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March 22, 2004
Stand Up and Shout!
The event that really solidified my beliefs as a conservative was the joke that was the presidency of James Earl Carter Jr. and specifically, the Iranian hostage crisis in 1979-80 where we sat around wringing our hands for 444 days while the Iranians mocked us.
As soon as I was old enough to vote in a presidential election, I cast my vote for president for Ronald Reagan and helped elect him to his first term (and second, of course).I’ll never forget the split-screen image of Ronald Reagan being sworn in while the hostages in Iran were being released (Oh, I forgot. W’s Dad flew over there in a U-2 spy plane and cut a deal to make sure the hostages weren’t released on Carter’s watch.). Those Iranians knew that we no longer had a namby-pampy hand-wringing liberal at the helm. We had a strong-minded conservative who was going to make good on his promise to deal with them. It was that kind of tough-minded leadership coupled with a vision of what this country could be that won the Cold War and set this country up for the prosperity that carried us through the second-worst presidency of the 20th Century – Bill Clinton’s. Imagine where we’d be today if we’d had a second Carter term followed by Mondale, Dukakis and Clinton. I doubt if we’d even recognize the country we live in today.
Although I’ve been a conservative literally for decades now, I got caught up in life and never made much time for conservative writing and activism until the last few years. That’s why I’m so encouraged to see the young voices of conservatism on pardonmyenglish.com. Those of us who have been around for a while have been too complacent. We’ve allowed liberalism and its socialist tendencies to weave its way into the fabric of our society. The best way to have an impact on the political process is to start early and speak loudly and with conviction to get the conservative message out. The simple fact of the matter is that the vast majority of people in this country – although not politically active – identify more with conservative principles than liberal ones. The failure of Howard “Screamin’” Dean’s candidacy is evidence of that. If a liberal admits their liberalism they lose. That’s why candidates like Clinton and Kerry cloak their positions in vague populist themes and use terms like “progressive” and “centrist”. A lot of the time they succeed and it takes years to recover from the damage they do while in office. Carter and Clinton are two great examples.
Every time I hear someone say “I don’t follow politics” or “I don’t like politics because they (politicians) are all a bunch of crooks” I want to scream. Politics is literally everything in a free society. You are voting for the people who make major decisions about the things that affect all of us on a daily basis – national security, the economy, taxes, education, energy policy etc. In a representative republic such as ours – the freest and greatest nation on the face of the earth – each one of us has a duty to be informed and know whether the people we are voting for are representing our interests.
The sad fact of the matter is the most of us don’t know and don’t want to take the time to find out. How many people who will vote for John Kerry on Nov. 2 know that he opposes further research and deployment of an ABM system that has shot down its target in five out of eight tests -- a system that could help protect us from a nuclear first strike launched by one of the countries like N.Korea who acquired the technology from deals the Clinton Administration -- on the basis that it’s “a technology that hasn’t proven itself”? Which is better, having a 5/8 of a chance of proetecting ourselves from a nuclear strike or a 0% chance? You do the math.
In the final analysis, it all comes down to leaving to our children and their children a better country than we inherited from our parents. Sadly, I can’t say that I’d be leaving my kids in a safer, more secure and prosperous world now than it was after the Reagan presidency. Hopefully, in making my voice heard on pardonmyenglish.com and in other venues, I’ll be making my contribution, however small, to making this country a safer and more prosperous place for our kids to inherit.
Posted by Steve at March 22, 2004 08:03 PM
Copyright © 2007 by author. May not be copied, published, or otherwise used (except for brief quotes) without express permission of author. Articles published with permission by Pardon My English.
-->Comments
Great piece! I cant wait to see you go into rant mode.
Posted by Tyler at March 22, 2004 08:03 PM
welcome to the PME team... let's roll!
Posted by Aaron at March 22, 2004 08:03 PM
I've said everything you just said many times before (but usually at the bar after several cold beers, and not as eloquently).
In the same vein, I believe that there isn't such thing as a "moderate" or "undecided". From my experience these folks--and the people who profess to vote for "the man and not the party"--are unabashed liberals who vacillate between one issue and another. Conservatives stand on well-founded principles which are immutable and rigorously defensible. Liberals lick a finger and poke it into the air to see which way the wind of opinion is blowing.
Posted by skh at March 22, 2004 08:03 PM
Actually, no. Fence sitters definitely exist. They simply hold some Conservative views and some Liberal. You don't have to stick to one party's opinions. As a matter of fact, I think many people who do that (Liberal and Conservative) are outright stupid because they're ususally the ones who have no logic behind their beliefs. Those who switch sides depending on issue are the ones who have truly thought out what they believe. Trust me. I'm one of them.
Posted by Katie at March 22, 2004 08:03 PM
Wow, Steve. You're an excellent writer. I can't wait to read more! Welcome aboard. :-)
Posted by Julie Anne at March 22, 2004 08:03 PM
hi
Posted by Frans at March 22, 2004 08:03 PM
Great piece! I cant wait to see you go into rant mode.
Posted by Tyler at March 22, 2004 08:03 PM
welcome to the PME team... let's roll!
Posted by Aaron at March 22, 2004 08:03 PM
I've said everything you just said many times before (but usually at the bar after several cold beers, and not as eloquently).
In the same vein, I believe that there isn't such thing as a "moderate" or "undecided". From my experience these folks--and the people who profess to vote for "the man and not the party"--are unabashed liberals who vacillate between one issue and another. Conservatives stand on well-founded principles which are immutable and rigorously defensible. Liberals lick a finger and poke it into the air to see which way the wind of opinion is blowing.
Posted by skh at March 22, 2004 08:03 PM
Actually, no. Fence sitters definitely exist. They simply hold some Conservative views and some Liberal. You don't have to stick to one party's opinions. As a matter of fact, I think many people who do that (Liberal and Conservative) are outright stupid because they're ususally the ones who have no logic behind their beliefs. Those who switch sides depending on issue are the ones who have truly thought out what they believe. Trust me. I'm one of them.
Posted by Katie at March 22, 2004 08:03 PM
Wow, Steve. You're an excellent writer. I can't wait to read more! Welcome aboard. :-)
Posted by Julie Anne at March 22, 2004 08:03 PM
hi
Posted by Frans at March 22, 2004 08:03 PM
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