Article Contributed on: 2/23/2008 12:19:17 PM
Since a handful of conservative "intellectuals" have penned books claiming to be experts on liberal thought and the liberal psyche, I figured I'd take a crack at offering my observations on conservatives. It's been my experience that the pundits and authors spend more time describing how slanderous, treasonous, godless, irrational or mentally disturbed liberals than discussing the virtues of their conservatism. They are often wrong, yet remain insistent in their beliefs, adding lying to the list of sins we commit. As if we are trying to fool them and their too smart for that.
On any given weekday you can tune your radio dial to any number of conservative talking heads to hear all about the "libs" and our sinister intentions as well as our irrational hatred for America. Ironic and sad, while trying to dismiss liberals as being simply irrational, they fail to consider they actually might not understand what liberals are about. Being intellectually lazy, they prefer to come to the conclusion we're just nuts without bothering to try and figure out why liberals are liberal.
How irrational to assume liberals are irrational to explain why they do what they do. Conservative charges range from an irrational; hatred of George Bush, hatred or envy of the wealthy, hatred for capitalism, hatred for our own country, and the list goes on. The simple minded and the devious among the conservatives can't comprehend there may actually be reasons liberals don't like Bush's policies, believe the wealthy should pay more in taxes not based on envy, are weary of big businesses, and believe our country should live up to a higher moral and ethical standard than it does currently. In the conservative mind, if you exhibit any outrage directed at the president, politicians or military brass then you are against all of them.
These conservatives aren't real conservatives to many. I recently received a copy of the right wing Townhall magazine. Among it's pages they tried to answer the question of what was conservatism today and who decides. Among the many ads and pieces with the likes of Ann Coulter, Rush Limbaugh and Michael Savage was an article on Barry Goldwater. Sadly, the former and not the latter are determining what conservatism is today. Goldwater died believing his views would be perceived as being too liberal to todays conservative.
How did we get here? William F. Buckley Jr. launched The National Review to counter liberal magazines like The New Republic and The Nation. His magazine set the tone for what now passes as political discourse. My father in law was a Goldwater conservative. A deeply honest and moral man. On his book shelf he had a small hardcover book titled "Up from Liberalism" by the same William F. Buckley Jr. I decided to read it one night while visiting for Christmas. The entire content of the book was a list of who was a liberal. As if that was content enough to explain just why we had to rise up from liberal philosophy. It was more a damnation of people who he perceived as being liberal without explanation. The fact that Eleanor Roosevelt was a liberal was enough to dismiss her. By today's standards Buckley could of been accused of hating his country because he despised the system and the people who established the system.
Jump forward to the modern day talk radio personality like the three I mention above. All of them and their minions like locals Gunny Bob and Mike Rosen claim to be experts of the liberal mind, completely aware of our sinister motives. They have written books on liberalism, they tear liberals down everyday on the air and in print. Sadly their faithful can't recognize just how vile and hateful these people are. And instead, are convinced that it is liberals that are vile, the liberals that are hateful. While Ann calls John Edwards a faggot, Limbaugh invents controversy using cleverly edited words and deeds, and Savage calls Diane Sawyer a dike. All of them tell their audience to not listen to liberals and to dismiss anything that contradicts what they've told you. How convenient, and dangerous. In this twisted universe of theirs conservatism has morphed into a sort of anti-liberal philosophy. If someone, like Bill O'Reilly, makes a comment that doesn't fit the talking points of the day, like criticizing Bush, he's not only wrong he's suddenly liberal. Until he gets back on message.
This explains the dismissal of any Republican who stands up for traditional Republican values that conflict with the modern avatars of conservatism. Calling them RINOs. Republicans in name only. Bruce Fein, John Dean, Richard C. Clarke, Paul O'Neill and others have been demonized as much as Al Gore for daring to challenge the modern Republican establishment thanks in large part to the little Buckleys. Never allowing facts and history get in the way of smearing the liberal, or more accurately, the un-conservative. No one is safe if they get off the script. Criticize the establishment and be called a traitor to your country.
Charles Krauthammer, George Will, Brit Hume, and the like don't make points. They just blame Democrats for everything. They too consider themselves experts on the liberal psyche. They can read our minds and judge our intentions in a nanosecond. If only we'd be more like them the world would be a much safer place. They wouldn't know a liberal if one bit them on the arse. Somewhere Goldwater was abandoned and Buckley embraced. Instead of a real philosophy conservatism has become the knee jerk response against liberalism. Just look at policies that are now embraced as being conservative; the Bush doctrine of pre-emptive war and national building, taking on the responsibility of the world's police, massive deficits and foreign debt, the increased privatization of the military, to name a few. This is why Goldwater believed his conservatism had become liberalism.
The self professed experts on liberal thought are wrong. There are rational and logical opinions based on facts and a certain world view these experts ignore. It's easier to conclude we're just crazy. The tone is as condescending as it is inaccurate. And the political climate the right wing has created is at our own peril. They've expanded their ignorance to include the demonization of inconvenient science. Trying to warp science into another brand of religion requiring blind faith like any other. The policy makers governed by this modern conservatism ignore real dangers like global warming. Yesterdays conservative would have sprung into action. The crazy economic policies of today have outsourced millions of jobs, has allowed our infrastructure to be purchased by foreign entities, encouraged war profiteering and cronyism. We should do a public service announcement like the crying indian that raised awareness of our fondness of littering that features a crying Barry Goldwater looking upon the devastation the modern conservative has wrought.
In short, conservatism has become a slave to unfettered capitalism. Patriotism can only be exhibited by war mongering Republicans. Torture is acceptable, habeas corpus and the rule of law malleable. Privacy rights don't exist, parts of the Constitution and the Geneva Conventions are quaint. It's their way or the high way. America love it or leave it. It is wrong to question the president, unless it's a Democrat, then question everything. Government is ineffective and evil, the private sector will always deliver better goods and services. And anything that contradicts these sentiments must be shouted down. The middle has been drug to the far right so much any suggestion the government should help people in any way is considered socialist.