PrintApril 6, 2009
Now Is the Time to Put Aside Childish Things
"Divide et impera" (divide and rule) is an ancient maxim that became the basis of Machiavelli's approach to power and political theory. It is the same modus operandi used by the left in this country over the past 16 years that has given us the most radical government in our history.
In today's world of sound bites and miniscule attention spans a simple sentence: "There isn't a bit of difference between Republicans and Democrats." has become imbedded in the nation's lexicon and the foundation of the strategy to split what is a majority right of center country into many factions.
History has shown that with our representative republican form of government combined with the effect of 50 individual states and an independent executive branch only a two major party arrangement is viable. The issue then becomes what governing philosophy do these major parties espouse. Today's Democratic party is overwhelmingly made up of interest groups that believe a powerful central government, overseen by them, is essential to guarantee equitable outcomes. The Republican party membership, in even greater numbers, is dominated by those who believe government (per the founders) should be limited and the rights of the individual paramount.
Virtually all polling done over the past twenty five years confirms that the majority of Americans believe in limited government and are loath to grant too much power to Washington. Yet we have just elected a Congress and a President that is the antithesis of what the preponderance of the people claim to want.
How did we get here? To paraphrase Shakespeare: The fault, dear Conservatives and Libertarians, is not in our stars, but ourselves, that we are underlings.
In the 1992 presidential election Ross Perot ran on and promoted the "Perot Doctrine": there is no difference between the parties. That theme resonated with sufficient numbers of voters to give him 19% of the popular vote, the highest level ever achieved by a third party candidate, assured the election of Bill Clinton and established the basic game plan on how to split the coalition that had handed the Republicans the presidency in three previous elections by landslide proportions. There has been no such margin of victory for either party since.
Over the past 17 years, the Perot Doctrine has been repeated ad nauseam by conservative and libertarian talk show and television hosts (e.g. Glenn Beck, Neal Boortz, Bill O'Reilly), become a consistent theme for a myriad of columns and articles and confirmed by the so-called conservative intellectuals claiming the Era of Reagan is dead and we must all become socialist-lite. Using this backdrop the left has seized on the ideal strategy that has given them control of the levers of power despite the wishes of the preponderance of the citizens.
Among the groups that make up the right of center majority are the single issues voters and those who claim to be fiscal conservatives but social liberals. The Democrats quickly learned that mere words well delivered would successfully effect these voters. For example, in the most recent election, Barack Obama, an unabashed promoter of unfettered abortion rights and gun control proclaimed himself to be a Christian seeking to make abortion rare and against all gun control legislation. He won the Catholic vote and a much higher percentage of the evangelical and gun voters than any of the previous six Democratic nominees for President. The same tack was used with the fiscal conservatives but social liberals; recall the campaign promise not to raise any taxes on 95% of the people and control spending. These lies were deliberate as "there is no difference between the parties," let's go with the candidate for either the House, Senate or the White House that says the right things regardless of their actual background or the fact that by voting for any Democrat would put that party's radical wing in control of Congress.
The factions more easily manipulated are the ideological purists and the leave-me-alone fundamentalists. The purists are constantly on alert to any real or perceived straying from their established set of beliefs, be it behavior or policy. If a number of members of Congress or the President stray from any of any of a series of tenets, then the entire party rather than the individual is blamed. The key for the Democrats is to get these folks to stay at home or vote for a conservative sounding Democrat to "punish the sinners." Thus we have the campaign to portray the entire Republican party in Congress as corrupt, spendthrift, not responsive to the people and with President Bush, an illiterate, bumbling, incompetent fool, thus besmirching the republican brand. Again, with the Perot Doctrine ringing in their ears the purists and leave-me-alone fundamentalists simply throw up their hands and stay on the sidelines leaving the playing field to the left.
Is the elected component of the Republican Party free of fault, no. There has been, among the leadership, a lack of spine to stand up to this game plan and counter the misperceptions promoted by the Democrats and their sycophants in the media. There also has been an eagerness to spend too much, appease the left on social issues and stray from the principles that gave this country 25 years of economic growth. This need never have happened if these elected representatives had been opposed at every election cycle. There should never be a candidate for the House of Representatives, the Senate, Governor or State Delegate that does not have a primary challenger to keep their feet to the fire.
In the 1996 Republican primary for president, Pat Buchanan ran an excellent campaign challenging the incumbent President and defeating him in a number of states. While he did not win the nomination, he helped bring the party back to its basic tenets and combined with the arrogance of the Democrats in Congress and the White House allowed the Republicans to take over the House of Representatives in 1994 after an absence of 42 years.
The election of Barack Obama and the 112th Congress is a fait accompli; however, their actions can be curtailed and potentially overturned by 2010.
First: To our conservative and libertarian pundits, talk show and television hosts, swear off the promotion of the Perot Doctrine even if it means lower ratings. Rush Limbaugh, his brother David, Tom Sowell and many others saw the danger in this approach and did not participate while still criticizing various actions by the Republicans in Congress and the White House. What is needed is the education of the populace to become active within the party, reject the elected members who stray from Reagan principles and nominate those who embrace them, as only a unified party can defeat the Democrats.
Second: To the folks organizing the "tea parties," I applaud your genuine effort to call attention to your concerns. These parties should, while allowing you to vent, have a purpose and an objective. That objective being the nomination of true Republican conservatives to run or challenge in every district in the country; particularly those that recently voted for faux conservative democrats.
Third: To our Libertarian friends, the ideological purists and the leave-me-alone fundamentalists, please understand what is now happening in our country will directly affect you. It is no longer our choice to simply dismiss what is happening will only impact others or future generations. You must now get involved in the political process within a major party. The promotion of third party candidates will only keep the radical government in Washington in power and make permanent the massive changes they are proposing.
Fourth: To the fiscal conservatives but social liberals, you have seen what the Obama Administration and Congress plans to do to your taxes and government spending. The so-called religious fundamentalists in the Republican Party share your fiscal conservatism. They do not want to tell you how to live or be concerned about what you do in your bedroom; they want only to make certain religious freedom is maintained and honored as it has been since the founding of this nation. Which would you rather have, a bankrupt economy and your wealth destroyed or stop believing in the absurdity that others want to impose their religion on you?
The membership of the Republican Party is overwhelmingly conservative leaning, the Democratic Party socialist. As our political system can only function efficiently with two major parties, all of us must make certain the Republican brand is the right of center alliance. Only then can we get back on the track of being the country of opportunity and greatness. If not then the future is dim indeed.
It now time, per the Bible, to put aside childish things for the sake of the most magnificent nation in the history of mankind.
