I am an Academy grad (USAFA), and served this great country during the Vietnam war. The new conservatism bears no resemblance to that of one of the greatest political leaders of the twentieth century, Barry Goldwater. No, the new conservatism is characterized by arrogance, antagonism, along with an intolerant attitude toward those who challenge their extreme thinking. The norm is incivility. Even AEI, a foundational nexus of conservative thought, acknowledges the rush to extremism. “We lost it under Clinton, when conservatives relentlesly attacked him. Then, the present President Bush chose a strategy of being a divider, rather than a uniter.” (Direct quote from Norman Ornstein of the American Enterprise Institute.)

As to your penchant for labelling, if I could pass the physical, I would still be flying missions. But, I despise your hateful, petty tactics. Most of all, I am sickened that you dare call it conservatism. Barry Goldwater is restless in his grave, as are patriots such as Thomas Paine. Have you read, “The Rights of Man” recently, or “Common Sense?”

Show those independent voters that conservatism is a traditional and worthy doctrine, not a haven for extremists. Do it quickly. Or November will be a sad month.

joshua

Agreed, liberals generally tend toward the fallacious ad hominem style in “proving” their points.

Liberals => Argumentum ad Hominem
Conservatives => Argumentum ad Informatio

More anecdotal evidence that hatred of Bush causes people to think and write the stupidest things.

No one statement can flawlessly categorize a movement made up of hundreds of millions of people worldwide (aside from carbon-based, bipedal life forms requiring oxygen to survive). Hence the “broad brush” remark. In general, our focus is on people, in general, your focus is on the ideology of your political enemies.

That simply isn’t factual.

Authoritarianism = conservatism? John Dean.

And how about this from Matt Stoller just recently:

“There’s no such thing as a good conservative leader, period. It is a fundamentally bankrupt, corrupt, and fraudulent ideology, and there is nothing laudable about people like Reagan who tap into the worst of America.”

Then there’s conservatism = racism, fascism, etc. These memes are promoted on lefty blogs every single day.

Conservatives have been hearing this crap since the 1950’s. Your statement about “broad brush” just doesn’t hold up to the facts.

Also, anyone here remember “compassionate conservative”? Bush spent 2000 convincing people that he was a new type of conservative, then tacked hard right the instant he took office. Either he had some “Road to Damascus” style epiphany, or he was being deceptive for the entirety of his campaign. Rick is fretting over something most mainstream candidates do: hide the extremities of their ideology. Hunter, Tancredo, Sharpton, Keyes, and Paul can all be honest about who they are because they won’t win.

And Rick, you have to be blind and deaf not to hear the vitriol from conservatives over the word liberal. Go conservative book publishers and count the titles with “liberal” used in some derogatory fashion. We on the left (broad brush alert) attack people: Bush, Rummy, Gonzales, etc. You on the right attack the entire movement of your political enemies.

As for Nixon, he was a conservative. You guys say you’re for small government, fiscal responsibility, and strong defense. You had total control over the federal government for 6 years. How fiscally responsible were you? How much did you shrink the federal government? And you threw a lot of money at defense contractors, but how much did you give to the soldiers themselves? Walter Reed, body armor, raising their meager salaries? Hell, George Bush threatened to veto a raise to the soldiers, because he thought it was more than they needed. I understand why you conservatives keep the rose colored glasses on. The unvarnished view isn’t pretty.

You may not have personally contributed to this discourse, or you may have. But the Right has a long history of trying to convince the public that Democrats are somehow agents of the Communist menace.

Back in 04 when Bush was calling Kerry a “Liberal” time and again, I’m pretty sure he didn’t mean that as a compliment.

During those years the Democrats have been Republican enablers, so I’m no fan of the D’s. Any parade, they’ll jump in front of it. May they rot in hell.

Meanwhile, the next administration will inherit vast, deep, stinking piles of shit, and although Republicans will be buried neck deep (along with everyone else) in excrement largely of their own creation, don’t fail to ignore their smug grins. Just pinch your noses, make it all go away.