Bill Whittle: Conservatives Don't Believe Their Own Message

[Bailey Guns]

He could be talking directly to many members here. Those people who believe conservatives should change or modify the very beliefs that make them conservative.



Seriously...if:

• you believe abortion is OK or a conservative shouldn't talk about it, you might not be a conservative
• you don't really believe in the free market, you might not be a conservative
• you think same sex marriage is OK, you might not be a conservative
• you think the "rich" don't pay enough in taxes, you might not be a conservative
• you think somebody owes you something because of your race, you might not be a conservative
• you think more government control is the answer to ANY problem, you might not be a conservative

Feel free to add to the list. But I'm really getting tired of people thinking the conservative message or philosophy should be changed because "it upsets others" or whatever the reason might be. It's called conservatism for a reason. Many here accuse republican politicians of being "democrat lite" but then approve of the very things that separate republicans/conservatives from democrats/liberals.

And for the record I agree with everything Whittle said about Mitt Romney. I think he would've been the greatest president since Reagan, at least. Not because he was the perfect conservative, but because he was about as close to perfect in terms of character as we've seen in a long time.

[merl]

/sigh
I am not a republican. I think they are dead wrong on quite a few issues and it is costing them elections, especially here in CO. Unfortunately they are the ones that I think are correct on more issues that directly affect me which means the party that I think is more wrong keeps winning.
Fighting a fight that is already lost may sound good and make you feel better but it is not going to actually get you anything.

[roberth]

I enjoyed the hell out of that, thank you for posting that up.

Guatemalan water snake....LOL

[ZERO THEORY]

Seriously...if:

• you believe abortion is OK or a conservative shouldn't talk about it, you might not be a conservative
• you think same sex marriage is OK, you might not be a conservative

I'm okay with not being a 'conservative'. I don't need to be pigeon-holed any further than I already am. Newsflash: not everyone on a party line is going to feel the exact same way about every single issue. Conservative is a broad term, so to try to assign the label to different paradigms who all typically vote under one umbrella (Republican) is laughable.

I believe in the absolute minimum in government involvement. That means drugs, marriage, abortion, guns, taxes, communications, you name it. I find it really funny how many 'conservatives' claim that they're dedicated to liberty and freedom for all Americans, complain about their rights being restricted, and then want to tell millions of other Americans that they can't exercise their own liberties. These people complain about Christianity being non-PC and oppressed, but want to lambast Islam. They want the right to raise their family their way, but want to ban gay marriage. They say it's a shame that a man can go to war, but can't drink a beer at 18, but want to make a relatively harmless, organic plant illegal.

Freedom is a two-way street. It doesn't stop at Paul Revere's Calvanist ideologues.

[Ridge]

Seriously...if:

• you believe abortion is OK or a conservative shouldn't talk about it, you might not be a conservative
• you think same sex marriage is OK, you might not be a conservative
• you think more government control is the answer to ANY problem, you might not be a conservative including the two above?

You're right, I'm not. I believe in a person's right to decide for themselves what to do with their lives and their body.

[Bailey Guns]

Well, that's the term that gets thrown around. And no one said conservatives can't tolerate other opinions...it's not like conservatives go around and crucify gays or blacks or whatever. There's a big difference between believing something is morally wrong and telling someone they can't do that something. In my opinion conservatives are the truly tolerant where those who tend to lean left are just the opposite...my way or the highway types. And I also don't think it's wrong, for example, for a conservative to say (just for example), "Marriage is between a man and a woman. If two men or women want to live together, fine. They can have the same privileges as everyone else but they don't get married." I see no reason to weaken a tradition that's been in place for thousands of years just for the sake of change.

[Ridge]

Well, that's the term that gets thrown around. And no one said conservatives can't tolerate other opinions...it's not like conservatives go around and crucify gays or blacks or whatever. There's a big difference between believing something is morally wrong and telling someone they can't do that something. In my opinion conservatives are the truly tolerant where those who tend to lean left are just the opposite...my way or the highway types. And I also don't think it's wrong, for example, for a conservative to say (just for example), "Marriage is between a man and a woman. If two men or women want to live together, fine. They can have the same privileges as everyone else but they don't get married." I see no reason to weaken a tradition that's been in place for thousands of years just for the sake of change.

The tradition is plenty weakened by centuries of divorce. The problem might be in your marriage if it's so fragile as to not survive a different person's marriage desire.

[Bailey Guns]

The tradition is plenty weakened by centuries of divorce. The problem might be in your marriage if it's so fragile as to not survive a different person's marriage desire.

I don't think there has been a problem with divorce for centuries. I think that's more of a modern thing. It's a problem, I'll agree. As far as the second part of your statement, I'd say it was nonsense but I have no idea what it means.

[Bailey Guns]

Look, there's nothing wrong with not wanting to call yourself conservative. No one said that. The point is, many people throw that term around here on the forum with all these ideas that run counter to true conservative beliefs so I question if some people understand what it means. If you want to be a liberal or libertarian, fine. That's why I said "might" in the list.

[Aloha_Shooter]

And no one said conservatives can't tolerate other opinions...

To be completely accurate, Democrats say this all the time. Democrats have painted the GOP as a party of intolerance since at least the Reagan Administration (ironic given how Democrats were the mainstay of the KKK and how critical the GOP was for passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965). Democrats have advocated for people to lose their jobs, be thrown out of college, even tossed in jail for opposing or merely not accepting the Democrat party line but it's always conservatives who are painted as intolerant.