by Smitty
And by misses I mean thoroughly rejects (emphasis original):
Moreover, the “brilliant” Meghan McCain — daughter of “Lord of the TARP” John McCain — has taken every opportunity to deride conservative women and social issues.
McCain said, “I consider myself a progressive Republican. I am liberal on social issues. And I think that the party is at a place where social issues shouldn’t be the issues that define the party.”
Recently, I heard the same rallying cry to hose down “extreme” conservative viewpoints at a conference. The male attendee — one markedly dumbfounded by conservatism at this conservative conference — bemoaned how Michele Bachmann and Rick Santorum, along with social issues, are “too extreme” for the Republican Party.
The horror, the horror!
The question beckons: Who are these people to chide conservatives for holding their beliefs? Why must political expediency — not principles — be the sole path to winning elections?
Read the whole interesting thing. To answer the fine question, I would say that compromise is tactical and that principles are strategic. When you talk to people who are serious about campaigning, and Stacy has boxed my ears on this point multiple times, you have to understand that if war is The Father of Us All
The more ‘nanny’ the state, the more ‘Crazy Cat Lady’ the outlook. And by that, I mean the more that the simple, common sense virtues of conservativism are punted in favor of wanton emotional appeal.
Consider Chincoteague:
In a new plan to deal with beach erosion and prepare for sea-level rise, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposed changes that the mayor, the chamber of commerce and homeowners say would eventually drive away summer tourism and drive down the economy that depends on it.
What would a heavyweight conservative thinker like Maggy Mac say about the genius of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife service attacking the Commonwealth of Virginia? (emphasis mine)
“I ask our generation to demand better,” said McCain. “By bringing civility back to politics, we will be bringing back respect, tolerance and goodwill.”
McCain said she holds an “amalgam of beliefs” and believes that breaking out of extreme partisanship is essential for the future of both Republicans and Democrats.
McCain said she believes in both strong national defense and climate change and is “determined to pass marriage equality in this country.”
“I have a cross tattooed on my wrist to remind me of my faith,” McCain said. She doesn’t believe being gay is a sin and noted that “the straight, white male is not the face of America anymore.”
You see Gabby, this notion of starting from any invariant principles and applying those principles to life is all backward. We have to embrace the notion that wise experts at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service somehow know better, despite the news that anthropogenic globalclimate warmingchange, like the rest of the Progressive project, stands revealed as a giant, steaming crock of. . .oatmeal.
And social issues like drugs and abortion are just another case of Maggie Is Right. We should welcome our new Priests of Baal just as much as we scoff at the notion of ideological purity (read: common sense).
Don’t let this here internet thingy fool you, Gabby. Just because you think you have access to better information does not mean you can reject the ‘wisdom’ of the self-appointed elite. They may be incompetent, Hoffman, but they’re all we’ve got, to hear them tell it. And Progressivism may suck, but time only moves forward, and that means our political ideas cannot look back, even if the ideas we reject were relatively superior to the dog’s breakfast currently before us.
via Gabby on Twitter
by Goldberg is to politics. In many ways, EP offers a different angle on a broader slice of the history covered by LF, though Hicks is less explicitely partisan than Goldberg. Then again, the PoMo crowd mostly speaks for itself.
.
— but some things are just better the old-fashioned way. IYKWIMAITYD.
