The Banana Is Split

looking to the Right

Depending on the source, approximately 22 to 26 percent of Americans describe themselves as liberals.  Approximately 41 to 46 percent of Americans regard themselves as conservatives.  Given that, why are we here?  That is, why are Democrat Party politicians holding the power?  Notwithstanding the absolute catastrophe of the Bush/Chaney team, there is a more fundamental reason. 
Of the 23 percent or so of Americans who regard themselves as liberals, polls suggest that around 85 percent consider themselves loyal Democrats.   No surprise, eh?  Conversely, of the 44 percent or so Americans who regard themselves as conservatives, only around half (or 21 percent) regard themselves as Republicans.  Oops!  If that doesn’t send up a red flag to conservatives and Republicans alike, there is no future!  It should be no surprise to find that among those who consider themselves conservative there are distinct differences in political and philosophical positions.  Those differences are what have disenchanted a huge group (probably a majority) of conservatives with the Republican machine and its lockstep marching followers.  It is also a primary reason why we don’t have a conservative president.


The Dividing Line

not_looking_right

Brush aside the liberals, the true independents and any other offshoots of any political anything so that you are left with the conservative pack.  It is big, sneaking up on half of the voting body of the United States of America.  Look at it carefully though, and you see that is isn’t a group of homogenous thinkers like the liberal clan.  It is really 2 packs with the same name.  You have conservatives on one side and conservatives on the other side.  It is pretty confusing.  They all call themselves conservatives, the media call them all conservatives and they share some basic conservative positions on issues.  At the root though, they have some very fundamental differences that make them almost as different as liberals and libertarians.


Yes, there really are 2 kinds of people who call themselves conservatives.  Some say there are conservatives and neo-conservatives.  Others say there are only conservatives with minor differences of view.  I say there are traditional conservatives and the new-breed conservatives.  To put a recognizable and meaningful label on new-breed conservatives, I prefer to call them (conservative) talk radio conservatives because they are so influenced by even the most un-American rants of these talk radio hosts.  Philosophically, you can tell them apart by their positions.  If we don’t get caught up in the rhetoric and instead, look at the behavior of both groups of conservatives we see the following examples:

 

Traditional Conservatives Believe

Talk Radio Conservatives Believe

Individuals choose their own lifestyles in pursuit of happiness

Government controls lifestyles based on moral values of select religious views

Government should not be allowed to spend more money than it has

Government can borrow and spend all it wants as long as it is cutting taxes for major corporations

Individual freedoms are more important than government efforts to engineer society

A strong central government should limit freedoms based on a perceived model of an ideal society

We shouldn’t care about liberals or other political idealists – accept any good ideas they may have and just focus on what is good for America

We must minimize and do battle with liberals and anyone else who disagrees with us in any way

Individual and political ethics form a cornerstone of good government and a safe and free society

Ethics are flexible when attacking liberals and other enemies

The founders of the Constitution were religious men correct in keeping the church out of government and  government out of the church as set forth in the Constitution

The founders of the Constitution were religious men who intended that the governing of America (interpretation of the Constitution) follow Christian biblical interpretations

All the powers not specifically given to the federal government are powers of the states

The federal government should override the powers of the states on issues where the states do not follow the Republican platform

If it sounds stupid, it is probably stupid, or let’s call it what it is

We must do or accept anything or anybody who supports our position, period

 

These are not generalized speculations.  They can all be supported with very specific examples of positions taken by the Republicanized talk radio conservatives.  While theirs are not typical right wing political positions, they are the positions of today’s right wing in America.  The right column clearly does not represent true conservative principles, but the positions are those of people who claim they represent all conservatives in the United States.  The data taken from conservative Americans rather clearly demonstrate that position to be incorrect.  It is, after all, an advantage to the Republican Party to claim it represents all conservatives.  It would be a weaker party indeed that conceded it represented only talk radio conservatives.  It is also most convenient for the liberal press to dismiss true conservative principles by saying all conservative have talk radio conservative values.  That has the effect of pushing reasonable thinking voters (otherwise conservative) away from anything conservative.

Of course, real conservatives and talk radio conservatives do agree on some things.  Both groups agree that each individual has a right to defend his or her self and can own a firearm for that purpose, that the government has a responsibility to keep our country safe from aggression and that taxation must be kept in check.  True conservatives have little respect for the influence of special interests on government.  Talk radio conservatives (like talk radio hosts) display a fondness for special interests.  True conservatives are not anti-government; they simply believe that government should be controlled rather than controlling.  Talk radio conservatives speak anti-governance while supporting a strong role for government over individual rights and protection for powerful corporations.

Ethics and Talk Radio Conservatives

Sample ImageThe big chink in the armor of talk radio conservatives is clearly visible in its demonstration of ethics.  A quick look at the long chain of betrayals of office by Republican politicians reveals that they are all talk radio conservatives, not real conservatives.  From the many sex scandals to the underhanded financial scams, the political history of these losers is always the same.  They have been religious zealots who have routinely spoken out against and voted against individual rights while seeking special privileges for their like-minded colleagues.  They have supported a stronger and more intrusive government at the cost the freedoms this country was built upon.  Their political positions have been in line with, and as un-American as, the so-called conservative talk radio programs they pay homage to.  They have been embarrassments to America and to conservatism, yet many other talk radio conservatives continue to share their values and call themselves conservative.


Which Are You?

Sample ImageIf half the people in this country who call themselves conservative recognize they are not Republicans, what are they?  They certainly are not liberals.  No, they are simply conservatives.  Those other folks, the talk radio conservatives are by all measure simply not conservatives.  They are Republicans.  We really only have true conservatives and Republicans (who unfortunately call themselves conservatives).  Understand that many or most of the true conservatives are still registered as Republican, but their heads and hearts are with conservative values and principles, not with the Republican Party and its talk radio conservatism.

Do you want to reconsider where you stand?  Simply consider carefully whether you truly believe the Constitution means what it says.  Ask yourself if we should look to the Bible to establish the meaning behind our laws or should we look to the Constitution.  Think about whether the government should establish laws to control people’s lifestyles or should people move freely through society doing as they wish so long as they don’t impede the fundamental rights of others.   Ask yourself whether the government is better than you at deciding what is morally right in your life.  Think about whether the federal government should override the powers of the states when the states decide to pass laws not affecting constitutional issues.

Ponder these questions and issues and decide.  It should be pretty clear.  You may have taken positions like those of talk radio conservatives, but your real beliefs may be truly conservative or, you may have considered yourself a conservative only to find that you actually fully support the Republican Party Line.  You decide, but whatever the outcome, start calling yourself what you really are.  I hope you find that you are a true conservative, but that is just because I and the unobserved half of American conservatives happen to believe that true conservatism is good for America.  We know we are Conservatives, not Republicans.


 

 

A man's words are a measure of who he is only when they match his actions. - Jenny Jerrome.

 

I choose America, I choose freedom!

 

Conservative Politics,
Not Republican Politics

When I was trying to figure out who I was politically, a long-time conservative friend of the family told me, "When your government gets really out of control (and it will), you will know because your personal freedoms will be the first to suffer.  You will see restrictive intrusive laws, abandonment of Constitutional principles and spending like there is no tomorrow.  The people doing it will NOT be conservatives."

Here we are today where looking around we see an unprecedented assault on personal freedoms, a none-too-subtle attack on the word and spirit of the Constitution and runaway spending unmatched in history. The people directly responsible for all this say they are conservatives, but are they? Are they focused on conservative issues? Do we see them arguing for tax simplification? Are they doing anything to control federal spending? Has government gotten smaller or less restrictive under their watch? Do I need to keep asking?

The people running this country (the Bush administration and the religious right wing of the Republican Party) are NOT conservatives. I didn't truly believe I would see it happening in my lifetime.  I was proud to be a Republican because I believed the Republican Party carried the banner of conservative ideology. I became a Republican understanding that we are the protectors of conservative ideas.  Now I look around and I ask, "What has happened?  What went wrong?  We got the majority and it all fell apart.  Are conservative ideals a flawed futility?"

We know the answer, don't we?  We (conservatives) didn't get the majority! Religious right-wing Republicans got the majority. Pretending to be conservatives, they swept the Country (almost) and have pressed their ideology into government. There is nothing wrong with conservative ideas and politics.  What is wrong is that today's self-proclaimed conservatives have abandoned conservative principles and taken the Republican Party with them. Republican politics have become anything but conservative.

What Ideals?

That's Right, right?

Your 're joking, right?  Today, our Republican president has grown the federal government in every significant area while reducing service to the public and increasing fees (read, taxes) for almost everything.  His huge deficit spending program is exactly the equivalent of raising taxes. Somebody has to pay the cost of the largest financial deficit the world has ever seen.  Conservatives used to call that Third World Economics.  So much for small government and fiscal responsibility, but Republicans are conservatives, right? So we must be doing well in other areas.

Surely you know what's coming.  What about personal freedom?  Can you spell, USA Patriot Act?  It gives the government the power to attack those personal freedoms, like privacy, that we all believed were protected by the Constitution.  That's not enough?  What about attacking gays and those female gays?  Keeping the government out of our personal lives, letting people do what they want as long as they don't interfere with others, has been a long-held Conservative principle.

Still not enough?  States' rights remain intact, right?  Sure, but what about things like right-to-die laws and marijuana legalization and other state laws that are aimed at giving individuals control over their own lives.  Oops!  The Justice Department, guided by our own Republican administration, has actively attacked states' rights in every instance of departure from the Administration's position.  On what grounds?  Virtually always, it has been religious grounds.  Now that's consistent with the Constitution, isn't it?

Oh yes, tax simplification; it hasn't even been on the radar. On the contrary, tax rules have become the most complex ever as the Bush Administration maneuvers the tax system to provide special privileges to wealthy contributors. These are not even the types of tax incentives that stimulate business. It is simply a process of moving money and power away from average working people and small businesses and into the hands of a few major corporations.

The Weakness Is In The Split

Traditional conservative ideals and ideas are in a weakened state.  Political moderates are viewed as liberals by the New Conservatives whereas, traditional conservatives were once more likely to be moderates.  Whew!  Is that confusing?  Not really.  The introduction of Christian religious political reform has split the conservative side of politics.  The Religious Right, as we like to call them, have redefined conservatism to mean reinterpreting the Constitution and forcing us to live in a religious based society.  If that sounds contrary to the very reason for the Constitution and the spirit of the founding of this nation, you've got the point.  It is also destroying the fabric of the Republican Party.

The Alignment Problem

Are we Democrats and Republicans or liberals and conservatives?    We don't know! Republicans don't fit into the circle of conservative thinking and ideology any more than Democrats fit into the circle of liberal thinking and ideology.  The parties have lost focus.  They are not aligned with traditional American conservative or liberal values.  They are driven by election victories and money.  The parties look for the most popular position that will gain votes and reel in the money.  Such a non-ideological focus draws them away from conservative or liberal positions and toward the money issues or the emotionally charged issues.  Neither party is at all interested in protecting the Constitution, the values that gave us the freedoms we have (or think we have) or the basic principles of democracy.  They are only interested in votes.