A good post.
Still, one way to characterize those people is .... that they see things differently. No more or less than that. What's more, I have a great deal of sympathy with the position that a President Hillary is not just worse, but far worse, than would be the case under Trump. I don't believe that to be the case, but I can see how many people could, and act accordingly.
Not just that, but even if we're entirely right and they're entirely wrong, those are the same people we will need to work with, together, to cobble together something worthwhile from the rubble of the Republican Party. And the beauty of it is, they're mostly good people who want to do the right thing.
The worst possible thing to do, is what "conservatives" (I use the term pejoratively) always seem to do: excommunicate people for believing differently.
I think we are on the right track. Part of the problem is that the word "Conservative" has been taken to be the same thing as "Republican". For a while, Republicans were fairly conservative, but they don't get to steal the word and take it to the left with the Party.
Conservatism is an ideology, not a political party. If that can't be sorted out, those of us who are part and parcel tied to that ideology need to find a new name for it and ourselves, and let the Republicans finish the hydraulic tailspin into political oblivion.
We often agree on the problems we want to solve, sometimes we disagree on what is the best way to go about that, and one thing is certain, there have been bitter disagreements of late as to who is the best person to lead those changes. That will likely cost the Republican Party what should have been an easy election. That damage is done.
What will rise from those ashes? I for one have been a proponent of taking the reins of an existing Party closely aligned with the political views we hold, which has a solution to the problems, and going full tilt to bump the elephant from the dais. The Democrats came close to schism this year as well, with Bernie's Socialists putting up one of the toughest primary fights seen in a while.
I have made no secret of the Party I favor, and only obscurity allows certain political elements to malign it and characterize it as something it isn't. If you read their competitors' stuff about it, it's anything from holy roller to troofer to really stuff for late Friday night teevee.
Nope. The platform is based on the US Constitution, which with the widespread ignorance in the Republic may well seem really out there, because when you read it and realize that many entrenched Federal Agencies and Programs have absolutely no Constitutional Authority to exist, that those powers should by rights be the purview of the several states, and that the Federal Government is doing things which only by the most elastic interpretations of the letter of the law are legal, interpretations far beyond anything ever intended by the Founders.
I'm all for throwing in there, and likely that would be welcome as long as no one tried to change too much. Frankly, there isn't much I'd change. I wish I could say that about the Republicans, but I can't. that party is pretty well rusted out for a frame-off restoration, and the current occupants would be eminently hostile to that sort of tinkering with their fiefdom.
We know in the future to have any political voice we are going to have to have numbers, too.
Crying out in the wilderness is fine exercise, but not many hear what you have to say.
They don't hear it with their fingers in their ears running around shouting 'la' repeatedly, either.
But, deep down, we're suffering from brand confusion. Republican got to the point where anyone who wanted could hop on board and be one, without any onus to hold or express a set of beliefs. With "Conservatism" identified (incorrectly) as "Republican, the two got muddled.
Task number one: Let's define "conservatism". There is an essential set of fundamental values we're going to want to see there. Some are moral ("family values"), many are simply following the Constitution.
Let's make a list of the agencies we'd eliminate/downsize/combine and reorganize all with reduced scope and capacity in order to move the federal Government back within Constitutional constraints, including the powers to be returned to the several states.
Let's also make a list of priorities, things the Federal Government is Constitutionally tasked with, the duties thereof, and what changes would need to be made to make that happen.
Let's also make another list of the things the Federal Government is doing that it just does not have the Constitutional authority to do. Programs and Departments which simply have no business being there. Some will be sacred cows, but let's put them down anyway.
Let's cut the budget (yes, a budget!) by 10% without cutting into the ability of the Federal Government to carry out its duly Constitutionally appointed tasks. Efficiency, shopping around, streamlining procurement processes while keeping them accountable all can be done. Something as simple as packaging items in the lowest common denominator of what is actually needed to perform a task would save on needless expense and waste.
Let's list the regulations we'd alter, freeze, eliminate in favor of State regulations in general, and then work on specifics. I'm sure everyone has some.
Find out who we send money to, and other foreign aid, and decide where we might want to shorten the list and reduce the amount and where increasing it might prove beneficial if done correctly. Much of that aid is done as food, let's make that part of a trade deal so the incentive to develop a trade of food for other commodities or products can be done, hopefully building both economies to our mutual benefit. Lets find a way to balance trade that will bring prosperity to all parties and encourage the growth of domestic industries.
Lets figure out how to re-balance the balance of power, not only within the Federal Government and Constitutional Constraints, but also between Federal, State, and Local Government. Let's reduce mandates to suggestions where we can, and none of the former without the funding to comply--if that funding and mandate is Constitutional.
Let's find a way to raise revenue we can agree with and levels we can live with, while balancing the budget and paying down the debt.
Let's figure out an equitable way to reduce federal land ownership in the West and return that land to productivity, not just to benefit those states, but the entire country.
Lets straighten out the mess Obamacare has made and do away with it. Instead of exchanges and subsidies, let's put medicaid on a sliding scale to pay for actual care only and let the insurance companies come up with supplemental programs which fill the gap, and do away with penalties. As people prosper, they pick up more of their health insurance/care costs. The poor are still covered, and the transition becomes do-able rather than a fiscal cliff to climb.
Let's keep a strong and innovative military, especially navy and air force, and take back the lead in space exploration, whether private, public, or a combination of efforts.
Let's dispense with the lunacy surrounding Anthropogenic Global Warming and associated solutions to problems we not only cannot fix, but have not caused. Let's quit funding so much research that is not directly related to the Constitutional duties of the Government. Let industry or private funding take up the slack as people decide what research should be done and vote with their dollars.
Let's reclaim our sovereignty from international agencies which seek to subvert it and become as much as any nation the masters of our own destiny.
Let's push softly for a return to a moral and just America, If you would not do it in front of your Mom, chances are it shouldn't be on TV except in the most restricted venues. Let's become the sort of people again who can put a broadcast show on prime time without a 'bleep' every few seconds. If we are going to be cultural leaders, let's be unashamed of what we produce, and a culture worth emulating.
There is a lot I'd like to see, and last but not least, the Congress can remand the decisions about abortion law to the States from any Supreme Court jurisdiction, and equally, the decisions about whether or not to allow prayer in schools to the individual school districts or even schools.
That isn't saying anyone would be required to worship, but that the option would be open for those who wish to do so in states where the legislatures saw fit to make that option available.
That is just a rant, but also a start to get juices flowing and open the discussion. If we want to save this Republic it is up to all of us, not the actions of any one person, to make it happen. If we sit around and wait to be saved, the Republic will not survive.
