Is this a liberal country or has it just not *totally* lost its sense of decency?
by digby
One of the more startling things about getting older is the strange sense that nothing ever happens for the first time. For instance, I have been reading the conservative reactions around the web today and rather than being struck by how depressed they are (which they are) I'm struck by how their minds always seem to run in the same direction at times like these.
Several people have quoted from this screed from John "Hindrocket" Hindracker of Powerline this morning. He is very upset:
[T]here is a much more important proposition that, I think, was proved false last night: that America is a center-right country. This belief is one that we conservatives have cherished for a long time, but as of today, I think we have to admit that it is false. America is a deeply divided country with a center-left plurality. This plurality includes a vast number of citizens who describe themselves as moderates, but whose views on the issues are identical or similar to those that have historically been deemed liberal.
Oh my.
As blogger Miniver Cheevy recalled, this isn't the first time we've seen this sort of disappointment from Hinderacker, although he's now extended his disappointment to the people at large, not just the GOP:
Saturday, November 26, 2005
An Observation From Highpockets
by digby
[The following was from Hinderacker as his hero Bush began to disappoint him.]
For reasons I don't fully understand, there is something about "leaders," especially self-appointed leaders, and most especially those who are drawn to intensive participation in organizations, that tends toward liberalism. We see this in politics all the time, of course: it is one thing to vote for conservatism, something else entirely to get it from our elected leaders.
All of which makes me especially thankful, this year, for democracy, limited government and free enterprise: the best measures yet devised to protect us from our leaders.
I'm seeing a lot of this lately. Movement conservatives are getting ready to write the history of this era as liberalism once again failing the people. Typically, the conservatives were screwed, as they always are. They must regroup and fight for conservatism, real conservatism, once again. Viva la revolucion!
There is no such thing as a bad conservative. "Conservative" is a magic word that applies to those who are in other conservatives' good graces. Until they aren't. At which point they are liberals.
Get used to the hearing about how the Republicans failed because they weren't true conservatives. Conservatism can never fail. It can only be failed by weak-minded souls who refuse to properly follow its tenets. It's a lot like communism that way.
I think we can all agree that whatever happens the next few years will be the result of liberalism failing America.
Unless, unless ....
Hinderacker, yesterday:
I have been grumbling for a long time that Ronald Reagan was the last politician who made a real effort to teach the principles of conservatism to the American public. Since the 1980s, we have largely been coasting on his legacy. The prevailing assumption has been that America is a center-right country, and if Republican politicians run a good tactical campaign and get their voters to the polls, they will generally win. That strategy no longer works, and conservative politicians need to try much harder not just to appeal to conservative voters, but to help create new ones.
If only the people knew what conservatism was, obviously they would vote for it. Because conservatism can never fail ...
It's probably important to point out that polls have long shown that a majority of Americans favor liberal policies. And a lot of them favor conservative policies, too, depending on the question. What a majority clearly doesn't favor is the ugly, selfish notion that half of their fellow Americans are a bunch of moochers and parasites.
Hinderacker talks about culture but he ought to give some thought to the fact that his philosophy hasn't succeeded in degrading it enough for this sickening display to be acceptable among decent people:
We haven't fallen far enough yet for that to be a majority view. It gives me hope.
But hey guys, keep this up. Someday, I'm sure it will work.
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