The list of conservative principles…vague, pointless and hypocritical.
Now, let me preface this by saying that I’m a Constitutional conservative. I believe in a small government with limited power and individual freedom.
That said, I have to say that today, 80 “conservative” idiots got together to sign come document confirming conservative principles that are supposed to define conservatism. Unfortunately, the best they could come up with was some vague list that was not only pointless because of its vagueness, but also quite hypocritical.
Here’s what it said:
1. A Constitutional conservatism based on first principles provides the framework for a consistent and meaningful policy agenda.
2. It applies the principle of limited government based on the rule of law to every proposal.
3. It honors the central place of individual liberty in American politics and life.
4. It encourages free enterprise, the individual entrepreneur, and economic reforms grounded in market solutions.
5. It supports America’s national interest in advancing freedom and opposing tyranny in the world and prudently considers what we can and should do to that end.
6. It informs conservatism’s firm defense of family, neighborhood, community, and faith.
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So what does that mean? Well, let’s take it line by line.
1. Not a clue. Just sounds like a lot of political vaguery. (Is vaguery even a word? If not, it should be!)
2. Ok this one’s actually self explanatory and is a really good thing. Failing to obey this one is what landed us with such a bloated government that ignores the Constitution and assumes rights it doesn’t have.
3. Now this one’s good, but it’s also extremely hypocritical because of number 6. I’ll explain why when I get down to number 6.
4. Again, this one’s great. Whatcha gonna do about it though, and how are you going to protect the rights and liberties of normal people when they’re abused by corporations and other businesses that contribute heavily to your party? Bush changed the bankruptcy law, which helped the banks and credit companies, but totally screwed over your average Joe in trouble. Where’s the protection for us? Bush was in the pockets of the corporations and financial institutions, just as so many in the government are, both liberal and conservative, and we end up paying the price for it.
5. Again, this is a good one, but also vague and highly subjective. There are lots of people who might think it would be a good thing to insert ourselves into the problems they’re having in Darfur because it would raise our standing in the world or whatever. Honestly, we have no national interest there, nor should we be acting as the world’s policeman. There are cases however where we should be doing a hell of a lot more than sitting on our thumbs and rotating, like in the case of what’s going on with Iran. Again, this is a vague statement, and says nothing more than is dictated by common sense.
6. And here we have the hypocritical one that loses them elections, and yet they cling to it like a bunch of morons. In number 3 they say that liberty should be respected both in American politics and life. Now here in this one they pull out the same old oppressive social and religious crap that’s been losing them elections for a long time now, and yet they refuse to let go of it.
Individual liberty was a founding point of our country. The whole point of this country was for us to be free to live and think as we please, and yet these idiots want to take their religious based morals and try to impose them on everyone, like it or not. When they say defense of family, that means they’re still clinging to their anti-gay marriage stand and their anti-abortion B.S.. Let me tell you something. If two American citizens want to get married, the government has NO business getting in the way of that. That’s not only an issue of individual liberty, but it’s also an issue of gays not being afforded equal treatment under the law. Gays pay taxes, they serve in the military and they’re an integral part of American life and culture, and yet they’re denied one of the most basic of legal rights simply because, for these religious screw heads, individual liberty ends where the Bible begins. Let me just clue you in on something here folks. We don’t live in a theocracy. That’s not what this country was founded on, nor is it how we should be living. You’re perfectly free to believe in whatever religion you want as long as you leave it at the door when you come in to make policy that applies to the individual citizens of this country.
With abortion, you have the same thing, except that they have even less of a leg to stand on. Abortion is perfectly legal, and yet, because they don’t think it should even exist because of their religious morals, they try to restrict it and constantly talk about how they’d like to see Roe vs. Wade overturned. Roe vs. Wade is settled law. It passed its test in the Supreme Court. That’s it. It’s done. If you all don’t like abortion, don’t have one, but don’t try to impose your beliefs on everyone else. Sometimes abortion is necessary, and preferable to the alternative. It’s a hard enough decision for people to deal with without you moralists sticking your nose into people’s private business and trying to step on their individual liberties.
As for neighborhood and community, what the hell does that mean? What business does the government have sticking its nose into our neighborhoods and communities unless there’s a legal issue or a social problem (like homelessness or gang activity) involved that necessitates it? People just want to be left alone to live their lives in whatever way they see fit.
Religion. Now, I’m an Atheist / LaVey Satanist, but if people want to believe in whatever religion they want to believe in, I have no problem with that. I think it’s stupid, but it’s not my place, nor anyone else’s to tell them otherwise. However, that said, people do NOT have the right to harm the individual liberties of others by imposing their religious morals on them. I also believe that freedom of speech should not extend to the incitement by religious leaders of unlawful behavior. For example, a Christian church riling up its congregation so much over abortion that one of them goes out and kills an abortion doctor, or a mosque where the imam preaches hate against the Jews and other infidels, brainwashing his followers into committing violent acts against them. These things are indefensible, and should not be tolerated. Churches are free to say that they’d like their congregations to not have abortions based on what’s in the bible. That’s fine. If people want to believe that, I have no problem with it. Its at the point where they try to impose it on others that I have a problem with it.
Individual liberty is the most important thing we have, and the far left and the far right in our government have been perpetually eroding it for nearly a century now, if not longer, each for their own purposes, and I despise both equally for it. Freedom isn’t just some esoteric thing that’s indefinable, it’s a thing that each of us deserve under our Constitution, and something that many brave men and women have died to protect. Unfortunately, the real enemy seems to be right here at home, as our own politicians have done more to erode our freedoms than any outside enemy ever has.
So go back to the drawing board folks. Come up with something more specific, and leave your social agenda out of it. The government has no business preaching any kind of a social agenda to the citizens of this country. You just might find that if you stopped trying to impose your religious views of life on everyone, a lot more people would warm up to your other ideals and start voting for you.
(Current Mood: irritated
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