Feb

26

2010

Still a Republican

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Tonight, Butch Porter of the American Conservative Party added a followup comment on an old post, and when I was done replying my comment was post-length itself. So, I’m going to feature it rather than continue that old discussion there.

Thanks for stopping by and giving us an update, Butch. I took a look and you do indeed seem to have tightened up the ship over there. While your platform still seems to suggest that the party will not delve into social conservatism, the supplemental FAQs clarify the idea that the national platform remains agnostic on social issues specifically so that the state parties can exercise their 10th Amendment rights – thereby putting the questions where they’ve always belonged. This was very similar to the stance I took back in 2008, begging and pleading with Bill that he not throw the baby out with the bathwater.

I wish you and the ACP good luck and the best of success, but there’s one remaining issue I have with ACP, and it’s significant. I’ve always believed in the two-party system, and only considered joining in the hope that ACP was trying to replace the Republicans.

I think third parties will always fail. But it’s not because, as your new platform suggests, the other two parties are using their power and money to stop you. It’s because the nation is built to have two parties, and this system fits best with both our style of government and our national character. When one party or the other strays too far from the mainstream, the political gravity forces it to adapt, naturally. When one party takes a firm stand on an important issue, the other party adapts to oppose it. And when this equilibrium falls too far out of whack and the parties don’t adapt, well then one survives, one dies, and a new party takes it’s place.

You’ve got a great attitude about starting your party from the ground up, and with your new platform I think you’ll have an impact (either directly or indirectly). But the only way you’ll survive and flourish long-term is to drive one of the two parties out of business and become part of the duopoly. As long as your masthead promises to fight the two-party system itself rather than fight the parties currently making up that duopoly, you’re going to fail.

You can see the effect happening right now, with the Republican election wins in VA, NJ and MA. Are those Republicans conservative enough? Probably not for me, but since I don’t live in those states, it may be a case of “good enough”. Everyone is saying the GOP is on the rise, and it’s very apparent that Republicans are benefiting from Tea Party energy and conservative values. You’re going to have your work cut out for you to convince the American people to give up the tried and tested for a bunch of political neophytes.

Feb

22

2010

Bill Bennett speaks for me, too

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I like Glenn Beck, I really do. He’s funny, self-deprecating, and his political analysis is… close. But it also sounds like the apocalyptic sermon of a tent-revival huckster, and as a Catholic that can sometimes sound like peasants with pitchforks are coming – and the pitchfork is pointed the wrong way.

Fellow Catholic Bill Bennett apparently sees the situation in a similar way. I actually think Bennett’s critique of Beck’s speech at CPAC was too mild, but it will suffice. We aren’t going to make progress in the war against progressivism/liberalism/socialism/marxism (whatever they’re calling themselves this week) by painting all of politics with such a broad brush. We’re going to win by finding a way to inject the enthusiasm of the Tea Parties and the practical methodology of conservative think-tanks into the body of an organization that’s capable of: 1) fighting in the political trenches and 2) winning at the ballot box.

Theoretically, Beck and his pals could call for disbanding the Republican Party and rebuild from scratch. But while that might satisfy some people’s desire to punish Republicans for betraying the conservative faith, starting from scratch isn’t going to satisfy the two conditions I mentioned. In fact, it now appears that the Republican Party is not in such bad shape that they’re going to Whig out on us. (Though in the past few years, that’s been a danger, as I’ve preached.) Without the Republicans falling apart, you’re not going to have the chance to build a new second party. Besides, it’s just plain easier to take over the party standing there already. Heck, in some cases, Republicans are begging to be taken over.

Feb

20

2010

The next big thing

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For those people who don’t understand what the links in our Ford’s Theater section are all about, I thought I’d give you a look at a new game that’s sure to be added there soon.

Feb

12

2010

Black Republican of the Year 2009

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As is our tradition, we honor the birthday of The Black Republican with our annual recognition of that person who in the past year best represents the ideals left to the Republic by our founder.  This year, we wanted to honor the Tea Partiers, but we have a distaste for the silly tendency of some publications to designate “movements” or inanimate objects in their annual retrospectives. (We’re looking at you, Time.)  When something big happens in this world, for good or ill, you can always find an individual – a real, live person – who represents or embodies whatever that something is.  And so to that end, our Black Republican of the Year for 2009 is…

Rick Santelli.

In what has become the focal point of the frustrations of those people who have seen the Lives, Fortunes, and sacred Honor of this great Republic trampled under the hooves of the socialist lurch to the left under the Obama administration (aided unfortunately by some in the Republican Party, as well as a couple of former BROTY winners), Santelli gave the Tea Party movement a voice – and a name.


Following his “rant”, the Tea Party movement took shape in protests on April 15, July 4, and September 12, and aided in the election of three Republicans to formerly Democrat-held offices: Governor of New Jersey Chris Christie, Governor of Virginia Bob McDonnell, and the most recent and most shocking victory, U.S. Senator from Massachusetts Scott Brown.

Though they are associated with a name from the Founding era, Santelli and the Tea Parties he suggested have revived interest in and study of the Constitution and the Union that Lincoln sought to preserve.  In response, we can do no less than “to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought… have thus far so nobly advanced.”

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