One of the many things that I love about the American Experiment of Democracy is the way that facts and historical lessons are twisted in ways to fit ones own personal ideological view. Conservatives are fantastic at this and seek to post convert the Founding Fathers to join the Pantheon of the Church of Reagan.
Given enough time FDR, JFK and WJC (William Jefferson Clinton) will be added as men who belong to the Conservative movement, only were unaware of it at the time. While this is not a unique trait to conservatives, it is probably the most taxing and tiresome group to have to intellectually debate, because no matter what they are right. At least that what they think, no matter the facts to the contrary.
Conservative thought is much like Communism in the way that it would and could work, if those practicing the political philosophy were not capable of having human frailty. Then again this would be true of any religion/philosophy because if Man were perfect they would be able to function in any system.
With the “gift” of free will, this is an impossibility. For just as the despised poor huddled masses yearning to breathe free may take advantage of programs meant to be a safety net rather than a crutch, so too politicians who desire fiscal responsibility will realize that a government job is pretty tight. Those calling for the end of social programs because of the money wasted, were the same people calling for a monument to Ronald Wilson Reagan (coincidentally 666) in EVERY congressional district in the country. I find that odd.
Government is not, nor should it ever be, an entity that maintains control over every aspect of our lives, that is what religion is for. There does exist a cause to have social programs for the people who do legitimately need assistance and look to be productive members of society. Before the creation of the FDA by an evil “liberal” FDR it was LEGAL to sell harmful products such as spoiled meat, without real consequences. It took the famous “Switch in times, saves Nine” by the Supreme Court to change this practice in the United States.
If it is the goal of “true” Conservatives to champion the individual and to eventually tear down the oppression of government programs such as the Postal Office and Law Enforcement, then perhaps they skipped the day in civics class where sometimes governments are a good thing. Everybody shouldn’t be able to bear arms. The extension of this principle is our current policy towards Iran as well as the rest of the Middle East.
The crazy site “Conservative Amazon“quotes Craig Shirley saying, “The Constitution was to be a check on government, not on people.” is oversimplifying things just a little bit. If I recall, the population of the US had groups other than Landholding-White-Males, otherwise the question of marriage would have been made a long time ago. Therefore there was a limiting of the population who was to participate in a government where, “All Men are created equal”.
The Constitutional Rules governing the Legislative Branch of Congress was in and of itself limiting of the people. The House must jump through hoops in order to allow a bill to make it to the floor and be heard, much less be passed and given to the Senate in order to further the process of allowing it to be a law. This was to create a Check on the Mob Mentality that has been known to exist in human nature from time to time.
Then of course there is the presence of the Senate being elected by the State Legislators, again, to limit the opportunities of an uninformed populace electing people like Fred Thompson to such positions. Sadly these were Amended out by liberals who felt that more democracy was better than less. Though since most Conservatives believe in strict adherence to the Constitution and Shirley’s point was creation, the intellectual honesty requires these points be addressed.
The most famous of these checks on the people was to be the Electoral College. The small little quirk that was to keep those unqualified from becoming President of the United States. Based on the principle to keep small states relevant in these elections, allowed the parties to decide who would be in the Electoral College giving out the votes. Granted, it failed in the case of George W. Bush, but not every system is allowed to be fool proof. Perhaps it will save us from the Evangelical Revival of Huckabee.
While this is normally a foreign policy blog, it is an oath of every American to protect this country from threats, foreign and domestic. Though I have no fear but fear itself, we need to be weary of the Axis of Evil that exists in Constitutional Conservatism.
