Here Comes the Conservative Civil War

[Johannes_Paulsen]

Found this article to be very interesting.... Thoughts?


http://www.realclearpolitics.com/art...vative_ci.html

November 10, 2008 Here Comes the Conservative Civil War

By Rod Dreher
And so, with a resounding, bone-rattling crash, the conservative era ends. Now the scattered and demoralized armies of the right will turn on each other with such ferocity it will make the brutal opening scene of Gladiator look like a slap fight at a slumber party. It's about to get mercenary in the woodshed.


Who lost conservatism? The first instinct among shell-shocked and infuriated partisans will be to blame anybody but their own faction for this historical repudiation. Look to the talk-radio mob to set upon conservative elites who failed to stay loyally on side, especially in the matter of Sarah Palin's candidacy. This will do nobody any good and will delay the necessary repentance, rethinking and rebuilding.

The right has developed a vicious habit of tagging any dissenting conservative as a closet liberal. This folly has constructed an airtight bubble around the GOP and conservative leaders, not only depriving conservatism of constructive criticism from within its ranks, but also reinforcing the rank-and-file's worst instincts. If the election results didn't convince Republicans that they couldn't afford to throw people out - especially their intellectuals and people who respect intellect - then their ignorance is invincible.


This election ought to once and for all teach conservatives that Ronald Reagan is dead, and he's not coming back. The intellectual poverty of the GOP primary debates showed itself by the candidates' ritualistic invocation of Mr. Reagan's name, as if saying it often enough would compensate for the lack of new ideas among the sorry bunch.


Mr. Reagan and his popular brand of conservatism arose out of a particular set of historical circumstances - specifically, the challenge of Soviet communism abroad and welfare-statism at home. It's a new day with new challenges, and the intellectually exhausted right is not up to meeting them.


Conservatives must return to the philosophical sources of our tradition and reinterpret its insights and truths for the world we live in now. Ideas really do have consequences - as, obviously, does the lack of same. Yes, conservatives have to oppose the Obama Democrats when they overreach, but if the only response conservatives offer is defensive and obstreperous, they will not soon recover.


Conservatives will go nowhere until the right owns up to the failures of the Bush years. They were chiefly a failure of competence and a corruption of professed ideals. They were also a failure of ideology. In particular:


•The idea that the American military is an omnipotent tool for spreading liberal democracy died in Iraq and Afghanistan. The right's romanticization of militarism, and its crusading pieties about the universality of democratic values, are done.


•The dogmatic conviction that the globalized free market is capable of regulating itself for the greater good of society is a spectacularly costly shibboleth, as even Alan Greenspan, the high priest of this religion, confessed recently.


•The GOP's knee-jerk hostility to environmental concerns is not only a betrayal of conservative tradition but also costs Republicans credibility with young voters. Similarly, though it's tough for social conservatives like me to admit it, we've lost the gay marriage battle, especially among the young. We're going to have to come to some sort of accommodation with it to protect religious liberty.


The good news is that Mr. Obama may be a liberal, but he did not campaign as one and is too smart to govern as one. America remains largely a center-right country, which means there are opportunities for new iterations of conservatism. All eyes should be on Louisiana's brilliant young governor, Bobby Jindal, as the one national Republican left standing who can shore up the fragments against conservatism's present ruin - and possibly reverse the tide.


Out of loss, new victories can arise. Modern American conservatism began with the crushing defeat of Arizona's Barry Goldwater in the 1964 presidential race. That laid the groundwork for an emerging conservative movement, one that would not fully arrive until the Reagan presidency set the political agenda for nearly 30 years.


It is poetic, even poignant, that conservatism ended its remarkable run with the failed 2008 presidential effort of the Arizona senator who succeeded Mr. Goldwater. It took 16 years to get from Mr. Goldwater to Mr. Reagan.


The duration of conservatism's exile from power depends on how long its civil war lasts - and who wins it.





Rod Dreher is a Dallas Morning News editorial columnist. His e-mail address is rdreher@dallasnews.com.

[Morel42]

Need I say more?

If you want to save the 2nd amendment, Better start educating quickly and adapt to how ideas about society are changing.. For better or worse..

[LastManOut]

Who says the Republican party is the party of conservatives?

[LastManOut]

The presumption of the Republicrats that one or the other will rule is exactly our problem. What We The People need is 3, 4 or 5 parties that can be chosen from. All with just as much of a chance to win as any other. What our Republic needs to consider to survive is the promotion of a Conservative political party.

Rather than discuss how to re-instate conservative rule to the Republican parties, I would like to hear great ideas on how to level thew playing field for all political ideas especially conservative ideas. I am convinced that if true conservative concepts were promoted, most folks would be supportive, versus socialist/marxist or libertarian.

Osabama will disappoint his minions soon enough. Apparently he is already doing the moon-walk on tax cuts for the poor and downtrodden. And, Congress still has a 9% approval rating.

The iron is hot, now is the time to strike a blow for liberty. [/hokey sayings]

Neither of the Republicrats have the interest of a sovereign We The People at it's core. As long as we are debating, McCain/Osabama - Republican/Democrat - wealthy/poor - war/appeasement we are not debating the real issues of how to return sovereignty to the folks.

[Morel42]

The presumption of the Republicrats that one or the other will rule is exactly our problem. What We The People need is 3, 4 or 5 parties that can be chosen from. All with just as much of a chance to win as any other. What our Republic needs to consider to survive is the promotion of a Conservative political party.

Rather than discuss how to re-instate conservative rule to the Republican parties, I would like to hear great ideas on how to level thew playing field for all political ideas especially conservative ideas. I am convinced that if true conservative concepts were promoted, most folks would be supportive, versus socialist/marxist or libertarian.

Osabama will disappoint his minions soon enough. Apparently he is already doing the moon-walk on tax cuts for the poor and downtrodden. And, Congress still has a 9% approval rating.

The iron is hot, now is the time to strike a blow for liberty. [/hokey sayings]

Neither of the Republicrats have the interest of a sovereign We The People at it's core. As long as we are debating, McCain/Osabama - Republican/Democrat - wealthy/poor - war/appeasement we are not debating the real issues of how to return sovereignty to the folks.

QFT.. Mostly..

[Captain Tuttle]

The presumption of the Republicrats that one or the other will rule is exactly our problem. What We The People need is 3, 4 or 5 parties that can be chosen from. All with just as much of a chance to win as any other. What our Republic needs to consider to survive is the promotion of a Conservative political party.

I am quickly awakening to the realization that this is what is needed. The two party system no longer reflects the diversity of opinion among the electorate.

[Morel42]

I am quickly awakening to the realization that this is what is needed. The two party system no longer reflects the diversity of opinion among the electorate.

Pretty much.

I mean, You have Pro 2nd Democrats, Environmental Protectionist Republicans, Its like no matter who you vote for, you have to sacrifice something else you care about..

It's $#%#$ annoying..

[Kimba]

Pretty much.

I mean, You have Pro 2nd Democrats, Environmental Protectionist Republicans, Its like no matter who you vote for, you have to sacrifice something else you care about..

It's $#%#$ annoying..

Not one party can be everthing to everyone. There is always a trade off somewhere along the line.

[rev214]

Who says the Republican party is the party of conservatives?

That's exactly right, IMHO. As a conservative, I think a "civil war" inside the Republican party at this point is a good thing.

[The_War_Wagon]

He had me to here...

•The GOP's knee-jerk hostility to environmental concerns is not only a betrayal of conservative tradition but also costs Republicans credibility with young voters. Similarly, though it's tough for social conservatives like me to admit it, we've lost the gay marriage battle, especially among the young. We're going to have to come to some sort of accommodation with it to protect religious liberty.

Wrong on BOTH counts.

He wants to retore critical thinking to conservatism, and then says, we have to swallow the Algore/greenie-weenie bilge - hook, line, & sinker. NOT happenin'! Not ONLY is the earth cooling, and has been for ten years (even the U.N. agrees on this, by their OWN data! ), but the psuedo-scientific mumbo-jumbo behind global 'warming,' is practically a religion unto itself! Are we going to BE critical scientific thinkers, or are we going to replace science labs with sanctuarys & altars - perhaps with a picture of the "Trinity" over said altars - Algore, OBAMINATION, & Rachel Carson.

Gay marriage?!?! That non-sequiter is akin to 'scalding hot ice cream,' 'round sqaures,' and 'intelligent liberals.' "Accomodation with culture" WAS the MCCAN'T platform - how'd that work out, vis-a-vis TRUE conservatism again? When EVEN CA voters DEFEAT - for the SECOND time - a state amendment FOR gay marriage, you KNOW you have a losing proposition on your hands. Conservatism does NOT kowtow to the altar of contrived & offended "minorities." Republicrats might - but NOT conservatives.

The good news is that Mr. Obama may be a liberal, but he did not campaign as one and is too smart to govern as one.

And this observation is based on... what? Wishful thinking? He must've missed the news headline this weekend - "OBAMINATION plans to begin governing by IMPERIAL FIAT (i.e. - Executive Orders)." Don't hold your breath for ANY conservative/PRO-American rulings to come from his highness in those edicts...

All eyes should be on Louisiana's brilliant young governor, Bobby Jindal, as the one national Republican left standing who can shore up the fragments against conservatism's present ruin - and possibly reverse the tide.

And Bobby Jindal is "brilliant" based on... what? The racist notion, that as a NON-white, he got elected to office in one of the most crooked states in the country? He's been governor for a year - what has he done? The Feds have been running Louisiana since Hurricane Katrina, because the yokels were too incompetent to drive busful's of people anywhere OTHER than an athletic fieldhouse (New Orleans Saints - SAVE US! ). Curious George could run Louisiana better than the 19th century Democrat Party hacks who HAVE been running it for over 100 years now - I'd really have to see a LOT more from Mr. Jindal, before I throw the weight & hopes of the entire party behind him.

Finally, it should NOT be overlooked, that Mr. Dreher writes for the Dallas Morning News, where - before her departure to the nether regions of eternity - the old liberal battlehag, Molly Ivins once served. No doubt her idiotic and histrionic form of liberalism still pervades the newsrooms there. Most assuredly, they pervade THIS article.

Bob