ConservativesI never meant to say that the Conservatives are generally stupid. I meant to say that stupid people are generally Conservative. I believe that is so obviously and universally admitted a principle that I hardly think any gentleman will deny it. John Stuart Mill. Quoted in Eric Alterman's book: Why We're Liberals Words are important. Republicans usually call themselves 'conservative', but the word 'conservative' has no relation to Republican activities. Through the Bush years, without apology, R's have: Passed trillions of dollars in debt to our children by 'lowering taxes', profligate spending, putting the cost of war on the tab, and rewarding their crony friends from the government ATM. They say they are for 'shrinking government', but it has grown in ways that demonstrate their hypocrisy. They have demonstrated an ability to shrink the currency, to create financial instability, and to bring on economic crisis. See these stories by Joseph Stiglitz. While war profiteering has been rampant, troops have been under strength, under equipped, and rotated too often. Domestic security has been compromised by the removal of first responders to Iraq, the trashing of the National Guard, and widespread drop outs from service. Real conservatives would want to mitigate possible damage to the environment. R's do not. Real Christians, unlike Republicans, would want to assist the poor, make peace, and do good. Republicans do quite the opposite. They are human rights abusers, torturing when it suits them, engaging in renditions, and thumbing their nose at international law. This has cost the US the good will of the rest of the world, and may yet lead to terrorism on our own soil. We are targets now. We are not safer. Warmongering, empire-building Republicans have sacrificed those high American values for greedy, mean spirited, short-term, goals. That is NOT conservative. It seems that evangelical churches have become the propaganda tool of Republicans. Real conservatives would want to protect the best features of the Constitution at the very least. Instead Bush's administration has undermined the bill of rights, neglected important assumptions such as the avoidance of entangling foreign alliances, the revulsion against concentration of power (whether it be the media, corporations, or the Presidency.), or the continued functioning of those 'checks and balances'. The US, thanks to 'law and order' Republicans now is a leader in incarcerations of its own people. US government now wiretaps at will, searches people at airports, spies on their every move, conducts much of its public business in secrecy, engages in completely unethical behavior by secret, covert agencies. R's profess support for law in order...just not for themselves. Party hacks have staffed important government positions and incompetence has been the trademark of the Bush administration. Bible school graduates staffed the Justice Department, political minders censored scientists, and corporate cronies were allowed to run regulatory agencies. Supreme Court justice Scalia, when discussing the 2000 election, said "Get over it". The Court has made many bad decisions in the past, mostly because they always take the Corporate interest over that of the people. Appointing Bush was, in 20/20 hindsight, the worst decision they ever made. The US may never recover from it. See Republicans for further details, since they apply the label Conservative to themselves without any clue of what it would mean to conserve. It appears that not only have R's raced to the bottom, they have crashed the US there. |