Whenever I offer any criticism of Obama's policies, some of my liberal friends accuse me of "bashing" him personally. I want to be emphatic that it is not my intent to "bash" Obama explicitly or implicitly, and certainly not personally. I simply believe his policies won't work and know that very little of the "investments" (that's code word for spending) and tax increases for the "rich" he is proposing are directly related to stimulating the economy. Instead of focusing on the economic crisis to restore confidence in our financial system, which is a difficult task within itself, he is using the crisis as an opportunity to conduct an aggressive social agenda through massive government spending that will change society as we know it. Those who support this grand redistribution of wealth plan either haven't done their homework or don't realize the unintended consequences of more and bigger government in every aspect of our lives.
Few of my friends understand what conservatism is about, and on what principles it stands. So I thought I would include excerpts from a recent speech by a well-known conservative that spoke to the heart of conservatism. Please carefully consider the following: "We conservatives have not done a good enough job of just laying out basically who we are because we make the mistake of assuming people know. What they know is largely incorrect based on the way we are portrayed in pop culture, in the Drive-By Media, by the Democrat Party. Let me tell you who we conservatives are: We love people."
"When we look out over the United States of America, when we are anywhere, when we see a group of people, such as this or anywhere, we see Americans. We see human beings. We don't see groups. We don't see victims. We don't see people we want to exploit. What we see -- what we see is potential. We do not look out across the country and see the average American, the person that makes this country work. We do not see that person with contempt. We don't think that person doesn't have what it takes. We believe that person can be the best he or she wants to be if certain things are just removed from their path like onerous taxes, regulations and too much government."
"We want every American to be the best he or she chooses to be. We recognize that we are all individuals. We love and revere our founding documents, the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence. We believe that the [sic] preamble to the Constitution contains an inarguable truth that we are all endowed by our creator with certain inalienable rights, among them life. Liberty, Freedom. And the pursuit of happiness. Those of you watching at home may wonder why this is being applauded. We conservatives think all three are under assault."
"We don't want to tell anybody how to live. That's up to you. If you want to make the best of yourself, feel free. If you want to ruin your life, we'll try to stop it, but it's a waste. We look over the country as it is today, we see so much waste, human potential that's been destroyed by 50 years of a welfare state. By a failed war on poverty. We love the people of this country. And we want this to be the greatest country it can be, but we do understand, as people created and endowed by our creator, we're all individuals. We resist the effort to group us. We resist the effort to make us feel that we're all the same, that we're no different than anybody else. We're all different. There are no two things or people in this world who are created in a way that they end up with equal outcomes. That's up to them. They are created equal, given the chance - - We don't hate anybody. We don't -- I mean, the racism in this country, if you ask me, I know many people in this audience -- let me deal with this head on. You know what the cliche is, a conservative: racist, sexist, bigot, homophobe."
"I want anyone who believes in life, liberty, pursuit of happiness to succeed. And I want any force, any person, any element of an overarching Big Government that would stop your success, I want that organization, that element or that person to fail. I want you to succeed. Also, for those of you in the Drive-By Media watching, I have not needed a teleprompter for anything I've said. And nor do any of us need a teleprompter, because our beliefs are not the result of calculations and contrivances. Our beliefs are not the result of a deranged psychology. Our beliefs are our core. Our beliefs are our hearts. We don't have to make notes about what we believe. We don't have to write down, oh do I believe it do I believe that we can tell people what we believe off the top of our heads and we can do it with passion and we can do it with clarity, and we can do it persuasively."
The above speech was none other than that delivered by Rush Limbaugh at the recent Conservative Political Action Committee (CPAC) Conference. Yes, Rush is a polarizing figure somewhat lacking in the social graces, and no, he is not the voice of the Republican party. But he is a (not the) voice for the conservative movement. He made it clear in the speech that he doesn't want Obama to fail if his policies are good for the country (e.g., economic growth, low taxes, liberty), but he wants Obama to fail if his policies will be detrimental to our Republic (i.e., federalization of health care, education, and energy through onerous taxation). The liberal media won't quote Rush in full context because it wouldn't be news, instead they make it news by saying that he wants Obama to fail and leave it at that. That isn't news, but it is irresponsible journalism.
* A fellow graduate student asked me to note that Rush's attribution of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness to the preamble of the Constitution is incorrect, and that this phrase is actually found in the Declaration of Independence.
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Gilson on philosophy and its history
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