that keeps me up nights! Really, it does. Broke the law…blah blah blah…North American Union…blah blah blah…taking jobs…blah blah blah. Yeah, it’s one of my top issues. Can I support a candidate who supported amnesty? Uh…real amnesty, not the new fake kind (where anything short of tazing a Chihuahua is considered amnesty).
I’ll cut to the chase here. I’m having issues with some of my fellow conservatives. Not so much over the disagreements we are having - I think it’s a healthy thing. I’m troubled by their approach to politics as of late. Here is why.
I, and I know others here as well, have often criticized the left for feeling rather than thinking; for reacting emotionally rather than thoughtfully. Leftism is the progress of the heart; conservatism is the progress of the brain.
So why are there so many conservatives these days ranting and raving like Kool-Aid leftists?
What do we call it when people hate George W. Bush so much that it prevents them from seeing or doing whats right? Bush Hatred Syndrome? BHS?
How about MHS? McCain Hating Syndrome. MHS sufferers experience a dizzying array of anti-McCain sentiments, symptoms often stemming from too much am-radio (and perhaps not enough fiber). It may render a person unable to reason and be rational though with the proper care, the effects could wear off over time.
It’s time for people to understand this: the Republican Party is not, nor has it ever been, a hard-right, conservative party. It’s a moderate to right-leaning party that conservatives can use as a tool. Mr. Rightwinger? You are not the face of the party! You, like everyone else in this big-tent party, have to use the party to promote your point of view against others who are using it to promote theirs.
Conservatives threaten to abandon the party if not the election all together if John McCain is the nominee. I’m still trying to understand what it is that it will get them. A more conservative president? No. A more conservative Republican Party? No. A third party that matters? No. A bunch of right-wingers running around feeling better about themselves? Maybe…at least until the hangover kicks in and they start taking politics seriously again.
A bunch of hard-right conservatives splitting from the Republican party will hurt the party and hurt conservatives. And ultimately hurt the nation.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: ideals are great until they smack head-on into reality - then they become destructive.
The Republican Party can survive without the hard-right (and yes, even without the Ron Paul supporters). Don’t imagine that their little tantrums and attempts to teach the party a lesson are actually destined for greatness. The party will simply regroup as an official moderate alternative to the leftist, socialist Democrats. Conservatism however, cannot survive without the Republican party. Conservatism will be on the run and dying. And the issues that have dominated your conscience for the past few years will die right along with it.
Don’t like comprehensive immigration reform? Great! You won’t have to worry about it. President Clinton and her Democratic Congress aren’t going to waste time trying to find reasonable middle ground on this issue - she’s going to go right for the big ‘A’.
She could even sell herself off as the next Reagan, that liberal.
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