The Death of Conservatism

The heartless, spiritually bankrupt intellectual frauds who openly court -- and are disturbingly non-judgmental of -- the most intolerant loathsome elements of the political landscape (who for some unconscionable reason have been consulted about virtually everything our government has been doing or undoing for the past six plus agonizing years) -- these are the fruits of a particular strain of conservative idealogues with a shared affinity for the Hobbesian view of humanity, which postulates that people are essentially evil and the role of the ruling class, the government, was to have a standing army and police presence and little else. Essentially that the "people" were totally on their own, frontier-style with no public services, healthcare, college grants, headstart, maintenance of roads and bridges, public defenders, job training programs, Medicare, Medicaid; you get the picture.

Also violently opposed to the Jeffersonian assertion that people were basically good and part of a government's function is to engender the conditions where life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness are possible through education, hard work and a sense of community, whereas conservatives have only contempt for the notion of a fair playing field.

Conservatism is in its last throes if you will, twisting in the wind, dying like communism did because neither philosophy works by definition -- they both operate from the fraudulent premise built around contempt for and control of the people.

In the coming months and years history will not absolve them. These multimillionaire radio and television personalities who stoke and taunt "Joe Sixpack" with cleverly and sometimes not-so hate speech, railing about the danger of gays taking over and turning everything and everyone gay; Hollywood liberals seem to be among the most evil people since Sodom and Gomorrah, African-Americans are attacked in veiled terms that are usually not as veiled as they think, playing on people's fear of losing their job, demonizing foreigners seemingly from everywhere, scoffing at the notion that there is no class system in this country. All the while looking down on rubes and suckers who vote against things that are in their self interest and very survival to help further a cynical, mean-spirited political movement that has become a dangerous parody of the most astoundingly inept, impotent bully wannabes who can count among them physical and intellectual cowards who knowingly and smugly perpetrate lies that have literally cost untold lives.
How did this legendarily generous and open nation become fearful, distrustful, anxious and worried about our families, our country, our future?

We must resist being manipulated into thinking that a so-called "war on terror" is "winnable"; this is as patently impossible as trying to empty a river with your hat. Terrorism is a tactic, not a country -- there always were terrorists and will always be. This is not a war that can be "won" in the conventional sense -- that is clearly an impossibility. Recent events have shown that good police work can do more than an ill-conceived war that has become a recruiting tool. The sooner it ends, the recruits diminish and the police, with the federal government's support, can do what they are trained to do.

The Department of Homeland Security was a totally unnecessary boondoggle that is redundant and sadly ludicrous because it is now known that prior to 9/11, all the information we needed to anticipate and probably prevent the attack was in existence but not shared by different agencies because of turf battles and rivalries for funding and boys with secrets out of control and not sharing because it's their secrets.

As we continue to watch conservatism devour itself we can all hope that in the end, Jefferson's dream of fair governance can be realized before it is too late.

To be continued

-- Richard Belzer

Comments

[milo9]

I wish they were done. But as long as they control the broadcast media they will be able to tell any lie, no matter how patently false, that will boost their chances of rising from the ashes.

And of course the Dems will do their part. Once they have power they will proceed to alienate the vast American middle with the same extraneous issues that had reduced them to a minority party in the past.

My guess, the Dems E ride will end 2012.

[InsaneDisabled]

Your average Joe on the street just DOESN'T WANT TO PAY MORE TAXES!!!! He doesn't realize he pays more for taxes -- in the form of higher prices for gas, drugs, home loans, etc. Oh yeah, and his job is going to someone in China next week. . . .

Is the message really that complicated? You don't need statistics; just show New Orleans!

But there is a problem with Jeffersonian democracy -- it requires that the people be attentive. If Americans were attentive, we wouldn't be in the mess we're in now. I don't have a solution -- unless we do what the terrorists and conservatives have done, and scare the bejesus out of them.

[suki21693]

Don't forget the future taxes to pay off the war that His majesty has fought on our credit.

[Clavis]

What are our reasonable options, in a culture that (at present) has disdain and contempt for reason, education and temperance? It's hard to say, but it's at least some comfort that we've got Richard Belzer on our side.

Your decades of work are much appreciated. Keep fighting the good fight, brother!

[eShirl]

Great! (But some of the unconventional sentence structure presented a bit of brief difficulty­.)

[Desiderata]

sentences should be no longer than the margins otherwise use commas semi-colons whole colons and other pauses both gentle and hard because paragraphs are designed for sentences not a single sentence as a means of helping the brain absorb complexity in a world that is too often reduced to simpleminded sound bites captions and images.

Example: Belzer rules!

[Tiny Demon]

People that obsess on punctuation,usually don't have anything more relevant to contribute as has been proven in your case.

[KenTao]

Nice one, Richard! From your lips to Goddess's ears.

Earthlings Unite!

[Lentinel]

You are confusing conservatism and the current government.
There is nothing conservative about the "patriot act". It destroys the constitution. It was voted for by democrats as well as the republicans. It was voted for by Obama as well as Clinton.

It is more a question of those who feel that we should be governed by a small group of people or by a democracy.

The republicans may be on the way out, but with people like Obama and Clinton in the wings to replace them I do not hope for much to change with respect to our quality of life.

[nuQlerOstrich]

Obama won his first term as Senator in 2004.

Two years after The [Un]Patriot Act.
Just setting the record straight.

There's One Candidate in each party who stands for the restoration of Constitutional government.

If you say you want change and vote for any of the others then you're lying. Or fooling yourself.

[Titus]

Richard, excellent post as usual, but I want to offer a different observation. You've used the word conservatism in your post and I take issue with what you describe as conservatism. Before explaining myself, I'll grant you the people who describe themselves as conservatives in our government today would liekly line up with your description.

However, There were and are Conservatives who genuinely believe in small government, security of liberty (speech, religion, and yes, rights to arms), and limited federal control> People such as Theodore Roosevelt, Everett Dirksen, Barry Goldwater, Bob Dole, and Richard Lugar were and are decent and honorable public servents and our country has been made better as a result of their service.

What you describe as conservatism is what I call corporatism. I think this is the new fascism, and in no way believes in small government and the relinquishment of control to the people. This group of neo-cons, neo-fascists believe solely in a nativist, corporatist view of the world where money talks and those with money talk loudest.

I wish we had Goldwater back today and in the Republican party. I think he'd kick the living horse-crap out of George Bush and Dick Cheyey.

[Plowboy]

Thanks for the clarification. Our author left off three vital letters: N, E, and O.
And those three little letters make a big difference.
I hope that nobody forgets that they also corrupt the issue badly when added to "liberal" to make it part of what happens when added to "conservat­ive."
For example, lying and cheating are not conservative behavior, but definitely Neocon behavior. Protecting our traditions and Constitution are conservative, destroying them seems to be the heart of Neoccon behavior.
The Chinese once had a philosophical movement based on calling things by their right names. That still makes sense.

[oafishcad]

It still seems that ALL conservatives ignore the part of the Constitution that says we "promote the common welfare" Things like Universal Healthcare, or even social security which, contrary to the Conservative lies, pulled the elderly of this country out of the dire poverty that most found themselves in. Maybe no labels should be used, just what programs work and what don't and what things are none of the governments business.

[yorkie]

LET'S HOPE THAT IT'S TRUE AND WE CAN PROGRESS ON TO THE IDEALS OF DEBS,LA FOLLETTE,TAFT,JOHN REED, AND HENRY WALLACE. TIME FOR A TUNE UP AND OVERHAUL OF US POLITICS. BEGIN AGAIN ANEW AMERICA! VOTE PROGRESSIVE IN 'O8 AND BEYOND!

[PonchoAndLefty]

Thank you Richard Belzer. The fundamentals Jefferson espoused were in some part a Universalist based theology. Universalists and Unitarians were the dominant theology at this country's founding. Yes, in those days Liberalism rocked. What we have now is not just a conservative abhorance for the Common Good. We have a very intense push towards an American theocracy, a movement which I also hope is dying of it's own volition. One Nation Under God = Iran

[KYZipster]

I wish I could believe you but it sounds like wishful thinking. Conservatism has failed no doubt but the brain dead populace that has supported the movement since 1980 has not changed. Republicans may see a major setback in 2008 but it won't last long.

The Democratic Party is unable or unwilling to offer any hopeful or effective alternative, they have turned their backs on holding the current criminal administration accountable, they are spineless fools and may actually lose the White House to Thompson in 2008 if they don't snap out of it. The problem is on the left, just look at the last two presidential campaigns, pathetic, and I see signs that the current crop is going to repeat the same mistakes. We have to fight at the grass roots level starting now, electing progressive politicians at the local level.

[Beaux510]

Bravo Richard. Always loved your comedy, actually like this better.

[MSB]

Mr. Belzer,

I have been a fan of your "takes" for quite some time, but where do you get your energy and confidence? It seems to me we are WAY, WAY past the point of validating anything that any conservative in the Republican Party thinks, yet here we are, poised on the brink of another Democratic capitulation regarding war funding. It seems to me that there are very few liberals in government who have the courage of their convictions. Why should we have any confidence that things are getting better when congress-people are more concerned with keeping their cushy offices than in helping the American public?

If the revolution that you describe is coming, I tend to think it will come from the people over the objections of the government. I don't think the government has anything resembling our best interests at heart. The government better take care, history shows that when the public finally gets pissed, it is rarely amenable to negotiation.

[unemployedprogressive]

As long as the system of election financing is biased toward the wealthy corporations, the policies of our country will reflect the will of the corporations and not the will of the people. This finance scandle is the root cause of most major problems in the world. Either get used to it or change it.

[zenx98]

BRAVO!

[rkoenn]

Very accurate analysis. The fundamentals this country was founded on that were so espoused by our brilliant founders, Jefferson, Franklin, et. al., are being destroyed by selfish intellectually challenged individuals brought into power with lies and divisive politics. These are the same people who promised to bridge the partisanship and to practice compassionate conservatism (in their definition cronyism). These are the people that wouldn't go to war themselves but are only too happy to have young people killed by their "idealism" in democracy while tapping phones and throwing people in jail with no due process. What a disgusting stain this administration is on the history of this country. Only 1.5 years to go and hopefully they won't be able to make it worse. Or course Iran does present them with a grand opportunity.

[Angelfirenze]

*laughs* Doesn't it? Don't forget about '...the Korean shop, north of here!'

[TheQuestion]

Could it be "All about the money" ?

[darkwaters]

Thanks, Richard. You are a thinking man's thinking man. As such, would you kindly arrange to take Dennis Miller apart (metaphorically speaking, of course) in a televised debate? I am so sick of his lunk-headed, racist, pseudo-intellectual posing act I could hurl.

As great as you are as an actor, America and the world need a smart, smart-assed comedian who can do justice to the absurdity that is today's vapid and venal political culture.

[KenTao]

Well, we DO have Bill Maher.

[godlessclif]

But can Bill Maher tell you what Pat Benatar is really like?

Love ya! Belz.