sokpupet
Active member
- Joined
- Sep 16, 2010
- Messages
- 252
- Reaction score
- 81
- Location
- In your heart.
- Gender
- Female
- Political Leaning
- Centrist
~snip
Rest of article @ Link
This is pretty spot on.
I have recently realized why I find the Tea Party phenomenon so grating. I have always believed that conservatism means not only a certain set of political views but also (and perhaps even primarily) a certain disposition (and there’s a meaningful distinction between a “conservative” and a “man of the right”). Long before I was old enough to form any political opinions, I was already temperamentally and aesthetically conservative. So right from the start I felt at home in the conservative movement. On the other hand, besides my views on weighty issues like fiscal and foreign policy, there are plenty of other reasons why I could never become a liberal. I get nauseous whenever I catch a glimpse of Oprah. I loathe touchy-feelyness (especially of the “let’s do it for the children!” kind). I hate victimhood and whining. I despise the lefties who stage rowdy demonstrations and/or protest in silly costumes (e.g. dressed as polar bears). Having actually lived in a totalitarian society, I resent when anything outside the proper scope of politics (e.g. arts, entertainment, lifestyle choices, recreation, sex etc.) gets politicized. I detest ideological conformity and intolerance. I abhor demonizing the opponents and questioning their motives instead of addressing the substance of their arguments. I abominate any kind of class struggle, pitting one group against another, dividing America in two (as in my former senator’s “Two Americas” speech).
Conservatives are normally the exact opposite of the liberals on all these counts, and that’s precisely what made me feel comfortable among them. I like cold rational calculation and even a certain mean streak inherent in conservatism. I like a no-nonsense attitude and the vibe of maturity and adulthood. The thing I admire most about Dick Cheney is that he was one of just four House members who refused to join the stampede to ban mythical plastic guns which ostensibly cannot be detected by metal detectors and X-rays – but in fact cannot even exist since it is technically impossible to make a gun without any metal parts. My favorite conservative hero is, of course, Ronald Reagan, who was constantly called an amiable dunce and worse by the media but always remained cheerful and optimistic (as well as deadly effective in front of a camera) and kept telling self-deprecating jokes. I liked it that Bill Buckley was willing to debate just about anybody, since I believe any rational argument can and should be engaged on the merits, no matter how repugnant the argument’s proponent may be as a person (after all, proving in a court of law that David Irving’s historical claims were fraudulent had a much more devastating effect on him than repeated denunciations of him as a Hitler sympathizer).
Rest of article @ Link
This is pretty spot on.