Comments Posted By Reason60
Displaying 11 To 14 Of 14 Comments
The myth: Dede Scozzafava was foisted on the people of NY-23 by corrupt moderate Rinos;
The reality: The voters of NY-23 have been voting moderate Republicans into office since before anyone here was born.So even after all the screaming and tons of outside agitation and campaigning, the voters of NY-23 elected a conservative Democrat to replace a liberal Republican.
The takeaway lesson should be that it is not just the corrupt GOP hacks who are moderate Republicans; there are millions of rank and file who want no part of the Tea Party.
And if they are cast out, they will do exactly what the Republicans in NY-23 did; vote in a Democrat who most closely matches their views.
Comment Posted By Reason60 On 4.11.2009 @ 16:14
Mike Giles-
Actually, My complaint is that "ideological purity" is and should be, the province of conformists, "engineers of the human soul" (note I did not say Stalinists!) and authoritarians; moderation and compromise should be the property of conservative thought.Conservatism is NOT about worshipping the cult of the free market,treating it as a religion, not to be questioned or sullied by compromise; All the greatest onservative minds- Burke, Hayek, Buckley- and the greatest conservative leaders- Eisenhower, Goldwater, Reagan to name a few- accepted that some efforts in society are properly done as government run enterprises; that any society would reach a compromised balance between individual freedom and social responsibility.
Emphasising a purity of thought, a desire to impose a single mode of acceptable thought upon a diverse nation of 300 million is frightening even in its most idealistic concept; ironically, dreaming of a purely conservative party where people in NY-23 have exactly the same viewpoint as CA-10 is the epitome of Ayn Rand's "common yoke for a common neck".
Compromise, reasonable accomodation of opposition, and balancing of powers is the conservatism that I can support. The language of Party purges, "enemies who must be vanquished" is insulting to the concept of freedom and liberty.
Comment Posted By Reason60 On 3.11.2009 @ 14:14
Richard-
Actually, Reagan was NOT a ideologically pure politician; he was a ideological conservative in speech, and a compromising moderate in practice; He preached a balanced budget, as a candidate, but as a President, ditched that when it conflicted with his other goals of winning the Cold War and cutting taxes.
He also had no trouble signing a huge tax increase.Moderation, in fact, IS conservative; conservative thought is suspicious of extreme manifestos, (like Ayn Rand) and downright scornful of "free lunch" gimmicks like supply side economics.
I know this sounds odd, but since 1980, the conservative movement has drifted further and further away from its common-sense roots to become a mockery of itself.
Comment Posted By Reason60 On 3.11.2009 @ 10:07
Count me as one who left the GOP in the mid 90's when it became apparent they had no intention whatsoever of being "fiscally conservative";
Even now, my complaint with the Tea Party is not that they are "too conservative"- its that they have no coherent thoughts-
They want massive defense spending, but preach fiscal conservativism; they want "limited" government, but cheer on every enlargement of government power, as long as it is done under the name "anti-terror"There just isn't any way the Tea Party conservatives could ever govern- they aren't willing to make serious decisions and choices- its all platitudes and buzzwords, in contradiction to each other.
Comment Posted By Reason60 On 2.11.2009 @ 19:39
