Political Hay
Shine the Light
Don’t hide the conservative message under a big tent.
With the coming defection of Arlen Specter to his rightful place in the Democratic Party, all of the talk has centered on how far “to the right” the Republican Party has moved, how the “big tent” of Ronald Reagan has closed its flaps to moderates and most of all how this further proves that conservatism is dead.
Now if all of this is true — as the liberal media so desperately wants it to be — then exactly why is Specter donning the donkey duds? Is it because he has developed a sudden streak of conscience that prevents his continued allegiance to the GOP? Has Pennsylvania suddenly become a bastion of far-right fanatics? No, it is, as he himself admits, because he no longer represents the will of the state’s Republican voters, and not the other way around. So does this mean that the tent is shrinking and if so, what must be done about it?
The leader of the modern conservative movement, Ronald Reagan, did indeed welcome the support of those across the political spectrum, but the vitally important thing to remember is that he never altered his views to placate them. He did not govern or even campaign on opinion polling but was led by his solid, unchanging principles. And this, in essence, is what conservatism is by definition; a desire to preserve what it feels is essential to the pure role of governance, especially as defined in the U.S. Constitution.
The Great Communicator was the perfect man to give flesh to these principles and there’s no doubt that Reagan’s charisma influenced many young Americans to become Republicans. But as he so often said in reference to his famous nickname, he merely communicated great ideas. And although the times and faces change, he knew that our core beliefs must not; these are what we desire to conserve.
So, if the truth be told, it is Democrats, or progressives, who by their very nature change their ethics with the times. While conservative stances on issues like abortion are grounded in the natural law, liberals continuously blow with the prevailing radical wind. Most older Democrats are fond of recalling the glory days of Martin Luther King and John F. Kennedy and profess great admiration for their high ideals. Try this from a party leader who marched with Dr. King:
The above was written in 1977 by Jesse Jackson, not only a political candidate who flip-flopped on this issue, but a supposed man of God. But he, like most in his party, has been ripped from his former convictions by the desire for power, cloaked in the message of “change.” As we know by now, the left has been studiously following the Saul Alinsky playbook that explains the process:
Dostoevski said that taking a new step is what people fear most. Any revolutionary change must be preceded by a passive, affirmative, non-challenging attitude toward change among the mass of our people. They must feel so frustrated, so defeated, so lost, so futureless in the prevailing system that they are willing to let go of the past and change the future…If we fail to communicate with them, if we don’t encourage them to form alliances with us, they will move to the right. Maybe they will anyway, but let’s not let it happen by default.
So even Mr. Alinsky realizes that getting the people to forget the past is paramount to the task of implementing radical change. But we conservatives know that deep in their hearts, most Americans revere our history and especially the ideals upon which this nation was founded. Yet the problem with the current Republican leadership is that in this age of moral relativism, they are politically afraid to speak loudly and proudly of these ideals.
This reticence must end if the GOP is to keep its conservative base on board. It’s time to fight for the brand; to open the flaps of the big tent and let the light of truth shine in.
Letter to the Editor View all comments (35) | Leave a comment
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Jim Bailey| 5.6.09 @ 8:36AM
Thank you for this article. Reagan led with conservatism. And anyone who agreed in part, or disagreed with his opponents was welcome to follow. And that included sorry opportunists like Specter.
But for quite some time now, (since Dole's loss to Clinton), others of Specter's ilk have been using Reagan's Big Tent in an effort to shrink the Republican Tent. To them, anyone with social conservative views, (and lately they have broadened this to fiscal, and sometimes foreign policy views as well), is attacked for standing up for these views. They prefer to have those opinions kept leashed on the outside of their tent, and only throw them a few bones during voting time.
While Dole lost running as a conservative, Bush won twice by running as a conservative. Unfortunately, he governed only part conservative, mostly moderate. And with the Senate dominated by a hand full of Specter-like liberal Republicans, everything Bush did was twisted towards liberalism. Conservatives were upset because they won the vote, but got more liberalism. They also got a Pork fest and a few real creeps.
That is why Democrats won in 2006. And they were slick enough to blame the mess they made together with Bush on the Republicans. And now they have it all, and are making the mess even worse.
This present Republican Party was built on conservatism, and will diminish back into a permanent minority without conservatism.
Our countries greatness was built on conservatism, and will fade away like the Republican Party is doing, or even crash, without Conservatism.
Are we going to stand up and be great, or are we going to let the small-minded, 'Big Tent', liberal Republicans keep us leashed outside their small tent?
stu.b.con| 5.6.09 @ 9:17AM
Can conservatives be as stupid as these "moderate" "big tenters" seem to believe? Over the past 8 years we have seen the democrat party lurch so the far to left they are indistinguishable from the socialist/communists of Europe and Central America. So the answer from the Specters, Powells, & McCains et al is to follow them rather than lead based on our convictions, beliefs, and values? America hangs in the balance and following the lemmings into the sea is not the answer, leading them away from the abyss is. What would Reagon do?
Hank Rearden| 5.6.09 @ 9:54AM
Lisa,
Great article, but is the answer to be found in the Republican party? Has it become too compromised? Is a third party an option?
Granted, third parties often do not compete well in elections, but we've never really had a serious third party. I switched a few years ago to Libertarian. Socially I have moved to the left, but financially more to the right. Meanwhile, the Republican party has gone to the left on both issues, do we have a home left to save?
Pingback| 5.6.09 @ 9:57AM
Twitted by bpasquale links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
Northern Rebel| 5.6.09 @ 10:36AM
We gave the "big tenters", like the pathetic Colin Powell (now I understand why he pronounces his name with a long vowel) the candidate they wanted.
What happened?
Why vote for a squishy liberal republican, when you can have the real thing?
Conservatism works, every time it's tried!
Bram| 5.6.09 @ 11:10AM
Specter falsely argues that the GOP is drifting right when the opposite is true - some just drifted left faster than others.
Gerald Ford was a moderate Republican for his time who refused to bailout cities or companies. Bush, supposedly a wild-eyed conservative, led the charge for massive government intervention in the economy and handed Obama the keys to the auto industry.
The argument the Republican Party has moved too far right is ridiculous. They moved too far left – leaving behind their core supporters.
loulou| 5.6.09 @ 11:12AM
I am NOT a Republican. I am a conservative. I will not give any $$ to the GOP but I will contribute to individual candidates who are conservative enough for me.
I don't like Colin Powell, Condi Rice, John McCain, Arlen Spector, Snowe, Collins, Lindsey Graham, Charlie Crist, Jeb Bush or any other "moderate", pro amnesty Republicans.
They can all jump ship for all I care. In fact, they SHOULD go be Democrats if that's what they want to be and stop being pollutants.
Pingback| 5.6.09 @ 11:32AM
Topics about Fleshlight » Archive » The American Spectator : Shine the Light links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
Gill O'Teen| 5.6.09 @ 11:39AM
If you think it's okay to kill babies, get out of my tent.
If you think that gay marriage is anything other than an abrogation of natural law, get out of my tent.
If you think that persons entering this country in defiance of its laws should be granted amnesty, financial assistance, or the right to vote, get out of my tent.
If you offer aid, comfort and compromise to the sworn enemies of our country, get out of my tent.
If you think that the Constitution is an archaic document that can be ignored at the whim of a political agenda, get out of my tent.
If you think it's fiscally responsible to bankrupt our country, get out of my tent.
If you think the community organizer-in-chief has a clue about national security, economics, democracy, business or morality, get out of my tent.
I don't care if I'm the only person left in my tent, at least I can cling to my guns, my Holy Bible and my Constitution.
Son Of Sam | 5.6.09 @ 12:09PM
If conservatism is "dead", how come the ObamaNazis are so keen on trying to kill it?
If "Big Tent" moderates are so important to the success of the Republican party, how come they keep getting their asses whipped by Democrats in general elections?
If talk radio is "splintering" the Republican party, how come liberal Democrats are hellbent on censoring it?
If "polarizing" people like Rush Limbaugh and Sarah Palin are destroying any hopes for a turnabout in 2010, why isn't the Teleprompter in Chief helping them?
We need to ditch the slave mentality and stop letting our enemies tell us what to do, how to feel or think, or what principles to stand on. We also need to stop seeing them as somehow "invincible": if they were, they wouldn't be trying to silence us. British redcoats seemed invincible in 1776; so did Confederate generals in 1862, Kaiser Wilhelm in 1914, Hitler in 1941, the Evil Empire in 1979, Saddam Hussein in 1990 and Osama Bin Laden in 2001. After defeating the likes of them, we should know that the rats nest of traitors and tax cheats in the White House are not "supermen" either. They too will be flung onto the trash pile of history. It's just a question of who takes out the garbage
stay strong until freedom dawns
Son Of Sam
http://www.geocities.com/samadamssos
John| 5.6.09 @ 12:13PM
No Gill, they'll take the Bible, the gun (for which you will have no ammo, anyway) and take your pocket Constitution to feed to the nearest shredder...
AND then they will take the tent... by calling it an environmental hazard or something....
The truth is that Ronald Reagan ran a center-right Republican Party. Moderates were important allies and voices in the 1980's. He accomplished this from the RIGHT, however. Therein lies the difference between Reagan's GOP and Powell toothless dishrag of an echo of the Democrats.
Reagan welcomed those who didn't agree with him on everything. He worked to find common ground in order to advance his agenda as far as he could advance it.
He made no bones about it, though... HE OWNED THE TENT. If you wanted in... you got in on his terms, not yours.
Which is as it should be.
The issue is that Reagan would have been read out of his revolution by those who purport to follow his philosophy. He compromised on the budget, raised taxes when he had to, and was a firm believer in the Libertarian outlook on immigration. He accepted the limits of Simpson-Mazzoli but insisted on an amnesty opportunity for illegals already here living good lives.
That is truth... Unfortunately it is dismissed by the too many on the Right, because of their misty memories of greatness past. I also, strongly suspect that it is because those compromises have been thrown in our faces repeatedly by the Left, (DM-Bot is sure to talking point this one in... maybe even TP-Bot will do a smarmy HAL9000-like chime in).
We lost perspective on both sides of the immigration argument. Being here illegally (for the first time) is not a crime. It is a civil violation that amounts to the legal equivalent of a speeding ticket which is resolvable by a fine... The dangerous nature of the resulting outlaw society is of far greater importance to solve.
The problem was that we could not agree to disagree, and be agreeable on the other important things that we needed to attend to. The Dems smelled blood, used divide and conquer tactics.... and then beat us badly with our own internal discord.
Reagan was blessed with the ability to ride above those waves... and smooth the roiled waters... We need to be able to develop the ability to do that ourselves, instead of having some mythic "Leader" to do it for us.
It is good to get rid of BAD Republicans like Arlen Spectre... It clears the decks and removes the fouled lines so that we might better control the ship in heavy seas.
But ultimately a political party is not an ideological stalking horse... it is an organization dedicated to electing candidates... Its candidates will always reflect the ideological blend of its local and national membership. If those members are mushy moderates because the Conservatives stayed home, then it is illogical to expect that the party will reflect values contrary to that moderate philosophy.
The GOP and Conservatives have to learn to hang together, or they most assuredly will hang separately. -- see B. Franklin for lessons.
r/John
Pat| 5.6.09 @ 12:33PM
"Does this mean the tent is shrinking, and if so, what must be done about it?" Well, as an immediate remedy, let's find some conservative spokespersons that aren't semi-retarded. Go back to the time of FDR, touch first base and then start running the bases of recent history. Notice that Conservative principles and habits of governance have been steadily eroding for the past 80 years? Is the "big tent shrinking" - aw c'mon, what do you think? Our culture has changed, our society has changed and our government and its laws will invariably reflect that change.
Conservatives don't stand guard over the Constitution except in juvenile fantasies and fanatical delusions brought on by an overdose of patriotism. The Constitution is a decaying piece of parchment resting in the National Archives. People can't be effectively governed by an ancient document or the memories of men long since dead. Conservatives really function as boat anchors, slowing down, but never, ever throughout history, actually stopping a society from rushing onto the rcoks.
What makes our form of government, pathetic and corrupt as it is, superior to other forms of government is that its foundation is built solely on self-interest. Many Liberals, with their crippling emotional attachment to ideology, forget that simple fact. Conservatives try to tell people that self-interest is best served by individual freedom. Most Americans understand the concept that but don't really believe in it; they firmly believe, with clever and gentle encouragement from both the Democrats and Republicans, that their self-interest is best served by letting the government run their lives and worry about their welfare. Conservatives should be preaching a single message over and over - namely, "Welcome to Cannibal Country - you ate your fellow voters at yesterday's feast, now it's your turn on the spit".
R.D.| 5.6.09 @ 1:30PM
Specter is representative of most politicians today. Instead of his allegiance being to 1) country, 2) constituents, 3) party, and 4) himself. He is 180 degrees off. It is obvious that the vast majority of politicians are only concerned with themselves. There is no greater reason for TERM LIMITS. It would be refreshing to have people in congress that actually are not in it for themselves and beholding to everyone but the country.
Northern Rebel| 5.6.09 @ 1:46PM
The liberals know that they cannot compete in the arena of ideas, so they set out to destroy their opponents. Their attempts to stifle talk-radio, are ongoing, and well documented. Recently, Pat Leahy has talked about a "fairness" doctrine for the internet.
Look at the list of political conservatives, who's reputations have been attacked rather than engaged:
George Allen
Sarah Palin(w/help from republicans)
Tom DeLay(w/help from republicans)
Phil Gramm(w/help from republicans)
Christopher Cox
Rick Santorum
Bobby Jindal (SOON)
I could go on.
Anytime a conservative takes a leadership role, the corrupt media ANALyzes them, rather then engages them, because they know America is a conservative country, when presented with a conservative point of view.
As soon as a conservative has the courage to fly in the face of the liberal press, and take their message to the people directly, the liberals will collapse into a pile, consumed by their own evil corruption.
Please hurry, conservative leader, our country depends on you!
dcd| 5.6.09 @ 2:14PM
That's all very nice but it still takes a majority to set policy, and without some of the moderates the republicans can't win office. See Noemie Emery's article in the weekly standard
Catherine| 5.6.09 @ 4:32PM
dcd said:
"That's all very nice but it still takes a majority to set policy, and without some of the moderates the republicans can't win office..."
You mean moderates like Bob Dole and John McCain?
Michael L. Hauschild| 5.6.09 @ 5:28PM
So the democrats sucked some of the pus (Specter) from the abscess that is the current Republican Party. La de da! Now we only need to apply a little pressure from our side, expel some of the remaining suppurotive Rino infection.
Thom| 5.6.09 @ 6:08PM
Over 70% of the German people voted for the Nazis, Socialists or Communists in the 1932 elections. Didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that the greater German people were willing to dance with the Devil regardless of which dress he wore to the party. After the Nazis consolidated control many Germans joined to “go along to get along” or became the “good Nazis”, separate and apart from what became the “evil” Nazis later on. Both died under our bombs and Russian tanks…..
The enduring “collective” weaknesses of Dumbmocracies is that there is no accountability possible within the frame work for really stupid decisions made by the majority in power by the minority. That’s why so much effort was put into making us a Republic not a Democracy. People like Specter and Colin Powel are what you get in a Democracy. Take your pick, they are both political opportunists and both have gotten their 30 pieces of silver…. They will go along to get along for as long as there is reward in it for them.
In a society that lets people vote for things they have no “skin” in or responsibility for and a political Party dedicated to the destruction of every Constitutional restraint on power and individual liberty protected within, I don’t see how “reason” is going to win the day at the polling places in the near term. Most of the Democrat party voters are bought and paid for several times over and it would be beyond any normal expectation to see people dependent on government the way they are to vote against their self interest. The German people were not unique in this problem and we are not immune to the same kinds of behavior and outcome. There are plenty of Democrats that would sell their mother down the river if that got them something they thought they were entitled to. The people that supported Obama think they are entitled to what you have and as long as someone else does the “wet work” they will go along to get along….
It is going to take more than “shinning the light” of truth on the evil that rules today in this country. People are going to have to step up to the plate and go in harms way to protect the enumerated Constitution Republic we are about to lose. That won’t be easy, cheap or risk free. The evil on the other side thinks it is entitled to do what ever it wants because “I won” just as the Nazis did. If history is any teacher, most on our side will just whine and complain to no end. The people who fought a war to give us what John Adams called a “moral” republican form of government weren’t the majority of their time either. Cost them a bit to give us the gift we take for granted and are throwing away…..for a few pieces of silver…..
Pingback| 5.6.09 @ 7:51PM
Topics about Fleshlight » Archive » Shine the Light links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
Diamon Sforza| 5.6.09 @ 9:04PM
Too bad Lisa didn't write this essay a day later! Oh the joy I would have reading what she had to say about the R/DINO that has been stripped of his self-delusional dignity.
Thursday will no doubt bring very enjoyable reading about the man without a party.
Hill 937 A Shau Valley| 5.7.09 @ 1:54AM
If Obama would have been in the military, serving his country instead of giving it away, he wouldn't be President today. Instead, he'd be a man, like most of us, proud to have served his country instead of selling it to the highest bidder as instructed by his boss Soros.
I feel a deepening sorrow for Michelle and the girls, as their dad gives away Amarica.
No brains, no headaches!
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