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Column published 11.08.14 - Conservatives

Wow!  Did you feel that earthquake Tuesday night?  Well, okay, so it wasn’t really an earthquake.  It was just the country moving to the right.  For me, it was the World Series, the Superbowl and March Madness all rolled up into one.  I am not a sports fan and not even sure what those words are I just wrote, but I think I”m beginning to understand all those Facebook messages and Tweets that clutter up my computer during major sports events.

I was very excited as so many conservatives begin to show up on the winning board.  I use the word “conservative” on purpose.  I”ve given up on Democrats and Republicans because those words are pretty much meaningless any more.  They used to be apt descriptions of political philosophies but nowadays you can’t always tell one from the other.  

But a conservative is a conservative regardless of any other label.  Unfortunately liberals tend to be the same way.   But reasonable and thinking liberals will eventually become conservatives.  Ronald Reagan, Condaleezza Rice and  Charles Krauthammer come to mind.

Krauthammer describes the differences between liberals and conservatives  in a column he wrote several years ago in his usual dry wit, and I quote:  “To understand the workings of American politics you have to understand this fundamental law:  Conservatives think liberals are stupid.  Liberals think conservatives are evil.”

Dr. Krauthammer discusses his “conversion” from a Mondale campaign worker to a Fox News commentator in his best selling book, “Things That Matter”. He says  it was in 1981 when the Democrats supported a “nuclear freeze” that he saw the light.   A few years later the Democrats became staunch foes of missile defense to the point of being “militant and nearly theological”.   He says he didn’t leave the party.  It left him.

Secretary Rice changed her political affiliation to Republican in 1982, partly because she disagreed with the foreign policy of Jimmy Carter, and also because of the influence of her father who was a Republican.  She told the Republican National Convention in 2000 that her father joined the party “because the Democrats in Jim Crow Alabama of 1952 would not register him to vote, but the Republicans did.”

I initially planned to make this column a treatise on the differences between conservatives and liberals, then decided to just write about conservatives since I only have experiential knowledge about them.  Liberals fall into a category where you can’t come up with a clear definition but you just know one when you see one.

So the rest of this column contains statements I know to be true about most political conservatives (there are always exceptions, of course).  If you don’t hold these opinions or are uncomfortable with them, then you might be a liberal.

We believe in limited government and we are willing to support with our taxes the funding needed to keep and maintain our infrastructure, buildings, roads, bridges, power for utilities, and law enforcement at every level, as well as the courts and justice system, for the protection of the citizenry.

We believe in a strong safety net for those unable to care for themselves, but not for those who are just unwilling to do so.  The most vulnerable of our society, the young and the elderly, most often need our assistance and protection.

We are more than willing to pay taxes for all those things that make for a strong national defense, including a living wage for our military men and women,as well as all the resources needed for training and when they are deployed to the battlefield.  We want to provide for our wounded warriors and their families, and also to give them specialized benefits and/or exemptions they have earned just by virtue of their service to our country.

We believe no veteran should have to go homeless or be without the basic necessities of life and if the time should come when we don’t have funds to take care of them, then our elected national officials should give up enough of their salaries so we can meet the needs of our veterans.

We value all human life, including  the unborn, and all the way through until the natural end of life.  Many of us would make an exception for those who deserve capital punishment.

We believe that marriage should be between a man and a woman only and we believe that parents know best how to raise their children and that neither the government nor the public education system should become involved in those parental decisions.

We believe in individual rights and responsibilities.  We don’t expect the government to take care of us.  We prefer to make our own way when we can and if we own a business we do not want government restrictions or regulations.

Unlike President Obama, we who own businesses know that “we did build that” and we are entitled to keep the profits we have earned and to invest them as we see fit believing as we do in the free market.  And, unlike Hillary Clinton, we know that business owners are the ones who create jobs and that we are the ones who stimulate the economy.

We believe that as citizens in a free society, it is our choice as to whether to purchase health insurance or not, and to choose the company we want to do business with.

We believe we have a right to worship God, according to the dictates of our conscience, and we choose the place and the time and the frequency, and if we want to hold prayer meetings or a Bible study in our home, we should have the freedom to do that.

We believe we have the right to display our flag anywhere on our property.

This is not an exhaustive list but I hope it gives you some idea about what conservatives believe.   And you are welcome to join us.

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