The Death of Conservatism, Part 2

What do you get when 55 rich white landowners gather to form a more perfect union, establish justice and ensure 
domestic tranquility? A system that to this day protects the interests of the very rich! One of the main reasons George Washington was chosen as the first president was because he was in fact the richest man in the country (from hemp farming among other things) and was expected to protect the interests of the elite.

This entailed slavery, not empowering women, defining Native Americans as savages, blacks as barely human, and ensuring that only landowners could vote. Suppression of the poor and 
disenfranchised was endemic to the system. To this day (particularly) the so-called Supreme Court has consistently ruled in favor of corporate interests and against the individual in case after case. They've also ruled against affirmative action -- ignoring years of systemic racism that still exists to a disturbing degree. Several members of the current High Court are aggressively (and some would say heartlessly) determined to further empower the powerful and diminish -- and in some cases ridicule -- the rights of the people. We the People.

To be continued...

Comments

[ShamRockNRoll]

You need to read up on your history... There were plenty of rich men who could have been the first president if that was one of the "main reasons" Washington was chosen.

Washington was picked for a whole host of reasons, particularly how he led our armed forces to victory in the Revolution when he did not have all the support he should from the delegates from various states... He was known for his character, and exceptional service to his country, and was actually reluctant in taking the position.

I agree with the sentiment of this post, but when you say ignorant things like that, you weaken your argument.

[hiprogloho]

So true. The brethren of our so-called forefathers escaped religious persecution in England only to settle an oligarchy in the west and enslave and holocaust millions of African and Native Americans along the way. No doubt they conceived a vision of utopia only for the white well to do. But back in the day they also stuck their necks out in seditious proclamations and fought alongside the common man in the street for what its worth.

The major difference today is that this same Federalist mentality threatens our national identity and soverignty via golden rule and bottom line corruption. Whereas US pioneers sold the hypocrisy of freedom only for the rich, today robber baron leaders pretend they're outsourcing freedom when they're really selling our ecomony out from under our feet.

To make an analogy, the elitists of early America lost their liberty in the old country, raped the new world and called it freedom. On the other hand, latter day NeoCon patriots wish to make perpetual war, abuse our very livelihoods and balkanize the Americas into a huge slave wage state. Meanwhile, they live in safe, gated communities while they destroy the middle class backbone of this country and call it a new world order.

Disorder is more like it. Stay tuned...

[texastornado]

GWB and Lon Cheney and the rest of the cronies in Congress (both parties) and the supreme court are NOT CONSERVATIVES, THEY ARE LIBERAL.They are Very,Very Very Liberal with our tax dollars that they are spending (three billion a day) in Iraq , to Hiliburton,Bectal,Private Armies, three billion to four billion dollars to Isreal every year and on and on and on. They keep borrowing money from China and give tax breaks to their rich friends and who do you think they are expecting to pay for all this DEBT? you and me and our children and grandchildren. We have a Government of Career Millionairs for Millionairs. On top of all this when they claim that they are against taxes is a bunch of bullshit. We don't really own anything. We have to pay property tax forever,county tax,school tax,unconstitutional income tax,we pay for medic-care and medic-aid,car license and registration every year, sales tax, road tax through gasoline purchases and on and on. On top of that we pay for liability insurance to drive a car, health insurance to see a doctor,mortgage insurance to purchase a home,and on and on. You also have to pay interest on money borrowed from a bank for mortgage,car purchase,credit cards,student loans, and on and on. Whether they are called taxes or insurance or interest it's still money out of your pocket and in my book it's TAXES. Every Department thay they have created ie. Department of Defense,Department of education,department of transportation,All the bureaus like the FBI,CIA,NSA,FAA,NIA,ETC is paid with taxpayer dollars. I haven't even touched the budget deficit and the trillions of dollars of the National Debt. Something like thirteen trillion dollars. One trillion is a thousand billion dollars. One billion is a thousand million dollars. At $5.50 to $7.50 minimum wage it's pretty hard to make ends meet to also have to pay for food,clothing,gas and electric,gasoline,school supplies,rent or mortgage,phone plus the rest of the bills. Consevative my ass.

[backhandpath]

Lon Chaney would not have soiled his bib on Dick, even for breadfast!

[Roger4]

The word evil is so EVIL. Religion is not the issue nor is politics. We are flawed because we are human. We all think we know what is best. Which is fine as long as we are willing to discuss issues and compromise. However, we have lost our way because too many of us know more about TV and movie actors or sports figures and not enough about domestic and foreign issues. We are influenced by sound bites and appearances but not by content, and we have become more rigid in our beliefs. Even these blogs don't really provide a discussion. Many times, as the postings grow longer, the comments become more hostile and take on a "yeah, me too" quality. Botttomline, think about yourself in the way JFK said it. What can you/we do for our country? What can we do besides blog?

[littleblackcat]

We can begin by attending town meetings and seeing how the political process works at our local level. I attended this week and there were exactly two people there who did not have something to discuss pertinent to themselves. We can also e-mail people like Keith Olbermann, who is in a position to speak out loudly against the fools and criminals who have so completely infiltrated our government, and tell them to skip the damned spotlights on Paris Hilton (I don't give a damn about her "runway walk" out of jail) and Britney Speers' latest fiasco. The occasional funny or weird bit is fine but real news should be the focus of 51 of his 56 minutes. Political correctness needs to go by the boards. I'm sick of not hearing plain speech. If someone is a liar, call them that. If gonzales "cannot recall" someone should ask straight up if he (gonzo) doesn't think he should resign because he is too stupid to hold such a position? When two people testify as to the content and intent of a confrontation and a spin is attempted to deny the truth, just tell whoever is spinning they are a damned liar and have done. E-mail every Senator and Congressperson, tell them to get rid of bushco, let them know that paper-trail voting is all we will accept, stop pandering to that criminal cheney, and tell us the truth. Let the media know we want to hear from people like Richardson and Kucinich, not just Obama and Clinton. Let the same media know that we don't really give a damn about how much Edwards' haircuts cost and that we are sick of what has already been shoved down our throats, that the only two running for Dem. nominee are Clinton & Obama. The others have plenty of ideas, they just need a bit of room to talk and have the spotlight on them for a change. We allowed ourselves to be taken into this war and now we are allowing ourselves to be told who we will vote for. Sheeple indeed.

[Roger4]

littleblackcat, I certainly agree with your comments and wish that the next person who read these blogs also read yours; I am not sure that happens very often. We are all saying what we don't like and not enough of us are reading other comments, not enough are taking action. My actions so far are to email my Senators and Representatives, and occasionally other people. If we don't speak out to our leaders, then they will not know our opinions. Blogging alone will not do it.

[backhandpath]

Frank Dwyer gave us all permission to use his letter to his representative (see Huff post) and send it to our own congressional delegations.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/frank-dwyer/the-urgency-of-impeachmen_b_64508.html

[NoFactsJustTruth]

A nail being hit on the head comes to mind, Mr. B, there's little doubt the 'powers that be' practice their racist supremacy even today...only from a little deeper within their closets.

Indeed, we still see inequities in drug, voting and tax laws TODAY that are designed to keep down persons of color in OUR country. Things have improved in my lifetime, but are yet a long ways from the promise.

Mandatory crack sentencing laws, for example, were passed by CONgress long AFTER the Civil Rights Act. But, they're laws that punish inner-city people of color far harsher because their cocaine is packaged differently from white suburbia. NOT more potent NOR more addictive than powdered cocaine (white man's myth) that is prefered by white men, greater mandatory prison sentencing for 'crack' IS WHACK!

Thanks for hangin' with us, Mr. B, it is greatly appreciated.

[Pneumaticus]

Sounding the death knell of conservatism in this country is a little premature unless two main streets are sudddenly burned to the ground -- Wall and K -- in a little targeted global warming.

[opines]

American conservatism remains the haven of bigots so the death knell claim is premature. Bigotry has been an American constant.

If it hadn't been for the Civil War, slavery would still exist in the South. It was a way of life for which white southerners still profess nostalgia. Racist militias and KKK organizations would restore slavery if they could. Anti black winking and nodding is the reason GWB carried every southern State.

Anti black bigotry is alive and well in this nation. Hatred of 'liberals' has allowed the bigots to masquerade as conservatives.

[Podewumun]

Opines? OH, PLEASE??????????????!!!!!!!!!!!
I bet you're one of those dolts who believes that Harold Ford, Jr. lost the Tennessee Senatorial race in '06 because Southerners just refuse to elect A NEGRO! Gawd......
It couldn't have had a thing to do with the fact that he leaned almost as far to the right as his GOP opponent, Corker.
Sorry, dear, but Rahm Emmanuel's (head of the 'win at any cost' neo-lib Dems) strategy of foisting second-rate 'boxed lunch' candidates off on us will never win anyone in the South back to the Democratic Party.
And in that regard, I'd like to think we're pretty much like every other card-carrying Democrat in the U.S. of A.!

[woodsywizz]

"...targeted global warming." How felicitous!

[bobdevo]

As Thomas Pynchon points out in Mason & Dixon, the American Revolution was a scam cooked up by real estate speculators, including George Washington. Washington had surveyed the lands west of the Alleghenies (as far as the Youghegheny River at least) and knew there were fortunes to be made. King George, however, had signed a treaty with the Indian Nations agreeing Britain would not settle west of the Alleghenies, and the King planned to abide by the treaty.

When colonialist fortune hunters pushed beyond that point, the Brits refused to provide military cover. (See, Delcaration of Independence: "he has refused to protect us from the Depradations of the Savages").

One of the ways the fledgling revolution gained adherents was by promising those willing to turn against the Crown rich rewards in land if the revolution was successful.

The Western Reserve, the Firelands, the Ohio Company were examples of how land belonging to Native Americans was given to rebels when the Brits were defeated.

[Podewumun]

Sorry to be a stickler for details, BUT...
if you're going to reference the DOI, get the damn quote correct, please.
"He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavored to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes, and conditions."
This is one document that should always be quoted VERBATIM, and NEVER paraphrased.
What are you, a MSM "journalist"?????????

[NYDamien]

That's it, head over heals!

[iansforest]

Thanks Richard for the blog entry, I think you're on to something there and I'd like to see you write something about the corporations that own the Democrats and the Republicans alike! It's almost like corporate America RUNS American politicians. They're the one's pulling the strings in todays politics!

Saw you on Bill Maher by the way you were great!

[guajiro]

Sure would like to see Richard delve into the corporation issue more myself. Again, he's on point by saying the constitution protects those 55 guys. Whiteness is not a prerequisite for being protected by the constitution, being rich is. What is the main purpose of the corporation but to "hide" immense wealth from legal claims? This legal lie benefits no one but the wealthy. To add insult to injury, corporations can bribe our public officials, Republicans and Democrats alike, under the guise of "free speech".

[budalla]

I suppose the real test of our political evolution and our ingenuity is to take the benefits these 55 wealthy founders gave themselves and apply them to all citizens of this country.

We have been systematically stripping out what is old and considered morally reprehensible, such as slavery, etc.

Sometimes we screw it up. Sometimes we get it right. But we don't throw out the entire Constitution simply because parts of it offend us. We tried to band together and tweak it here and correct their and, if we're lucky, our country grows stronger for our participation and our adherence to its basic framework.

I suppose the biggest problem with the Constitution lies in the belief that we can safely and wisely choose our own representatives and leaders. For our system to work we must believe that most of the time we will choose wisely because we must always reserved for ourselves the right to choose.

Unfortunately, politicians have and always will have the ability to pull the wool over our eyes, to sell us that pig in a poke.

The last poke we bought had Cheney, Gonzalez, and Iraq in it, and we are all suffering from the consequences of that.

I cannot emphasize enough the importance of participating in the electoral process. In the last two presidential elections I encountered far more people than I care to believe that somehow thought that because they believed the system was broken they had no responsibility to participate in vote. In 2000 it is estimated that if those people who considered themselves Democrats and also believed that the system was broken had actually voted we would not have Bush in office today.

Blame the Constitution for our screwy system. Blame the Bush administration for many things wrong today. But don't forget to blame ourselves as well for not standing up and letting our voices be heard when it really mattered.

[backhandpath]

Voting? You have got to be kidding right? Who will count these votes?

[Podewumun]

Wasn't it Joeseph Stalin who said, "It doesn't matter who votes, what matters is WHO COUNTS the votes."?

[DemandTruth]

I'm glad to see this acknowledged in such a straightforward way. The fact is that I do really love this country, and America is much better in many ways than many other places.

However, America has done some pretty nasty things to her citizens and others over the years. All the freedoms we espouse (yes, even Republicans too - "they" hate us for those freedoms, right?) were hard fought and hard won from "the Man".

America didn't just GIVE blacks and women the right to vote, blacks and women had to DEMAND, FIGHT and DIE for those rights.

America is great, but we're not perfect. We never have been and I think it would serve us very well to get off our high moral horses and be really honest about how America treats and has always treated her own and others.

[Kansas Evans]

I couldn't have said it better!

[Roger4]

Very well stated.

[Killer]

Rodger that.

[Podewumun]

We might do well to start by spitting on the ground at Bush's feet every time he utters that idiotic mantra of his - "MURKA's THE GREATEST NASHUN ON ARTH!".

[NYDamien]

Mz P, I think I'm falling in love.

[dsbsh]

Well said. Al Franken had a good take on this as well: Conservatives (not all, but the 30%ers) love America the way a 4-year-old loves her mommy; mommy is perfect, don't you dare criticize mommy. We love America like a grown-up; we love her despite her faults, and we want her to do better.

[kindofblue]

Yeah, but, given that patrician history, it's even more incredible that transcendently beautiful documuments like the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were written. They had no precedent then and were astonishing leaps of (secular!) faith. Just imagine the spiritual courage it took to try and build a new form of government against the most powerful empire on the planet.

[givemycountryback]

I am not a historian by any stretch of the word, but I have read quite a lot about our founding fathers. To me they are my heroes for what they accomplished. They were also aware of the elephant in the room, slavery, and they knew that eventually it would have to be addressed. But at the time, they were trying to put together a new country and it never would have been possible without the southern land owners. It was the lesser of two evils. George Washington freed his slaves and never felt it was right. They left it for future generations to handle. It was just a miracle that the revolution succeeded at all, bit it would not have without the French that we like to smirk at now. But I do like your post most of the time. I just don't think we should dishonor the founders by comparing them to the crooks and deviants in the repug party now.

[NYDamien]

Thank you.
Take what you can now. Move ahead, and keep fighting for more. Bill Clinton did it for eight years, and we found out that even with a virulent Anti-American Republican Congress, it could be done.
But first we have to win.

[backhandpath]

Win what, the next election? Like we won the one in 2000?

[Sons]

Give Back,

You know some history. Good and accurate statement by you.

Much of the comment here is wild - made by folks with too few historical facts (or none) at their disposal.

They use their few facts to try to sound informed about the Founders, but disprove this in their mostly emotional remarks.

Good for you and your accurate comments.

[Jjc2006]

Well, Abigail Adams did try to get John to get the others to think about the fact that they were going to still deny rights to women and Negroes...
she wrote and asked him how they could say they were going to fight for freedom while leaving others out.

I wonder how much John discussed those things with the likes of Ben Franklin, Thomas Jefferson and others. Would love to have been a fly on the wall at the The Tavern in Philadelphia while they dined and drank.

I am guessing some of them knew she was right but also knew it would take time to educate the populace to those things. I wonder if they knew if would take SO LONG...and that even over 200 years later women and Negroes would still be fighting for rights and justice and fair representation.

[dsbsh]

The sad thing is for all the obvious flaws in our founding, and the fact that people like Adams, Jefferson, Madison, Franklin (still quite probably the wisest, most intelligent political leader in American history) were admittedly imperfect, we haven't really seen their likes since. And the way our current system distorts political debate, can you imagine what would be done to any of them by today's media?

[Qbear]

Lincoln and FDR rivaled any of the founders as excellent presidents. Each faced the challenges of their times with Courage and Strength. Neither of them were perfect, but they held the Nation together.

btw, George Washinton, Lincoln, and Eleanor Roosevelt all played for MY team, and none of them would have been able to openly serve in our current military....HA!

[jeskiley]

To be continued, let's hope...

Individual states form, each fighting to either include or exclude slavery. Decent men, and not so decent men committed to raising a nation. Mistakes were made, victories were had, can we find a vision that serves us all? We the people.

[CatfishJohn]

We are hurtling towards a plutocracy through the bushco zeitgeist via the technology of the computer which serves as this agenda's "terrible swift sword" ,as opposed to the previous century's far more incremental gains in individual wealth. A Hillary agenda ( aka "Corporate Lite" ) vs . any Conservative Republican agenda ( i.e. "Corporate Right" ) in the '08 election will make that as self-evident as the deluge of corporate profits in the context of no gain for the average worker being seen right now...but alas, Brittany's coemback is underway, Rosie's in another personality feud and that old rascal OJ is back in the news and this is what we must be attentive to, the corporate media keeps telling me...

[backhandpath]

We be hur'lin alright.