Truth in Conservatism

Scott Hardie | January 27, 2016
Forgive me if I'm being too general or unfair, but I can't stop wondering: Why are conservatives so concerned with declaring who is a "true" conservative?

I would not think the rhetoric strange except that you don't see it on both sides. Clinton and Sanders and O'Malley have their differences, but none of them accuse the others of being "not a true liberal" or a "Democrat In Name Only." Conservatives seem preoccupied with declaring which of them are genuine, and thus implying which of them are pretending, like Rick Perry did yesterday.

Just because you're more conservative than, say, Jeb Bush or John Kasich, does not mean that they are not conservative too. In fact, no matter how conservative you are, there are almost certainly people who are more conservative than you, and if they applied that same reasoning, they would consider you not conservative, even though you feel justified in using the term for yourself. Is the whole thing not a never-ending, always-escalating arms race of "true" conservatism? Is it not sufficient to debate policies and positions without the need for these fake labels to come into it?

Samir Mehta | January 27, 2016
[hidden by request]

Steve West | January 28, 2016
It's always disturbed me that "liberal" democrats are timid to pronounce their liberalism based on public perception of that word being inappropriately bent towards negativity. I'm not saying that liberalism is a good thing - in fact I tend to agree with those that want to move in the opposite direction. However, there is nothing wrong, in and of itself, of being liberal. The same is true for conservatism. The extreme right wing view is equally dangerous when it closes its eyes to alternative thinking. I tend to agree more frequently with conservative dogma but I'm always open to hearing opposing viewpoint. Ideas should not be dismissed out of hand just because they are delivered by a "liberal" or "conservative" source. They should be openly debated, considered and implemented if they pass the litmus test of good sense. And Trump is still an idiot.

Samir Mehta | January 28, 2016
[hidden by request]

Chris Lemler | January 28, 2016
https://youtu.be/ZVKvnteELPA

What is people's opinion on this happening

Erik Bates | January 28, 2016
[hidden by request]

Scott Hardie | January 28, 2016
On liberalism: I've never understood how that became a dirty word -- to paraphrase James Brown: I say it loud, I'm liberal and I'm proud -- but you're right, the simple and absolute denigration of that label led to the rise of its opposite. Well put.

On Steve winning: You're right, and you don't even play him in Rock Block. :-)

On Trump's tomato-tossing troublemaker: I have no idea what the protesters at Trump rallies think they're accomplishing. Every time they speak out like this, they give him another opportunity to look tough by shouting them down and/or look resilient by withstanding the criticism, and it gives his supporters another opportunity to rally around him and feel emboldened. For people who just feel compelled to speak out against him, the world is full of ways and places to express anti-Trump sentiment; doing it in this context is damaging their cause.

What do you think of it, Chris?

Chris Lemler | January 29, 2016
I mean the only thing I know Scott is that to me I don't care if you don't like the guy you don't start throwing stuff at him. If you don't like him why did you even bother showing up for his conference. I really don't think that anyone should be allowed in a room if your not there to listen and just launch a tomato at the candidate. I don't think he should be allowed in any more conferences of any candidate

Samir Mehta | January 29, 2016
[hidden by request]

Scott Hardie | January 31, 2016
Given their argument that money equals speech in the infamous Citizens United decision, I wonder if the Supreme Court might rule that tomatoes equal speech.

I'm tempted to suggest that your perceived disconnect could be due to the GOP being a coalition of several different factions, not all of whom agree or live their lives the same way, so you might be confused that speech from one faction and behavior from another seem to contradict one another. But if I'm reading your comment correctly, you really are talking about specific individuals who both depend on the social safety net and demand an end to (or at least a reduction of) the social safety net. I wish I could find it now (I'm pretty sure I've mentioned it before on TC), but I once read a study about this, that concluded that the primary cause of the red-state poor voting against their own best interests is rooted in shame. This author summed it up well from his own perspective. Does that shed any light on it?

Scott Hardie | January 31, 2016
Along somewhat related lines, CNN has an interesting article about how Ted Cruz and Donald Trump, two men who attended Ivy League universities, one of whom has a vast fortune seeded by family wealth, the other of whom has worked with and for the very powerful in Washington, are now considered rabble-rousing men of the people with populist appeal.