I’ve been told by “self proclaimed independents” and “cafeteria conservatives” as well as liberals that the “Right” has become fringe radicals.
An accusation that leaves me puzzled when coming from otherwise intelligent people.
To illustrate my hypothesis I will start using Ted Cruz as an example of liberal malignment of Conservatism.
Now that Ted Cruz has announced his candidacy for POTUS; the voices making these ridiculous claims is growing louder. “Cruz is radical” “Cruz speaks for those radical tea baggers” blah blah blah… What’s amazing about this is: Ted Cruz is nothing more or less than a Constitutional Conservative that’s not afraid to speak truth about very hard choices we as a country must make at this juncture in our American experiment called a Representative Republic which is based on the principles of:
(1) Respect for the Constitution;
(2) Respect for Life;
(3) Believe in Limited Government; and
(4) Belief in Personal Responsibility.
Which incidentally are the 4 principles Frederick Douglass espoused, which leaves me wondering about those who ridicule Mr Cruz as to whether or not they support the constitution and the limits it places on government or the rights it seeks to protect from an overbearing government. It makes me wonder if they understand that the framers understood that government by its very nature seeks to grow and over reach its authority and wrote the perfect blueprint to prevent that from happening. It is that which conservatism seeks to promote and always has.
“Conservatism” as we see it in action today by the oft maligned Tea Party is the exact same conservatism that Barry Goldwater wrote about in his 1960 book “The Conscience of a Conservative” and the very same conservatism that Frederick Von Hayek wrote about in his book “Road to Serfdom” in the mid 1930’s.
It’s the same conservatism that Ayn Rand wrote of in Atlas Shrugged and Fountainhead as well as the dystopian future perpetrated by the very same radical liberalism we see today.
The very same conservatism that birthed Ronald Reagan as we know him and propelled him to President.
Conservatism of today is the same conservatism it’s always been; no more; no less!
Why? Because conservatism is not subject to whims of the day. It’s a set and structured ideology based on the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Federalist papers by which Conservatives pontificate on the belief that limited government is inherently better for and to the citizens it governs and that our rights are endowed by our creator (God for those who simply don’t get it) and not subject to the whims of societal changes or politicians that seek to place limits on those rights because “it’s better for society.”
Progressive Liberalism or Populist Liberalism on the other hand has no such set and structured core beliefs or values. They are ideologies that grow and change with the times to reflect the “en vogue” “cause de jour” of the day and they have moved further and further left over the last 60 years and seeped into our lives making the un ordinary and outrageous normal that by comparison the same ole conservative ideology now looks extreme.
So allow me to suggest 2 things
1. Perhaps it is the left that has become fringe radical and has successfully projected its radical mindset onto conservatives in order to hide its true character!
2. Those who seek to marginalize Ted Cruz, Liberty Activist, Tea Party Activist or any other Constitutional Conservatives that speak up boldly, with liberal hyperbole that he/they are the exact opposite of the radical left, are morons, nuts, wear tin foil hats, racist, homophobic, misogynistic or any other of a plethora of accusations and names, are in fact, themselves, not very bright, not well read, have little understanding of that which they pontificate about and finally – NOT WORTH THE ENERGY EXPENDED PAYING ATTENTION TO THEM!
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