For over 230 years now, the United States has travelled the long highway to exceptionalism internationally and abundant
prosperity and freedom at home. Aside from an occasional speed bump, America has
stood tall as the single most important force for progress in the world. Since
1980 American Conservatives have paved onward, expanding the lanes as we've
gone and allowing an ever-growing number of citizens at home and
previously-enslaved people throughout the world to join us on the road to an
even greater future. Today, the end of that pavement lies just ahead in plain
sight. The battle wages before us as we make the choices that will decide
whether we do the hard work needed to extend the highway of progress straight
ahead into a more prosperous, freer future, or whether we will reverse course
and make a sharp left turn onto the old, dusty road leading to regression,
government repression and economic recession.
Unfortunately, those that would move us toward
that leftward path have confiscated the language of politics. We see two
neo-Marxists running for the Democrat Party nomination using a repackaged
version of the ideas that led to the Stalinist/Leninist former Soviet Union. They call their ideas
"progressive" (or secular-progressive when they're feeling slightly
less dishonest). I call them "dangerous."
We see populists on both sides preaching the
same "us versus them" doctrine that has created repressive tyrants
and economic calamity every time it's been carried to its logical end. We see
free market capitalism under attack daily by those who claim to be
"forward-thinking" but whose policies would undermine the very system
that has made America a beacon of hope and progress.
We see junk-scientists lying that this very
progress is killing our planet, and that the only way to turn it around is
to follow the same gameplan the socialists have been peddling for 50 years. We
see a presidential candidate attempting to remake the Republican Party into
some sort of squishy Democrat-Lite Party, audaciously trying to redefine
American Conservatism to make it include himself, as its leader.
It is time for American Conservatives to take
back what rightfully belongs to us, beginning with that language.
In their insightful book, "The
Right Nation: Conservative Power in America," British authors John
Micklethwait and Adrian Wooldridge explain what a rare breed American
Conservatives are. This stems from our unique national history. Most people in
the world who call themselves conservatives preach a stodgy, anti-progress
ideology. Not so with American Conservatives.
As the first nation founded under the belief
that government receives its power from "we the people," American
Conservatives hope to conserve the still-revolutionary ideas of our founders,
including our God-given right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. We
hold fast to freedom from government oppression, cherish our strong private
property rights, favor free markets, low taxation and limited federal
government. Under the language used at the time of our founding, most
Conservative Americans are actually classic liberals. The
socialist/progressives stole that word from us long ago. Barack Obama, who
opposes almost all the items I mentioned above, has been called the "Most Liberal Senator"
of 2007. Talk about change!
As a 33-year old who just graduated with a
degree in journalism, I was surprised to learn that most of my classmates have
no idea why Ronald Reagan stands alone as the most revered and beloved
president in recent history. If they know little about Ronald the Great, they
know even less about Jimmy Carter, and therein lies my mission.
Never in American history were the differences between two successive
presidents more profound, and the results of their policies more easily
recognized than the time period between 1977 and 1988.
Carter's lone term illustrated the disastrous
effects of combining a liberal president with a liberal congress. He was such a
disaster that even the predominately liberal media of the time couldn't
comprehend the havoc he wreaked on this country. Only the creation of the misery index allowed them to accurately
report the depths of despair he led us into, and even that index didn't take
into account America's declining world influence and the expansion of Soviet
allies throughout the world.
Ronald Reagan's policies, and yes his optimism,
turned this nation around. Since his dramatic tax cuts took full effect, America has
realized nearly uninterrupted prosperity. Only his non-believing VP, George HW
Bush (who referred to Reagan's tax cutting plan as "voodoo
economics", failed to extend the prosperity. The supposedly disastrous
economy of today actually ranks as an above average year, based on the misery
index, in the last half-century.
But now we stand poised to throw it all away.
Both Obama and McCain have more in common with Jimmy Carter than with Ronald
Reagan.
This blog will follow the political scene
forward, attempting to encourage debate and to influence where we go from here.
One of the great things about Reagan is that his speeched before becoming
president accurately reflect the way he tried to lead the country while in
office. This is rare indeed. I will apply those ideas to the world we face
today.
At the same time, we will help educate the
newest generation about the greatness of American Conservative ideals. The
nation and the world progress every time they are implemented. I firmly believe
that today's liberalism stands no chance if the battle is waged in full view of
an informed public. Conservatives win on ideas and logic every time.
In all my posts I will look to the words and actions
of my hero, doing my best to answer one question:
"What would Reagan do?"
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