The Ranting of a Conservatarian

Let me just start off that these are my opinions and no one else’s.   And I am not trying to convince you to agree with me 100%   But this is going to be a rant about the current affairs of what is left of the Conservative Movement / Tea Party or the right side of the aisle.

First off , if you know me, I am usually an easy going laid back person.   And really I have no idea how I got involved so much in politics as much as I am now.   I started out commenting on blogs, when they were really called Weblogs on Blogger many moons ago around the time of W’s first run as President.  I followed politics, but was not a political junky I am now.   I listened to Rush since around ’94 or so, thanks to one of my brothers telling me about him.   I was pretty much apolitical around that time or just followed politics to know who to vote for.

My family has people from the far left of the political spectrum to the far Right/Libertarian and everything in between.  We do not talk much of politics when we are all together, but we do have some debates.   But we all leave still on friendly terms.   And also some are more political junkies than others.

So now we are in 2012, damn reminds me of the Dead Kennedys “Now it is 1984″  but I digress.   I am a political junky and have been for a while.   Most of my friends around me are Democrats and we talk politics , but not as much as the debates I have online.   They are mostly Blue Dog Democrats , or really more Conservative that they think, but I live in one of the Bluest of Blue counties in the Socialist State of Chicago (IL).

As the title says this is a rant of a Conservatarian.    What is a Conservatarian?   Well, I do not think there is any one definition of it.  But for me, I am Conservative and also Libertarian.   A Libertarian leaning Conservative.  Hence Conservatarian

Now that that is out of the way, it is time to rant about the BS and insanity I see all over the right side of the Blogosphere.  Or should I say the Mental Masturbation of the search for the True Conservative.  During the Primaries for the GOP this past year, we had the big circular firing squad that left the right in shambles.   We were left with Mitt Romney.   Not my first second or third choice.   But hey, that is what we were left with.    In the primaries I vote for the most conservative or closest to me and vote Republican in the General.

But with the ashes of all the insanity that was the Primaries and the total Debacles (Debates), there was hurt feelings and total chaos on the right side.  I just wanted to hibernate and let someone tell me when the BS was over and we elected the next President.   But being the political junky I am, I stayed with it and tried to help Mitt anyway I could.   As the campaign went along , the more I actually liked Mittens.   Was he the next Reagan?   NO.  But he was saying all the right things.

But as with the primaries, the circular firing squads continued and we had Gary Johnson move over as the Libertarian candidate for the President.   Many thought that Mitt was just as bad as the WON, so they voted for Johnson.  I respect that people vote their conscience and voted for Johnson.  But at what cost?   Johnson got the most votes for the Libertarian Part ever, but it even half of them voted for Mitt, Mitt could have won.   But I digress, that is over and really no one can prove that Mittens could have won or if Johnson took those votes away from Mitt.

But to my Libertarian friends and many others.    There is a difference in what is called Political Philosophy and what the practice of Politics is in the real world.  Sure Philosophy is needed and should go into who you vote for.  But the game of politics is not black and white and there are many turns along the way.  There is a time to be the Ideologue and there is time to be political.   There is a big difference.

The Ideologue is those that think up the philosophy of politics.  But politics is the art of persuading the most to vote for you.  And while in office compromising and getting the most of your philosophy passed in legislation.   That may mean bending or compromising some of your philosophy.   And usually the base gets upset at this, but to get anything done you have to compromise or you will just bang your head up against the wall continuously.

Then we also got the Religious Right that many on the Libertarian side get upset with.  Me included.  This is not that I think Social issues should be thrown under the bus, or that Religious people should not be in politics.   But the Social Conservatives need to find a way to express their views without looking like outdated relics.   Using the Bible or God Said So, is not going to change the minds of those that are not religious or not as religious as you would want them to be.  As with my Libertarian brethren, you may need to compromise to get what you want in the long run.

I do not want this to be a rant to say, STFU and go along with what the elites in DC want.   That is not what I am trying to do here.   I am wanting the circular firing squads to stop.   The My Dick is Bigger than Yours attitude by some in the Conservative Movement rubs me the wrong way.   The ” I am the only True Conservative” and everyone else is a RINO crap has got to stop.   Politics is not a game of who can stroke my ego the most gets my vote.   If that is what you want, you will be let down every time and will be upset for a long long time.

Why am I doing this??    I am one that thinks the GOP and the Conservative Movement needs to be the Big Tent.   That does not mean I want it to be more Moderate and go the left.  Far from it.   But I also do not want it to be the Movement or the Party of the White Christian only.    We need to find ways to bring people of all walks of life into the Movement and the Party. I do not care if you are Black, White, Asian, Martian, Gay, Lesbian, or whatever.   If you want to fight against the Far Left in the Democrat Party, I want you on my side.

Look , I think that many of us on the Right have taken the Rugged Individual too far in a way.  I do not think that we should be sheep like the Left in the Democrat Party, but also we must not divide ourselves so far that we can not agree on some main issues to go after the Far Left.   We have to remember who the true enemy is.   It is not the Libertarian, or the Christian Conservative, it is the Socialists that have taken over the Democrat Party.

We may never agree 100% on everything, but I think a majority of us can agree on about 70%-80% of the issues.  And agree to disagree on some issues.   That does not mean that you need to abandon any issues you hold front and center, but I think that the denigration of those that do not hold the same issues as you must stop.  But also we must debate these issues we do not agree on also.   I think that a majority of them , there is common ground.  Some may see it more as a Social issue, but others will see it more of a Fiscal issue.   The 2 may come from different places but end up with the same outcome.

Ok end of rant.    Now form a circle and start firing  

I know the Grammarnazis will have a hay day with this post but oh well.