My beef with talk show hosts and many of their listeners is excessive ideology at the expense of independent thought. Of course Obama should be opposed for what he is trying to do. His agenda goes against every conservative principle we believe in and he should be strenuously, and vigorously opposed.

But you fight bad ideas with good ideas, not with the angry, puritanical, rigidity of thought one finds being spouted by Limbaugh, Hannity, et al. Many on the right believe my conservatism is suspect simply because I don’t hate Obama enough, that not believing in birtherism, or not calling him a socialist or communist means that I am insufficiently committed to defeating his ideas. That’s Tommy Rot. But it’s what passes for conservative thinking by many who have proudly announced that unless you “feel” more than “think,” your opposition, you are a RINO or a liberal.

I want to purge conservatism of the ideologues who judge a fellow by how deeply he believes something, not on the merit of his ideas. The former leads to a closing off of necessary debate and reflection - two elements that separate us from the lefty ideologues and are critical for reforming conservatism.

ed.

“Some of my best friends are knee-grows”

And your point? Or are you just throwing shit against the wall to see if anything stinks?

I am used to liberals simply halting debate and tossing allegations of racism or fascism because they are too stupid to engage on the issues. Thank you for confirming my thesis in such spectacularly ignorant fashion.

ed.

Before I go, all I know about Joe Klein is that he’s slammed by the left only constantly. Is he your straw man du jour?

As s disabled veteran who re-enlisted on a frozen hill overlooking North Korea’s propaganda village near Panmunjom, voicing my opinions over the inconsistencies in the language used by the administration unleashed ferocious, irrational attacks on my character, intelligence, and patriotism by those “shallow” conservatives who were apparently willing to apologize for or defend anything conducted or suggested by the administration.

Preach it.

Back in 2004 I already saw the damage being done to the Army. and despite my belief that starting war in Iraq was wrong when we hadn’t finished our commitment in Afghanistan, I looked seriously into re-enlisting at age 48. The didn’t take me then, but wonder if I had tried again a few years later when they we’re raking anyone who could carry a weapon.

It is the maimed in the thousands and the bungling of the war, not to mention the opportunities missed to establish a stable Afghanistan coupled with people who had never found their way to a recruiting office calling me that really made my blood boil.

What as waste, from the unity of 9/12 to a candya** like Glenn Beck adotping that as his own.

As s disabled veteran who re-enlisted on a frozen hill overlooking North Korea’s propaganda village near Panmunjom, voicing my opinions over the inconsistencies in the language used by the administration unleashed ferocious, irrational attacks on my character, intelligence, and patriotism by those “shallow” conservatives who were apparently willing to apologize for or defend anything conducted or suggested by the administration. The worst thing about these attacks was the unerringly similar verbiage and accusations, as if everything was scripted. Efforts to enter into respectful exchanges were invariably reduced–in quick order–to ad hominem assaults described above.

Without a doubt, things have changed in our country since 9/11 and intelligent, thoughtful, and humble conservative friends of mine agree with me that it’s largely a by-product of the successful right-wing radio personalities along with the dominant political ascendence of the Bush II WH and Republican control of Congress. And it appears now that the election of Obama has infuriated the same group of citizens who have become unhinged as you described so accurately. My wife and I are fearful that the racism toward Arabs and attacks on Muslims in general have re=opened some racial doors we had hoped were closed. My greatest fear is that our past, the ugly parts of it, may be the model of our future.