Where Are the Conservatives?
In Germany, I was a conservative. I still have conservative predispositions and lead a conservative lief style. In the United States, however, conservativism has degenerated into a label for a worldview beyond reason.
But not even tribalism is the ultimate end of the Republican party. It is only a cover in the pursuit of personal wealth. The Bushies are spending billions so that their friends can make millions. We might as well be governed by self-righteous robber barons.
- The rejection of science: intelligent design, stem cell research, denying global warming in spite of the consensus of the scientific audience.
- Fiscal irresponsibility: structural deficits as far as the eye can see, more spending and more tax cuts every year.
- Scapegoating: blaming gays for the crisis of American families.
- Lack of support for the military: reducing the size of the army from twelve to ten divisions, cutting the budget of the Veteran's administration every year, trying to take combat and family separation pay from soldiers in Iraq and Afganistan, six draft deferments by Cheney.
- Cronyism: cost-plus contracts for Halliburton and Bechtel.
- Wishful thinking instead of cold blooded analysis: going to war assuming the best, never planning for the worst case.
- The middle class squeeze: the evaporation of affordable housing, health care, and higher education.
- Lacking commitment to democracy: the lack of commitment by Republican elected officials to provide equal voting rights, providing too few voting machines in black neighborhoods, emaciating the civil rights division in the Department of Justice.
But not even tribalism is the ultimate end of the Republican party. It is only a cover in the pursuit of personal wealth. The Bushies are spending billions so that their friends can make millions. We might as well be governed by self-righteous robber barons.
posted by Hellmut at 10:46
4 Comments:
The Republican party here does not really care about offending people with the issues you described because they have tried to paint themselves as the party of God. God, according to them can do no wrong and Democrats are Godless. They hope the rank and file will not see anything else but this issue. Our job is to convince them that God is not a Republican and that the Rs have been selling them up the river by stealing their lives, money and votes.
As for the money hungry, tax loving Rs, we can never change them until their hearts catch up with their minds.
So, continue on. Make sure people know what has really happened to them. It IS about moral values, the moral values as we define them (the right way), not the way the current power grabbers have.
This discussion is great. Let’s all keep it going and work on helping each other. If we agree 100% or not is not the issue, it is the dialogue!
Good question and thoughts, Helmut. It's interesting that you are
conservative in a German context.
One thing I keep wanting to ask conservatives, especially neo-cons,
is...What exactly are you conserving? Jobs? The environment? The
rights guaranteed by the Bill of Rights? The American tradition of
separation of church and state? What?
Don Bradley
Thanks for your post, Marty.
My post is about the Republican party in government, in the White House and in Congress. It does not discuss voters, such as yourself, or voting behavior. While there remain Republicans in Congress who do not subscribe to the conservative label, the research shows that this group has been diminishing. Clearly, moderates are less and less represented by Republicans in Congress. In light of the lip service that most Republicans in Congress pay to conservatism, the post points out, it is even more troubling that their policies and programs fail to reflect conservative values.
Your assessment of global warming is at odds with the National Science Foundation, the American Meteorological Society, the American Geophysical Union and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. They have all issued evaluations concluding that the evidence for human modification of climate is compelling.
The quantitative review of 928 articles in scientific journals could not find a single peer reviewed article that would contradict the notion of human induced global warming. Unfortunately, your post is another instance of conservative denial.
While it is true that Bush 41 and Clinton both reduced defense spending after the Cold War, Bush 43 is exclusively responsible for the reduction of the United States army from twelve to ten divisions. When Clinton left the White House in January 2001, there were twelve divisions. The Clinton administration did not propose a further reduction.
The Bush administration's cuts to the army's strength were not a matter of rationalization. Two divisions are gone, six brigades are gone, all the troops are gone. The cuts were made to find money for star wars, a program that only works if one manipulates the assessment data.
You can check the personnel stats at the Pentagon's website.
Nobody ever said that the Bush administration took away combat pay from soldiers in Iraq. I said they tried. Democrats and the media shamed Republicans into abandoning that scheme. Here is a link to some of the press coverage. You can read here how the Bush administration back pedalled under pressure.
The Disabled American Veterans report that Chairman Steve Buyer (R-Ind.) has cancelled the joint session of the House and Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committees for veterans' groups. Traditionally, veterans groups had the opportunity to inform United States Senators and Representatives about the needs of America's veterans.
In light of health care inflation and ten thousand severely injured additonal veterans, cuts in VA budget growth are irresponsible. Every major veterans group in the country agrees: America under Bush is shortchanging its veterans. We are not spending what's needed to keep our promises.
With respect to fiscal irreponsibility, the fact of the matter is that the budget was balanced until Clinton left office. Newt Gingrich deserves a lot of credit. But no Republican president in the last 25 years has been able to balance a budget ever. Bush I, Bush II, and Ronald Reagan have each increased national debt tremendously.
There are a lot of ideological groups out there that can sustain their ideology without hate and scapegoating. The persecution of gays has been key to the Republican get out the vote strategy in several swing states. While it is true that scapegoating appeals to the many extremists within the Republican coalition, the strategic plan is Karl Rove's, who is at the top of the Republican party.
No bid contracts for personnel acquaintances of the Vice President and Bush 41 are a highly questionable practice. If anyone is to blame for creating the wrong impression, it is the Bush administration that short circuited standard procedures.
Senior contracting officer of the Army Corps of Engineers Bunny Greenhouse: "I can unequivocally state that the abuse related to contracts awarded to (Halliburton subsidiary) KBR represents the most blatant and improper abuse I have witnessed . . . in 20 years working on government contracts."
I don't have any problem with war planners but with the political leadership that ignores the advice of their experts and punishes those who speak out. The issue is, by the way, not the combat phase. It was always clear that the United States would easily overcome the armed forces of a nation that only spend two billion dollars a year on defense. The issue is that the political leadership ignored the projections about the occupation and the costs of reconstruction.
With respect to the middle class squeeze, welfare programs have been cut for 25 years. Health care, housing, and education inflation has nonetheless accelerated. If you were right then the opposite should have happened.
Michigan state Rep. John Pappageorge (R-Troy) was quoted in the Detroit Free Press as saying, “If we do not suppress the Detroit vote, we're going to have a tough time in this election.” African Americans comprise 83% of Detroit’s population. See the report by People for the American Way, for example. There are others by the NAACP and by various legal aid organizations.
I wish that you were right and I were wrong, Marty. The United States would be a lot better off if that were the case. Unfortunately, I can document all my claims. Wishful thinking doesn't make things better. Principled voters, who hold elected officials accountable, will.
Assess how the facts relate to your values, Marty, and join us.
Morty,
Your characterization of my global warming argument is incorrect. The global warming evidence is not only from a historian.
The National Science Foundation, the American Meteorological Society, the American Geophysical Union and the American Association for the Advancement of Science are all supporting that human activities are contributing to global warming. On top of that there is a quantitative literature review by historians of science that find a consensus of 928 peer reviewed articles. That is extraordinary. Your refusal to acknowledge that says a lot more about you than the state of the research.
Likewise, all the major veterans groups agree that the United States is not providing sufficient resources for veterans. That is probably why Republican leaders are afraid to provide high profile joint hearings. The Republicans know that they would be embarrassed.
The Base Realignment and Closure Commission does not sign off on considerations of force structure but on geographic distribution of forces within the territory of the United States. Your claim to the contrary reveals that you are not familiar with United States defense policy.
Only Miss Greenhouse's psychiatrist could know if she suffers from tunnel vision. Blaming the messenger for bad news is intellectually dishonest. A simple Google search will reveal large amounts of data and press coverage about the KBR abuses.
I don't know why you would think that this is about the causes of health care, higher education, or housing inflation. The original post makes no such claims. The fact is that the Republican party controls all three branches of government and is in the position to solve these problem but has chosen not to do so.
Your references to some phantom relative who can give you assurances are embarrassing. Shinsecki said what needed to be done and was fired. Likewise the civilian leadership has ignored the plans that prepared for occupation. These matters have been covered ad nauseum in the media. For a synopsis, you might want to view the Frontline documentary Rumsfeld's War.
Your low opinion of the NAACP is unfortunate. The NAACP happens to be among the premier American human rights organizations. Your disdain for the NAACP, its cause and its work indicates a troubling lack of reflection that also charactrizes the remainder of your post.
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