republicans as conservatives, a fairy tale
by Sandra Neish
Published: August 11, 2008
Once upon a time, in a land far, far away, I was a Republican. It wasn’t entirely my fault - I had been raised to be one. Then the fiscal warlock named Dubbya took over the White House, which was partially my fault as I voted for him… twice. One day, the haze clouding my brain cleared and I saw the GOP as it really was, a pious outgrowth of evangelicals determined to rid the world of homosexuals, feminists and civil liberties, oh, my!
I began to realize that the “conservative” values spouted by the Grand Old Party were not that conservative after all. Conservative is the last adjective one would use to describe the Republican Party today. Republicans are currently the only ones to see themselves as “conservative.”
Taking that at face value, let’s examine what it means to be conservative. To me, conservative has always meant smaller government, spending less, less “Big Brother” and fewer laws restricting civil liberties and individual rights. Of course, the list also includes lower taxes, fewer government regulations on business, investing and trade, and a focus on individual responsibility. Call me a dreamer, but this is my definition of what a conservative should be.
Under the Bush administration, spending is at a 30-year high. In fact, there hasn’t been this much spending since Lyndon Johnson was president. Apparently, W has yet to meet a spending bill he didn’t like. Yes, he has lowered taxes, but lowering taxes while flinging money around as though he were in a hip-hop music video isn’t good, sound fiscal policy. It is a recipe for disaster in the form of that other “d” word: deficit. Our current lame-duck president has managed in eight short years to turn a budget surplus inherited from Bill Clinton into a record-setting $482 billion deficit. That takes talent.
It was also noted in 2005 that the Bush administration was setting out to expand the size of government and introduce (then) “... new restrictions on high schools, court cases and marriages.” Wow! Bigger government and more regulations… that doesn’t sound conservative to me! And restrictions on marriage? When was the last time government placed restrictions on marriage? Hmmm.. oh, that’s right. It was during segregation.
And why have the Republicans taken a stance in opposition to individual freedom and civil liberties? Because the Party is now more interested in pandering to the religious right and the moral majority that supposedly make up its “core” than to those who are real conservatives about real issues. A “real issue” is one such as taxes, spending, regulations, size of government, et cetera. Instead of focusing on the price of oil or the economy, many Republicans like to focus on denying equal protection under the law to certain classes of citizens. The proof of the accusation can be found in two words: gay marriage. The Republicans seem to be more interested in legislating morality and denying civil liberties than in finding solutions to many of the issues plaguing America today.
Speaking of denying civil liberties, it’s hard to broach the topic without mentioning the ubiquitous Patriot Act. Under W, we now have warrantless wiretapping, ineffective terror watch lists and the terror color of the day. Personally, I have no clue as to what terror color today is. It could be sky-blue pink (to use a phrase of my granddaddy’s) for all I know. Even if I knew what color it was, I wouldn’t know what it meant or what to do about it.
So, boys and girls, the moral of our story is that it is high time the Republicans were kicked out of office until they can abide by the rules of conservatism. Or until they pick a new word to describe themselves. Too bad liberal is already taken.
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August 11th, 2008 at 11:01 am
“Liberal” may be available. The liberals seem to have become “progressives.” But I doubt Republicans or former liberals would want the L-word applied to today’s Republicans.
August 11th, 2008 at 2:33 pm
I love Sandera like a sister, (and considering where the two of us were raised, you can take that any way you like) so I will only quibble with her on one point…. W inhereited a surplus built on revenues garnered in the run-up to the High Tech Bubble burst which crashed the stock market in the summer before the election. The tax revenue stream blew away in the whirlwind which followed.
More to the point however, Sandra’s reaction reflects a large part of the reason the Republicans lost control of Congress over the last 2 elections. There is a growing backlash against Big Government Republicans, and we are beginning to see fiscal and political conservatives re-assert themselves.