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Where Have All The Conservatives Gone?
By Charles Ratliff
While telling my oldest Son about William F. Buckley recently, he asked a revealing question. "Dad", he said after watching some film of Mr. Buckley, "where have all the conservatives gone"?
I can see him now, sitting valiantly, with his notepad and indomitable grin. His adversary? Another self righteous liberal iconoclast, fool hearty enough to query the master. They sat there, ensconced in their seat, with an ill feeling in the pit of their stomach having been resigned to the inevitable sounding of the opening bell.
William F. Buckley Jr. exuded an unconditional, take no prisoner's quality when confronted with liberal recrimination, he reined scorn on any insolvent reasoning the antagonist proffered.
Buckley had a most unique perspective, he stood guard over the years as the Conservative Movement in America went from a little understood political fringe element, to the preeminent form of governance in the history of our country.
In the Reagan era we ascended to our axiom. Unwilling to shrink from the test of liberal aspersions claiming unsound criterion with respect to conservative thought such as Supply Side Economics. We were vindicated by popular support as we won political victory upon victory. The storm troopers in the movement laid waste to those who proliferated erroneous allegations denouncing our rationale, as we refused to flinch in the face of what we stood for.
We reaped considerable dividends for our condemnation of liberal doctrine, and a steadfast affront of the left. We worked wonders in those hallowed days. We won the house, and the senate, we reformed welfare and championed the spirit of free enterprise. We gave Americans their pride back, and for the first time in a long time, a reason to hold their heads up. We believed in our paradigm, and thus in ourselves.
Today however, I'm afraid I am here to tell you we are a divided lot. We are no longer perceived by the nation at large, the political left, or its main stream media component as the stalwart Corps of Conservative Principle we once were.
I assert we are suffering from a "political allergy". This malady is most evident when we are confronted with the moment of truth, when we must suit up and stand on the firing line while carrying our conservative convictions into the fray of political discourse. This manifests itself as division in the ranks, the result of which is infighting, and a deranged set of factions within the whole.
And what is the prime instigator of this "allergic reaction"? Our consolidation of thought has been compromised from within, and an altruistic malaise has taken hold. Some who call themselves Conservatives would have you believe it is no longer practicable to stand our ground for fear of annoying an allegorical, undecided voter? It gets worse, they would have us carry this infirmity even further, for some reason unknown to me, they have an irrational anxiety about doing anything that may be remotely offensive to liberals themselves?
Unfortunately for us, the Democrats and their minions do not subscribe to such scruples, they say or do virtually anything to debase conservative precepts, though they are the first to decry any transgression of that privilege on our part.
The inauspicious blight I describe above is a pestilence to Conservatives and the GOP. If left unabated, intellectual mediocrity and insipid accords will continue to make way, eroding the principle hallmarks of our conservative legacy;
1) The firm belief in Capitalism, and the absolute abhorrence for any system of dependence based ideology.
2) A belief that government should be restrained, and limited greatly to maintaining our strong national defense.
3) The conviction to maintain traditional social aphorisms that are indispensable to retaining America's predominance.
I'm sorry to lament, should that happen it most certainly would mean perdition for the Conservatives.
And so you ask, "what now"? For starters, it's time to get back to what worked for Conservatives and the GOP. It's time to stand back on the line we once towed, and not try to be something we are not. We are not liberals. That may sound amusing to hear, but sadly there are those iconoclasts amongst us who would have us headed in that direction. We will not compromise our conviction for our conservative ideals, and we must come to the defense of that conviction when necessary with the vehemence it deserves.
Does this mean we're resigned to being conservative zealots, of course not. What it does mean, is if we would care to recapture the distinction and prestige of our conservative heritage, we must honor those standards to be sure.
But you know, William F. Buckley Jr., as debilitating as it must have been for the poor souls who found themselves in the crucible of "Firing Line", was one of the most gracious men you would ever have the pleasure of making the acquaintance of?
We shall endure, and more than that, enjoy prosperity and abundance, both as people and as pundits, if we only hold ourselves to that Buckley standard.
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Charles Ratliff is a GrandCentralPolitical.com contributor. http://www.grandcentralpolitical.com/CharlesRatliff