― G.K. Chesterton, What’s Wrong with the World
Conservatism has not been tried and found wanting. It has been found difficult, and left untried.
To say I am disappointed in the Growth and Opportunity report out of the RNC hardly captures my feelings. I am so frustrated with the establishment and their dismissive attitude toward conservatives of every stripe. Further, most of our elected officials today are far too comfortable with big government, special interests and philosophical pragmatism, thus allowing them to rationalize away common sense and principles for political expediency.
I do not think we accomplish a single thing if we are Democrat-lite. The conservative movement needs a vision, mission, goals, objectives and tasks outlined in a manifesto or road map that stretches our thinking to a point at least one generation into the future. As the Constitution charges us in the preamble, we must secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity. We need leaders who are not going to be afraid to stick their heads above the berm–those who are willing to expose themselves for the good of the nation. This constant frenzy of activity to stay on the Beltway Cocktail circuit speaks volumes about where we are as a party and a movement. Time to start being confrontational with those who think they are in charge. Time to step up and challenge them. Time to start working on what is best for the Republic.
Based on what we have seen out of the GOP, we ought to be insulted and embarrassed that the party has fallen to this level. The way ahead is easy to see but will be difficult to accomplish. I am not advocating a third party or anything like that. I am advocating an aggressive campaign to bring conservatism to all who will benefit from conservative policies. If we do that, the Republican Party will be filled with those who will embrace the Founding and who will want to be part of what makes this nation exceptional. I hope you will join me in advancing conservatism in the face of such strong headwinds.
And for those who are willing to trade liberty for security, know that they soon will have neither. Let me know what you think and what you are doing.
Photo Credit: Victoria Pickering via Flickr (CC-By-NC-ND 2.0)