i just read an article in the new york times about the internship program at the heritage foundation.
it made me realize that many young republicans probably do feel beleaguered and ostracized at most liberal arts colleges.
it also reminded me that the term ‘conservative’ really doesn’t mean anything anymore, unless you use it as a bizarre descriptive tag to label someone who believes in small government(but loves reagan and bush jr, even though both created huge deficits and the biggest federal govenments in the history of the u.s.a), or someone who believes in states rights(unless the state happens to be in the middle of a recall, like florida in 2000), or someone who believes in individual liberties(unless that person happens to be pro-choice, or gay).
so what the hell do conservatives talk about?
supply-side economics and the rapture?
the lack of fiscal transparency at the imf and burning copies of harry potter?
right-wing conservativism in the u.s really seems utterly adrift.
it’s almost as if they’ve all agreed to agree even though they don’t really care about what they’re agreeing to.
‘ok, you agree with me on small government and i’ll agree with you on abortion.’
‘you agree with me on tax-cuts and i’ll agree with you on missile defense.’
i wish that the conservatives would finally come out and say the following(which, empirically speaking, is the only consistent conservative message):
‘we, as right wing conservatives, want our businesses to be unfettered by regulation and legislation, and we want the government to give us corporate welfare when/if we so choose. we want to get wealthy(or, rather, wealthier), and we’re willing to give away a bunch of crazy social conservative stuff to the wackos in the bible belt to accomplish this. we’ll give them prayer in schools if they give us tax cuts. we’ll give them restrictions on abortion if they give us corporate welfare. we’ll give them creationism if they give us an end to dividend taxation. we’ll pretend that we care about social issues, just as long as it takes us to get elected. then, once we’re elected, we’ll have a big party with hookers and freshly minted $100 bills.’
i would actually have more respect for the right-wing conservative movement in the u.s if they had even a degree of cohesion to their professed beliefs.
until then i’ll just sit and wonder about a movement that is as passionate about defeating the evils of evolution as they are about tax cuts.
and i’ll forever wonder how the conservatives can lionize politicians like reagan and bush jr, both of whom created huge debts and the biggest governments that we’ve ever had.
ah well.
moby
