Fine Conservative Principles

Although this blog may seem to betray a liberal slant on my part, I actually consider it to be more or less centrist in its political perspective. Just for the record, here are some conservative principles that I subscribe to:

--Government should pay for itself. If the elected officials legislate into law a particular program, it should be financed without adding to the national debt. One of the essential ways to do this is to raise taxes to bring in the necessary revenue. Today's "conservatives", however, have completely abandoned this common-sense fiscally sound approach to governing. Instead, they propose to diminish, and in some areas, dismantle government itself (an anarchist, not conservative idea).

--It is the responsibility of the federal government to protect this country's borders and citizens from outside threats. I have no qualms with enforcing immigration laws by heavily patrolling the national borders and keeping drug traffickers and their violent society from crossing. But I don't think it is the role of the police to profile people on the streets to decide whether or not to demand proof of their legal status here.

--Also regarding national security, it is the duty of our government to root out enemy threats to us abroad and fight them if necessary. So acted President George W. Bush after 9/11 when he sent U.S. forces to Afghanistan to crush Al-Qaeda and knock their sponsor, the Taliban, out of power there. However, recognizing the value of our soldiers' lives requires being careful about recklessly entering into a prolonged conflict, especially when the country being fought is not a direct threat to America. But the same President Bush violated this wise conservative principle by unilaterally invading Iraq in 2003, and we are still there with way too much sacrificed in terms of casualties and a skyrocketing, unpaid debt of war costs (incurred by a "conservative" administration without even the hint of a tea party revolt in protest).

--Judges should interpret the law, not make it. That refrain, a pretty reasonable one to me, is still being bandied about by conservative politicians who oppose liberal judges for what they say is their judicial activism. But the current Supreme Court has four staunch judicial activists on the political right (Roberts, Scalia, Thomas, and Alito) who have already clearly demonstrated their intention of drastically revising U.S. constitutional interpretations by not only rejecting long-standing precedent in the recent corporate campaign financing case, but also deliberately expanding the scope of that case, originally limited in its application, to make a landmark ruling in collaboration with perennially teetertottering justice Anthony Kennedy. In doing so, they supplanted the legislative process (a.k.a. "legislating from the bench"). Not a very conservative philosophy, I think.

--Conservatives tend to oppose the State legislating morality over the population and instead support personal freedoms, opposing attempts to tell people what foods to eat and further opposing anything remotely resembling gun control. But this should be a general principle and not be only applicable to selected "pet" freedoms that suit the so-called conservative's particular belief system.

So there are a few items that I believe a true conservative would have a different take on than the manufactured, manipulated conservatism that media hacks like Hannity and Limbaugh have pulled over so many people's eyes.

I am trying to be more attentive to conservative viewpoints expressed in the media, although radio shows like Rush Limbaugh, Mark Levin, and Michael Savage tend to go way beyond the pale in their nastiness toward any dissenters. Certain shows on Fox News show some promise, although their so-called "fair and balanced" news presentation irritates me to no end. At least when Beck, O'Reilly, or Hannity are on, they are transparent about their right-wing slant. It's those little smirks and digs against anyone left of far right during the news that I could do without on Fox. However, I resent the crusading tone to Glenn Beck and Sean Hannity, which implies that the political left is the enemy and we must mobilize to fight it (or, as Beck puts it, "Get out the lifeboats"). At least O'Reilly, overbearing bully that he is, tries to inject a degree of levelheadedness and humor to his bias. Maybe I'll just focus on "Bill-O" with Fox until I can train myself to stomach some of the others.