Jim Stillman
Nevar
Friendly advice to the Right
July 12th 2007 16:04
In a prior post I postulated that the Bush (#43) administration and its followers had failed, not because of a unique amount of venality or stupidity (they do not have, after all, a monopoly), but because, at least in part, because they dislike and distrust government and governing. If your core value is that government is the problem in all things civic, then you’re probably not going to be good at utilizing it for the commonweal.
And that’s a shame, because, as a liberal, left-leaning kind of guy, I readily acknowledge that the Conservative movement is necessary.
So in the spirit of wishing to be helpful, and with my customary humility, here’s what the Far Right needs to do to become relevant.
Conservatives have to resume its traditional and vital role in requiring debate and introspection of liberal ideas and applying a brake if necessary.
The traditional role of the conservative movement in the United States has been to put a brake on liberal-progressive proposals and action. At the start of the twentieth century, movements were promoted by liberal activists to grant suffrage to women, control business to prohibit child labor and to enact and enforce wage and hour laws, regulate various industries (food processors, drug manufacturers), eliminate laws and practices that perpetuated second class citizenship for blacks and the introduction of other programs that were considered at the time to be “radical”. The conservatives constituted a “loyal opposition” and acted to delay implementation of some of these “reforms” until full debate and study was accomplished.
As far as foreign relations are concerned, liberals pushed for intervention in the then European conflict in the late 1930’s through 1941. Conservatives were, for the most part, isolationists, holding that involvement in foreign wars was not in our best interest. (The arguments for and against intervention were rendered irrelevant when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor and Germany declared war on the United States one day later.)
Where conservatives were, traditionally, the movement that supported isolationist policies, we now see a Republican administration engaging in “preemptive war”.
The conservative right has given up its own core principles.
Whereas, older conservatives preached fiscal responsibility and accused liberals of being profligate, the present administration has thrown fiscal responsibility to the waste heap! Liberals are branded with the slogan, “tax and spend” but conservatives now support the notion of “spend and don’t tax”.
Republican-conservatism has lost whatever relevancy it once enjoyed. Its remaining popularity is due to its framing issues in such a way that slogans replace principles, sound bites take the place of reason. Unfortunately, liberals have allowed this to occur by not forcibly articulating their positions. In a subsequent post, I will explain my personal view of the principles of modern liberalism, as I understand them and make suggestions on how liberalism can be better understood and portrayed.
The far-right brand of Conservatism has failed; everyone knows it and it’s time to expose its failures.
Conservatives had their chance: a Republican president, a Republican Congress, Republican-appointed courts—in short, the perfect environment for enacting their vision with little to stand in their way—and they failed.
Modern-conservatism is the ideology of the past, hypocritical, impotent and reduced to name-calling. It is the ideology of the past—a past to which we don’t want to return. Conservatives supported slavery, opposed women’s suffrage, supported Jim Crow and opposed the 40-hour work week and the abolishment of child labor. Conservatives supported McCarthyism and the witch hunts of the 1920’s and 1940’s and 1950’s. In short, all the major modern advancements of freedom and justice in the United States were pushed by liberals and opposed by conservatives, no matter the party they inhabited at the time.
Conservatism is Bill Bennett lecturing about self-denial, then rushing off to feed his slot habit at the casino.
It’s James Dobson telling you that children need regular beatings to stay in line.
It’s Jerry Falwell watching “Teletubbies” frame by frame to see if Tinky Winky is trying to turn him gay.
It is the Reverend Mr. Falwell suggesting hurricanes and earthquakes are the result of national immoral behavior.
Conservatism is the Hillsborough county Board of Commissioners in Tampa spending money to research and enact laws to require strippers to be licensed (where would they carry the license?). Conservatism is everyone you never wanted to grow up to be.
Modern conservatism is Representative Foley writing suggestive e-mail to congressional pages while heading committees to protect children from predators. It is favoritism to the rich and powerful, to cronies. It is awarding Halliburton non-bid contracts to supply our armed forces with fuel and food, and allowing that vendor to reap obscene profits. It is supporting tax policies that shield the wealthiest of our population from paying its fair of taxes, therefore shifting the burden to the poor and middle classes. It is reducing research funds to cure disease while providing expensive perks for the wealthiest of members of the Executive and Legislative branches of government.
The right-wing demands an activist interfering government
Republican-conservatives assert that they believe in a limited government. As I have cited before, their core belief is Reagan’s often expressed mantra that government is the problem, not a solution. This facile statement, however, hides the truth that Conservatives support an activist government, on all levels, to promote and enforce their own prejudices and beliefs.
For example, Conservatives continue to support and enact legislation to reverse the Supreme Court’s permitting abortion, with some limitations. Conservatives oppose making condoms available to teens, on the unproven and absurd theory that, if teens do not have birth control available, they will suddenly become sexually inactive.
Conservatives spend millions of dollars nation-wide to restrict and control personal behavior of adults. Will our country disappear or be fatally damaged if two men or two women want to have rights not accorded to married couples? Do adult establishments, strip clubs, and the like really tear the fabric of society so that their existence must be the object of police activity and enforcement?
Surely the police have far more serious crimes upon which to focus than whether an adult gets a “lap dance”.
Republican-conservatives give lip service to the idea that people should be free of governmental interference, but then the Shiavo case comes along and religious views direct governmental policies.
Republican conservatives, a group that used to practice fiscal restraint, have run up the largest deficit in United States history and, still, press for tax reduction for the wealthy.
And the examples can go on and on. . .
It is time for intellectually honest and honorable Conservatives to reclaim their origins and recapture their valuable influence.
And that’s a shame, because, as a liberal, left-leaning kind of guy, I readily acknowledge that the Conservative movement is necessary.
So in the spirit of wishing to be helpful, and with my customary humility, here’s what the Far Right needs to do to become relevant.
Conservatives have to resume its traditional and vital role in requiring debate and introspection of liberal ideas and applying a brake if necessary.
The traditional role of the conservative movement in the United States has been to put a brake on liberal-progressive proposals and action. At the start of the twentieth century, movements were promoted by liberal activists to grant suffrage to women, control business to prohibit child labor and to enact and enforce wage and hour laws, regulate various industries (food processors, drug manufacturers), eliminate laws and practices that perpetuated second class citizenship for blacks and the introduction of other programs that were considered at the time to be “radical”. The conservatives constituted a “loyal opposition” and acted to delay implementation of some of these “reforms” until full debate and study was accomplished.
As far as foreign relations are concerned, liberals pushed for intervention in the then European conflict in the late 1930’s through 1941. Conservatives were, for the most part, isolationists, holding that involvement in foreign wars was not in our best interest. (The arguments for and against intervention were rendered irrelevant when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor and Germany declared war on the United States one day later.)
The conservative right has given up its own core principles.
Whereas, older conservatives preached fiscal responsibility and accused liberals of being profligate, the present administration has thrown fiscal responsibility to the waste heap! Liberals are branded with the slogan, “tax and spend” but conservatives now support the notion of “spend and don’t tax”.
Republican-conservatism has lost whatever relevancy it once enjoyed. Its remaining popularity is due to its framing issues in such a way that slogans replace principles, sound bites take the place of reason. Unfortunately, liberals have allowed this to occur by not forcibly articulating their positions. In a subsequent post, I will explain my personal view of the principles of modern liberalism, as I understand them and make suggestions on how liberalism can be better understood and portrayed.
The far-right brand of Conservatism has failed; everyone knows it and it’s time to expose its failures.
Conservatives had their chance: a Republican president, a Republican Congress, Republican-appointed courts—in short, the perfect environment for enacting their vision with little to stand in their way—and they failed.
Modern-conservatism is the ideology of the past, hypocritical, impotent and reduced to name-calling. It is the ideology of the past—a past to which we don’t want to return. Conservatives supported slavery, opposed women’s suffrage, supported Jim Crow and opposed the 40-hour work week and the abolishment of child labor. Conservatives supported McCarthyism and the witch hunts of the 1920’s and 1940’s and 1950’s. In short, all the major modern advancements of freedom and justice in the United States were pushed by liberals and opposed by conservatives, no matter the party they inhabited at the time.
Conservatism is Bill Bennett lecturing about self-denial, then rushing off to feed his slot habit at the casino.
It’s James Dobson telling you that children need regular beatings to stay in line.
It’s Jerry Falwell watching “Teletubbies” frame by frame to see if Tinky Winky is trying to turn him gay.
It is the Reverend Mr. Falwell suggesting hurricanes and earthquakes are the result of national immoral behavior.
Conservatism is the Hillsborough county Board of Commissioners in Tampa spending money to research and enact laws to require strippers to be licensed (where would they carry the license?). Conservatism is everyone you never wanted to grow up to be.
Modern conservatism is Representative Foley writing suggestive e-mail to congressional pages while heading committees to protect children from predators. It is favoritism to the rich and powerful, to cronies. It is awarding Halliburton non-bid contracts to supply our armed forces with fuel and food, and allowing that vendor to reap obscene profits. It is supporting tax policies that shield the wealthiest of our population from paying its fair of taxes, therefore shifting the burden to the poor and middle classes. It is reducing research funds to cure disease while providing expensive perks for the wealthiest of members of the Executive and Legislative branches of government.
The right-wing demands an activist interfering government
Republican-conservatives assert that they believe in a limited government. As I have cited before, their core belief is Reagan’s often expressed mantra that government is the problem, not a solution. This facile statement, however, hides the truth that Conservatives support an activist government, on all levels, to promote and enforce their own prejudices and beliefs.
For example, Conservatives continue to support and enact legislation to reverse the Supreme Court’s permitting abortion, with some limitations. Conservatives oppose making condoms available to teens, on the unproven and absurd theory that, if teens do not have birth control available, they will suddenly become sexually inactive.
Conservatives spend millions of dollars nation-wide to restrict and control personal behavior of adults. Will our country disappear or be fatally damaged if two men or two women want to have rights not accorded to married couples? Do adult establishments, strip clubs, and the like really tear the fabric of society so that their existence must be the object of police activity and enforcement?
Surely the police have far more serious crimes upon which to focus than whether an adult gets a “lap dance”.
Republican-conservatives give lip service to the idea that people should be free of governmental interference, but then the Shiavo case comes along and religious views direct governmental policies.
Republican conservatives, a group that used to practice fiscal restraint, have run up the largest deficit in United States history and, still, press for tax reduction for the wealthy.
And the examples can go on and on. . .
It is time for intellectually honest and honorable Conservatives to reclaim their origins and recapture their valuable influence.
| 38 |
| Vote |
Add To: 
subscribe to this blog
Comment by Jeff Musall