Something to chew on while we're waiting for this day to be over: What happened to real conservatives? I'm not talking about most people who call themselves "conservatives" today - most of them are actually "wingnuts". Note the description as "nominally conservative", i.e., in name only. Here is the Dictionary.com definition of "conservative". I challenge anyone to find anything about today's "conservatives" or certainly the Bush administration that fits in any of those criteria - unless the rather murky term "traditional" could be implied to mean "pre-Revolutionary War-style monarchy" when it comes to our government. But I think that might be stretching "traditional" a bit, don't you? What I want to know is how real conservatives came to allow the wingnuts to not only define themselves as "conservatives" but to redefine "liberalism" as well. I submit that the Bush administration represents the apex of a radical rightwing agenda that has sought to fundamentally change the function and operation of our government, and not for the better. The people driving this agenda have used subterfuge and outright criminality to advance their aims. So where are the principled and intelligent conservatives and why aren't they loudly decrying this usurpation of their identity? George Will comes to mind, I guess, and bloggers such as John Cole. But I mean, really, how in the world have gasbags like Rush Limbaugh gotten away with calling themselves "conservatives"? How come true conservatives have stood for it?
UPDATE: What is "conservative" about someone who supports a system that allows this to happen?
1 comment:
The terms "conservative" and "liberal" seem to change and morph from generation to generation. They also have different meanings depending upon the context. For example, one can be politically liberal and socially conservative at the same time, and vice versa.
For example; I wear my hair short, dress in slacks and collared shirts most days, don't drink, smoke, cuss or gamble, go to church regularly, own my own home and drive a pickup truck. And yet, I cast my votes like I was Abbie Hoffman.
Likewise, I've met folks with tattoos, rings in their nose, spiked hair and a 'party all the time' mentality who vote straight-ticket Republican.
(And there was this interesting item at Think Progress the other day about how sex workers get more business at Republican conventions than at Democratic ones.)
But I agree that most of the people claiming the label "conservative" these days don't fit the bill based on my definition. I would instead call them right-wing radicals and authoritarians.
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