A radical reaction has erupted in response to the health care bill, and its motto is: “Repeal and Replace.” But this isn’t a principle; it is a talking point bordering along utopianism. True conservatives are not radicals; they respect tradition and work for stable reform to fix institutions.I’m sorry, but I thought conservatives were about nuking the Soviets (halfway done), outlawing abortion, and fighting for limited government. In that exact order.
Edmund Burke said, “People will not look forward to posterity, who never look backward to their ancestors.” This provides a solid framework for the conservative to approach problems. Societies inherit institutions, traditions, and values from previous generations. Some of them are bad, so it is the job of the conservative to identify institutions that are worth conserving while working to reform those that are not.
To be perfectly fair, David Frum and this guy (Oliver Garland) probably represent about as many conservatives as I represent libertarians. Already we are seeing many Republicans and non-conservative conservatives start saying that the Democrats had it right except for a couple of issues when it came to healthcare reform.
Frankly, I am sick and tired of the conservative movement. They have had ample opportunity to bring the Federal government back to its constitutional roots and they have royally screwed it all up on numerous occasions.
This man, Oliver Garland, seems to forget that Obamacare was just handed down to us last month. Yet he says we should identify the institutions worth conserving. I guess Obamacare is an institution now.
What a freaking idiot. I cannot believe that this man could be so much of a weasel that he would think we wouldn’t notice this total failure of logic. And he tags the Tea Party movement as ‘Utopian’. I thought the Democrats and their Obamacare-like reforms were what would be considered Utopian. I love how the last bastion of small minds is to accuse their perceived opponents of the very thing they are guilty of. I believe it’s called projection.
Unfortunately, I believe these ideas will take hold within the Republican party leadership in Congress. I’ve already heard of significant Republican leaders discussing this very idea. The truth is, many Republicans and conservatives wanted Obamacare and were only opposed to it because Democrats were for it. Both parties seem to enjoy doing this and creating pseudo-conflicts. A prime example is the USA PATRIOT Act, which the Democrats were for until President Bush and the Republicans pushed it.
There are no principles in DC and David Frum and Oliver Garland represent the weasel side of how things work. But since they claim to be conservative, I think I’m going to associate their ideas with conservatism from now on. If we all do this, maybe conservatives will do us all a favor and permanently disown them in some fashion so these wolves can finally take off the sheep’s clothing.