In defense of conservatives
OR: in search of a real conservative
 

Yes, that’s right. I said “defense of conservatives.”
I write this at the risk of being labelled an Alan Colmes, but many blanket statements are levied against
conservatives that are exaggerations or that simply aren’t true. The Right wing is often a misunderstood,
misrepresented lot. Everyone from Trent Lott and Rush Limbaugh to Ann Coulter and the president himself have
called themselves “conservative” at one point or another. But are these people actually what you’d call conservative?
What does a conservative stand for? What does it all mean?

The matter is really quite simple. The primary creed of conservatives is “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”
This is a valuable axiom because it prevents well-intentioned people from monkeying around with
perfectly good systems that have served us well for years.

Jeff, I don't know why you'd say such a thing.
The three most destructive Republicans in the last 25 years have been Reagan, Newt and Monster Bush.
I assure you, “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” was the very last thing on their minds. All three wanted radical changes.
 

For example, after Bush was sworn in as president, as president, many Gore voters felt cheated - and justifiably so.
But they took it one step too far and called for the abolishment of the electoral college system. At this point, the Right
was a voice of reason. They pointed out that the system in place was the one we had all agreed upon and that it has
served us well for decades. Conservatives are against knee-jerk reactions. They play it safe. They have a healthy fear
of doing too much too soon, and that is a good thing sometimes.

The Electoral College was established to prevent "them city slickers" from running roughshod over the small states.
But that was back when it took weeks to cross the country and without modern day devices like telephones and the internet.
Say what you want, it's illogical for the man with the fewer votes to win.
 

I respect conservatives because they defend families and children - groups often left behind in politics.

No Jeff, you're wrong. They CLAIM they defend families, then they gut programs to help them.
If not for Democrats, the right would cut education, safety nets and health care. Bush is letting polluters write
environmental legislation. He's letting Monsanto write his "clear skies" horseshit. He let Enron write energy policy.
Who told you the GOP protects children, Rush or Hannity? You are dangerously close to the dreaded MM logo.
 

They strive for a smaller government and attempt to limit Uncle Sam’s involvement in our daily lives.

Jeff, you're on drugs.
You should gather some facts before you publish wild rhetoric like that.
The federal government is 27 percent larger than it was just two years ago.
Bush's budgets are bigger than anything Clinton ever sent to congress.
They have gagged doctors to prevent them from offfering women reproductive options.
They want laws against what two adults can do in bed.
They want to install a federal religion and punish the non-believers
You seem to think what they say is the same as what they do.
You're making  bartcop.com  look very responsible by comparison.
I've never said anything as crazy as what you'rte trying to sell here today.
 

They also favor a tough stance on crime, which is admirable because - let’s face it
- some people just need to be thrown in jail.

Guess what, Jeff - wrong again.
When Pat Buchanan's brother was caught breaking and entering and threatening a man
    with a gun, Pat pleaded, "He's not evil, he's just got a few mental problems."
When Jeb Bush's daughter was caught - again and again - stealing pills, she didn't go to jail.
Bet your last dollar Rush won't do any time, either
Your president was once caught with cocaine - did he do time?
Ashcroft's nephew was caught with prison-weight pot. He did no time.
When Reagan's cabinet was caught stealing Stinger missles and selling them to terrorists, did they do time?

 But when Tommy Chong was caught shipping plastic pipes, he was sent to jail.

Your assertion that the GOP is tough on crime is hollow and false.
When a black man or a liberal gets caught - then they get tough on crime.
 

Conservatives traditionally believe in a strong military, but are also slow to use it.

Slow like Monster Bush?
Slow like I-invited-Saddam-to-invade-Kuwait Bush the smarter?
Slow like we-must-invade-Grenada Reagan?
You're a stranger to the facts, Sir.

Besides, we could play a game when for every powerful Republican who dodged the draft, I could name
TWO bona fide Democratic war heroes. You want a piece of that?  Do you like to gamble?
 

They believe in the importance of faith and tradition; conservatives realize that standards are important,
but try not to let their emotions govern their decisions.

That does it - this is nothing but pure monkey-ism.
You're a ditto-monkey who lives and breathes Rush the lying junkie.
You are regurgitating the silliest nonsense that you heard on FOX News.
"Conservatives realize that standards are important?"

Is this a gag?
Is that you, Artie?

Maybe this is sarcasm?
If not, I could make you the Mayor of Monkeyville.
 

They back causes that they believe in, just as Lefties do.
They support limiting abortions, protecting Second Amendment rights and the death penalty,
but they do so with strength of conviction, firm evidence and compelling arguments.

ha ha
Like you're using with me?
The reason Rush, Hannity, O'Reilly and the others are so tightly screened is to keep the truth out.

They do not support limiting abortion.
Newt and Clinton had an abortion bill worked out in 1995, but Newt refused to go along because
Clinton wanted to protect the life and health of the mother. Instead of taking "half a loaf" and saving
millions of "babies," Newt and your heroes refused to endorse fewer abortions because they wanted
to use the "baby killer" card come election time.  Where is your head?

Yes, they like guns waaaaaaaay more than is norma; and they constantly promote more powerful guns
for everybody because they promised KKKLinton and Reno were coming to do a WACO on you,
even after John Danforth (he was a senior GOP pillar) guaranteed that the FBI didn't start the fire in Waco.
Last I heard, the NRA was against having taggants in f-ing dynamite, because that's "gun control.".
 

Strength and conviction?
No, you listed a stream of concentrated lies and distortions that continue to this day.
Firm evidence and compelling arguments?
Please - find someone who can kick my rhetorical ass and I'll admit you're right.
 

But do many of today’s prominant conservatives fit this profile? Often, they don’t. Instead, those claiming
to be conservative in politics and the media often tend toward belligerance, partisanship, pig-headedness,
xenophobia, racism, homophobia, religious overzealousness, a preference for secrecy, cronyism and cynicism.

Hey - you got that one right.
Did somebody throw a switch?
 

I don’t know what to call this way of thinking, but it isn’t conservatism.
Real conservatives don't deserve to be associated with this sort of garbage.
Exhibit “A” is alleged conservatives like Donald Rumsfeld, Paul Bremer, Paul Wolfowitz and other Iraq
war architects. These people singlehandedly destroyed America’s international integrity and its tradition of
reluctance for war in favor of a unilateral, “damn the torpedoes” approach that flies in the face of the “if
it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” rule. This is too risky to be conservatism.

John Ashcroft, an avowed "conservative", has rolled back our Constitutional freedoms in favor of increased
government surveillance. Another Bush appointee, Tom Ridge, presides over a brand new (and very, very
large) bureaucracy known as the Department of Homeland Security. That’s not smaller government, and it
certainly doesn’t display any respect for personal privacy.

This is so weird - suddenly, you're making sense.
 

George W. Bush, a self-proclaimed “compassionate conservative,” invades and occupies entire countries
in an attempt to make us safer while ignoring truly scary gaps in our security at home (airports, for
example). This is not being “playing it safe.” Nor is it necessary to execute the mentally ill or those
convicted as minors - as Gov. George W. Bush did in Texas - to be tough on crime.

I'm baffled - you continue to make sense.
Who were those "good" conservatives you were talking about - Nixon?
 

Religious huckster "conservatives" like Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson advocate the importance of faith,
but they ridicule and condemn the faiths of others. What kind of standards are those?

We call it "whoring" here at  bartcop.com.
They steal from the weak and the scared.
Picking on the weakest is a cowardly way to get your dinner.
 

Real conservatives are good people. They are typically polite and open; they don’t display the sort of shady,
vindictive qualities of supposed conservatives like Dick Cheney or Karl Rove. True conservatives are the kind
of people you’d want showing up for a date with your daughter. They’re responsible and pride themselves on
being self-made people who work for a living (unlike many of Bush's toadies). They’re well-read and love to
hear both sides of the argument, unlike phoney conservatives like your Ann Coulters or Sean Hannitys.

Actual conservatives know the difference between being correct and just being loud and obnoxious.
They are eloquent populists with public interest at heart, not baldfaced liars with transparent “rags-to-riches”
stories like Bill O’Reilly. Conservatives are about the right to a quality education and adequate medical care
- not like Senate Republicans who slash veteran’s benefits and after-school programs.

There are more “real conservatives” in the Democratic party than there are in the entire GOP. They conprise
a group that is even more  poorly represented than real liberals are. The party currently pretending to be
conservative is more like the party of moneyed interests, international paranoia, hyper-religious insanity,
craven hypocrisy, war profiteering and callous misuse of down-to-earth Americans.  It’s these conservatives
that I can’t stand, and neither should you. Chances are, they are horribly out of step with what is important to you.

In short, I like the people who are actually worthy of being called “conservative.” It’s just a shame there aren’t
more of them. The counterfeit conservatives (counter-cons?) in the White House, Congress, the Supreme Court
and the media are turning the label “conservative” into a dirty word. They may never recover from this damage
unless they are willing to stand up and take their good name back.

Jeff, for a bad first impression guy, you ended up really well.
Thanks.

  back to  bartcop.com