Iron Lady Of The Conservative Movement Is Dead At 87

April 8, 2013 2 Comments

Margaret Thatcher is dead today at the age of 87. Like with all people, especially public figures, I hope that she knew Jesus Christ before she died. Otherwise she will not be resting in any peace. Having said that, in remembering her life she is the most important British Prime Minister since Churchill. She lead Britain during the economically prosperous 80′s in much the same way as Ronald Reagan did here in the United States. Nick named the Iron Lady, she stood up for conservative principles and battled communists and assorted left-wing fascists the world over. (think the Falkland Islands)

Thatcher teamed with Ronald Reagan to actively oppose Communism. When she took control of the British government in 1979 the Soviet Union was still in existence and eastern Europe was still enslaved behind the iron curtain. Thatcher joined with Reagan in engaging the Soviets and while Reagan was ultimately responsible for bringing the Soviet Union to its knees, Thatcher was right behind him. But for Reagan and Thatcher, the Soviet Union would still exist and eastern Europe would still be in communist slavery. It was only because of the support of Reagan and Thatcher that gave the people of the east hope. Without American and British support, the people of eastern Europe would never have risen up against their communist overlords.

For those of us in the conservative movement, Thatcher’s passing is almost as significant as Reagan’s was. Obviously for our British conservative friends the two will be flip flopped. Thatcher was important for the conservative movement because she paved the way for Reagan. She began Britain’s economic turnaround before Reagan came to office. She cut taxes and paved the way for prosperity for her country in the 80′s and 90′s. Like with Reagan, she could have cut government more and it’s unfortunate that she didn’t. But what she and Reagan did was give a voice to the conservative majorities in both countries. They put conservative principles into action and it led to prosperity.

Both Britain and the US could stand for a little dose of Thatcher these days. Big government liberalism hasn’t led to prosperity. It’s only led to prolonged recession. Most Britain’s cannot look back and say that in economic terms they are better off today than in the 80′s. We Americans could say the same thing. Thatcher cut taxes and in doing so she unleashed prosperity for over a decade. She championed freedom and free markets both in her nation and around the world. The world is better off, at least in terms of freedom, than it was before she took office.

Thatcher’s death is an end of an era for the conservative movement. We in the US have already tried to move on from Reagan. It appears we have a number of conservatives who could adequately take his place on the national stage. No doubt there are conservatives in Britain capable of continuing forward with Thatcher’s conservative outlook. The era of the conservative return to power may be over but the torch is being carried on. We would be wise to renew our interest in the conservative principles of Thatcher and Reagan and apply them to the world we face today. Rather than looking for the next Thatcher or Reagan, which we will never be able to do, we must look to their conservative principles. Thatcher’s death perhaps gives us the opportunity to do so while we remember her extraordinary live.

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Some Thoughts On The CPAC Conference

March 16, 2013 Leave a comment

We are supposed to care deeply about the CPAC conference taking place this weekend in Washington. This is the same CPAC that voted for Romney last year in a straw poll. This year we are supposed to gaze in awe at Marco Rubio and Rand Paul while we wonder aloud which of them will control the Republican Party in the future. The endless speeches, the endless calls for the GOP to be the party in “favor” of something instead of against everything, it’s all so tiresome. What are Republicans supposed to do, just agree with everything the media and/or Democrats support otherwise we’re a party “against” everything?

Perhaps we could be like Sen. Rob Portman who magically changed his position on homosexual marriage because his son is a out of the closet as a sexual pervert. This is a Senator with no principles who is willing to change his view to appease his children. He has no moral grounding, which is part of the problem with the Republican Party. We lose an election by 2 percentage points and that’s proof that we need to change our view on illegal immigration. Either we believe in the rule of law and that people should come here legally or we don’t. It seems the CPAC version of the GOP can’t decide if it has principles or not. Half seem to want to lick their finger and stick it in the wind before deciding on a position.

Would Sarah Palin please go away? Better still, could she start dressing her age? Could we stop pretending like Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal is a viable candidate for President. This man may be a good Governor but he is a dreadful public speaker. Every time he’s in the spotlight, he delivers a dud of a speech. Rick Perry is right about a lot of stuff but he has no chance to win the nomination after his dreadful 2012 campaign. He got some big applause lines the other day but any Republican could have delivered them.

The media seems prepared to declare the battle for 2016 will be between Rubio and Paul. Perhaps it will end up being that way but isn’t it a little early to make that sort of declaration? We’re two years away from the first Presidential debate. While it seems pretty clear Rubio and Paul will run, we have no idea who will join them in the race. Giving a good CPAC speech is certainly good for both of these Senators, but the notion that we’re going to decide which camp we’re in based on two largely forgettable speeches at CPAC is ridiculous. But leave it to the Republican media, which wants this battle to take place so that conservatives split the vote and give the nomination to Chris Christie or some other dreadful liberal, to draw the line years before it needs to be drawn.

Rather than focusing on an election that’s over three years away, Republicans would be better off focusing on finding good conservative candidates to run for House, Senate and in local elections next year. The obsession CPAC has with the White House and redefining the party leftward is what gave us candidates like John McCain and Mitt Romney. It also helped the conservative overreaction via the Tea Party and candidates like Christine O’Donnell and Sharon Angle. There isn’t anything particularly conservative about CPAC other than all conservative Republicans have to pander by making an appearance. Remind me again why we’re supposed to care.

 

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Rand Paul Began 2016 Campaign Yesterday

March 7, 2013 3 Comments

Rand Paul went to Washington yesterday to fight the Obama administration’s assertion that it has the Constitutional right to attack American citizens on our soil via drone attacks. Sen. Paul’s filibuster was apparently spontaneous but a cynic may believe he is seeking publicity in anticipation of a run for President in 2016. Sen. Paul certainly got publicity, but not from the mainstream press which largely ignored his filibuster. We’re also seeing in the Senate a greater divide between young, Tea Party elected Senators such as Paul, Rubio, Lee and Cruz and old guard moderates like Graham and McCain both of whom wonder what the fuss is about.

Sen. Paul did a number of things yesterday, all of them good for both himself and the country. He solidified the libertarians behind him. All of his old man’s followers are now solidly behind the Senator. They wavered after he endorsed Romney last summer, now they’re fully behind him. He didn’t just solidify a libertarian following, he got a lot of conservatives on board as well. Those in the Tea Party were excited about his speech and the issues he discussed. These are people who largely supported the War on Terror but who have become increasingly disturbed by drones. In short, Paul broadened his base of support. That can only be good for him and the GOP should he run for President.

Most importantly though Sen. Paul brought to the forefront the issue of executive overreach on drones. In short he made Obama, who ran in 2008 as an anti-war, civil liberties focused candidate, look like a massive hypocrite. The issue here isn’t whether Obama is actually going to use a drone to attack an American in the US. The issue here is that the President and his Attorney General won’t say that the President doesn’t have that right under the Constitution. Our Constitution requires a warrant for arrest and a trial by jury wherein the accused may question those who offer evidence against him. The administration seems to think it has the right to assassinate Americans without arresting them or providing them with a jury trial.

Where are the Democrats on this? Last night they objected to voting on a non-binding resolution that said little more than the President doesn’t have the right to drone attack Americans. This is a party that spent years attacking President Bush on alleged civil liberty violations that never came anywhere near assassination via drone. Then Sen. Obama was a civil libertarian, complaining about warrantless wiretaps and torture. Today the warrantless wiretaps continue and now President Obama believes he has the right to drone attack Americans on US soil. Were his civil liberties concerns during the Bush administration simply a cynical political ploy? It’s looking like they were. The same can be said for most of the Democrats.

Rand Paul seems to be infinitely more likable than his whiny father. He’s more reasonable, he’s willing to negotiate and compromise. By that I mean he isn’t going to sell away the farm in a negotiation but he’s willing to give up x in order to get the y that he finds more important. Yesterday’s filibuster might as well have been the kickoff for his 2016 campaign. Obviously we have a lot to learn about him and all the other candidates who might run for the GOP nomination. For those of us on the libertarian and conservative end of the GOP we must ask ourselves whether there is another conservative who can beat not the Democrats nominee but the moderate’s candidate. Paul has a built in voting block, maybe we ought to think about getting behind the conservative with the best chance to win because you know if Jeb Bush runs the moderate wing will fully back him and they won’t have another moderate challenger. There is a lot of time but this is something conservatives need to think about. We don’t want our votes spread out among three candidates again.

UPDATE: Eric Holder wrote a fairly terse letter to Sen. Paul claiming that the President doesn’t have authority to use a drone to attack an American “not engage in combat” on US soil. The first question to ask is why did this admission take so long? The second question is what if an American is engaged in terrorist plotting on American soil? Are they subject to drone attack? Why can’t they be arrested and tried for treason and half a dozen other criminal offenses? For the time being it appears Sen. Paul is appeased.

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Media Attacks Conservative Women and Blacks

June 29, 2011 3 Comments

The media sharks are out on the prowl against another conservative woman. Having relentlessly attacked Sarah Palin for two years the media is now focusing on Michelle Bachmann. The left has long feared a Palin candidacy because they know she can win, likely taking with her a good portion of women who would otherwise vote for the Democrat candidate. Having disposed of Palin (for the time being), now they’re concerned about Bachmann, who has the potential to do the same thing.

Mrs. Bachmann screwed up the birthplace of John Wayne citing Waterloo Iowa as his birthplace. Waterloo is the birthplace of serial killer John Wayne Gacy. For that the media believes she’s a moron. Of course, everyone in the media knows the birthplace of Wayne and Gacy off the top of their heads. It’s fairly clear that Bachmann’s staff screwed up and fed her the wrong information. But that doesn’t matter, the narrative is that she’s a moron. Interestingly when candidate Obama said he had been to 57 states, the media ignored it or chalked it up to a misspeak. The media never does that for Republicans and certainly not for conservative women.

Chris Wallace of Fox News asked Mrs. Bachmann if she was a flake last Sunday. Proof positive that Fox News isn’t a conservative or Republican news outlet. Can you imagine a journalist asking that question of any Democrat, much less a female Democrat? Bachmann’s answer was excellent, she noted the insulting nature of the question and then declared herself a serious candidate. But the media narrative is clear, they’re going to paint her as a flake, a nut and a moron because they fear a conservative woman winning the GOP nomination.

The media attacks aren’t limited to conservative women. They’re also aimed at conservative blacks. Liberal darling Jon Stewart savagely attacked GOP Presidential candidate Herman Cain using an Amos and Andy voice. (as a side note I inherited my grandmother’s record collection which includes a record of Amos and Andy titled “Is you is or is you ain’t a Republican.” They’re discussing the 1924 election and decide to vote for conservative Republican Calvin Coolidge) The media response was near silence. Can you imagine the media response to a conservative mocking Obama with an Amos and Andy voice or in some other racially insensitive manner? The rage on the left would be uncontrollable yet when a white liberal attacks a black conservative in the same manner there is silence. Their silence is approval.

Liberal media attacks on white, male candidates during this primary season have almost been non existent. All of the candidates have made mistakes on the campaign trail, yet the media isn’t interested in the white men who make mistakes. They’re only interested in the women and the blacks who make mistakes. Why?

If this were the general election you can bet the left-wing mainstream press would mercilessly attack a white male Republican, as we have seen over and over again through the years. But during the primary the media views itself as a gatekeeper. Christiane Amanpour lamented after Bush was nominated in 2000 ‘how did we (the media) let this man get nominated.’ The media views itself as a gatekeeper for the Democrats. In 2012 the worst thing that can happen is that a woman or a black man gets the GOP nomination. Why? Because a woman will syphon off female voters from Obama and a black candidate will syphon off black voters. Obama cannot afford to lose 10% of women or 20% of blacks if he wants to win re-election.

The media is responding as we would expect them to do. They’re savagely attacking both women who have a shot at the nomination: Bachmann and Palin. They’re ignoring racist attacks lobbed at Herman Cain. Meanwhile they’re not reporting on any gaffes, inconsistencies or outright lies from any of the white men running. They’re saving those attacks for next fall. The left needs to kill off the women and the black guy now so that they can’t threaten Obama in in November 2012. Equality only matters if you’re a liberal. If you’re a conservative equality of sex and race doesn’t apply.

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Media Freaks Out Over Sarah Palin’s Bus Tour To Nowhere

May 31, 2011 Leave a comment

Sarah Palin has spent the last couple of days annoying the media with a seemingly endless bus tour to nowhere. Mrs. Palin has been taking her bus tour, unannounced, to various national historical sites such as Mt. Vernon and various DC monuments. The fact that there is no announced schedule and no purpose is confounding the media. Where she will show up next is anyone’s guess. Whether she’s running for President or not is open to speculation, which is probably what Mrs. Palin wants.

It’s enjoyable watching the media chase Mrs. Palin around and endlessly complain about her unconventional ways. If Mrs. Palin’s sole purpose in organizing this bus tour is to annoy the media, count me as a major supporter. But the fact is she isn’t just annoying the news media. She’s annoying the Republican Party as well as her potential base of supporters. If she isn’t running for President then she doesn’t owe a courtesy call the local party of each place she’s planning on visiting. But if she is running for President, why would she deny the local party and her local supporters the chance to meet her? This is the last group of people a Presidential candidate would want to annoy.

Not only is Mrs. Palin denying local supporters a chance to meet her or hear her speak, because there is no schedule for her bus tour, wild speculation about her next stop has come into play. Palin supporters gathered in Gettysburg believing that was the next stop on her tour. Those supporters left disappointed when she  never showed up. Rumor has it she’s planning on visiting the Liberty Bell. Whether she visits the bell or not remains to be seen, no doubt some of Mrs. Palin’s supporters will camp out there waiting to see if she arrives. If I were one of her supporters and spent all day waiting around for her, I would be less a supporter after having played the fool fruitlessly waiting around all day

No doubt this bus tour is unconventional and borderline bizarre. What is it about Sarah Palin that causes the entire media to follow her around and obsess over her every move? What is it about Mrs. Palin that causes an uproar in the entire Republican Party? There is no doubt that the left hates this woman, largely because they fear her ability to attract voters and win. Within the GOP, her unconventional ways ruffle a lot of feathers and she is, for better or worse, very much a Beltway outsider. Her strange and seemingly pointless bus tour to nowhere is likely causing panic in the Romney camp. Palin seems at this point the only potential candidate who can stop a Romney nomination.

My guess is that the bus tour to nowhere will end in Palin announcing one way or the other her intentions concerning the 2012 election. If Mrs. Palin is able to generate buzz and attract crowds despite not announcing any of her destinations, I think she takes that as a sign that she has to run for President. If her bus tour fizzles out I think she walks away declaring she was never running for President in the first place. In the meantime it ought to be fun watching the media drum up rumors about her next stop and generally act like teenage girls trying to discover the whereabouts of Justin Bieber. If this is the purpose of Mrs. Palin’s bus tour to nowhere, it has been a wild success.

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GOP’s $74 Billion In Cuts Unacceptable

February 10, 2011 2 Comments

The Republicans released a list of 70 cuts to the Federal budget. Included in this are cuts to the EPA, Amtrak, Corporation for Public Broadcasting and NASA. Sounds great doesn’t it? Unfortunately it only amounts to $74 billion. This is less than the paltry $100 billion the GOP promised during the 2010 election campaign and it’s less than the $80 million Obama claimed he wanted to cut during the O’Reilly interview earlier in the week.

I should hope that for the House Republicans this $74 billion is just a start. If this is what their final proposal is then it is an outrage. Cutting only $74 billion is unacceptable. The Tea Party ought to be outraged over this pathetic proposed budget. It’s time to call our Congressmen and let them know that $74 billion in cuts just aren’t enough. I plan to contact my Congressman, Justin Amash. I encourage you to call your Congressman as well. We didn’t elect these people to put a band-aid on a gaping wound. We elected them to make significant cuts in spending. $74 billion isn’t significant.

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CPAC Tosses Traditional Morality Aside, Is No Longer Conservative

February 9, 2011 Leave a comment

This weekend thousands of conservatives, real and imaginary, will be descending upon Washington for the annual CPAC conference. I say real and imaginary because recently CPAC has been taking a hard turn to the left. What was once a conference that supported fiscal conservativism and traditional values has now become little more than permissive libertarian conference. Traditional values are apparently so yesterday over at CPAC to the point where a radical left-wing homosexual group is no a sponsor of CPAC.

GOProud is a homosexual group that claims to be conservative on fiscal issues but favors homosexual marriage and the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. The problem with this group is that they aren’t conservative. They want to fundamentally change the way Americans view sexuality. They’re no different than your run of the mill liberal homosexual group. They want to throw out traditional Christian values and replace them with godless permissive tolerance.

David Keene, whose group American Conservatives Union sponsors CPAC, goes so far as to claim CPAC will accept a pro-abortion group so long as they’re mostly conservative on other issues. In other words, moral relativism is alive and well over at CPAC. No longer do conservatives need to stand for life in order to call themselves conservative. No longer do conservatives need to stand for traditional family morality. No sir, you can be a godless whore mongering homosexual who supports abortion and still call yourself a conservative in the CPAC world.

There is more to being a conservative than supporting tax and spending cuts. If you favor tax and spending cuts only, perhaps you should consider yourself a moderate or maybe a libertarian. But you aren’t a conservative. Especially so when the issues you break with the right on are abortion and traditional family values. Those issues still matter, even more so now that we have an economic downturn. Yet at CPAC those issues are taking a back seat. In fact, those important pillars of conservative thought are being actively opposed by sponsors of CPAC such as GOProud.

CPAC is no longer conservative. They’ve become a group of DC insiders who have become isolated from true conservative thought. They have been destroyed from within. No longer do they stand for conservative values, they now stand for immorality so long as you want to cut taxes. They’re willing to see our culture destroyed all for a few sheckles of silver. CPAC has become a pathetic display and a disgrace to what it once was. Conservative pols would be wise to flee CPAC and its immoral claws.

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