Of Liberals and Conservatives

Definitions and Clarifications

As a candidate for US president in 2008, I am dreading that awful moment during a future Q&A session: Someone's going to ask if I'm a Liberal or a Conservative.

(sigh) It's to avoid a stupid question like that that I will refuse all contact with lapdog, mainstream media. However, it will come to pass: Someone, somewhere will ask that question. So I will answer now (though I know that won't stop someone from asking later).

I won't bore you with the definitions of "what is a Conservative vs. what is a Liberal?" - politically speaking. Allow me, instead, to share my thought process:

I definitely consider myself to be a Liberal, in the sense that I am "open-minded." However, as Sergeant Snorkel (of  Beetle Bailey comic-strip fame) once explained [and I paraphrase], "Just because I'm open-minded doesn't mean I have a hole in my head." That about sums up my liberality.

As for the word "conservative," it pushes certain buttons with me. I hear "con" in that word; you know, the kind of con perpetrated by someone who claims to be conservative (and therefore is against big government and big deficits) has no problem with how the GOP is currently running things.

Are rank-and-file conservatives so stupid that they will believe anything said by a pol who calls himself conservative but isn't really? And, no, I'm not trying to be rude - I'm just trying to wake up some real-life, decent, common, ordinary people (like me, in other words, but who happen to identify with "conservative" ideals). To these good people, I say:

"Wake up and smell the coffee. You've got to stop your habit of falling into lock-step every time a so-called conservative leader says ‘fall in.' I admire your loyalty but only so far. You have a right to speak out and make your leaders accountable. Please do so. If you can't do it for yourself, do it for your children."

To me, the word "conservative" conjures up images of turning back the hands of time and reigning in creativity because "we've never done it that way before." I consider myself to be creative, yet I am ever-respectful of the limitations imposed by real life. I hear a lot of talk about the need to re-ignite American creativity and ingenuity (for example, to figure out some new-fangled technology which will spare us from dependence on foreign oil). I would remind conservatives that such genius is not encouraged by people who would say, "We've never done it that way before - so let's not start now!"

A Warning from a Bonafide Conservative

I read an awesome book by Kevin Phillips who was one of the architects of Richard Nixon's first election to the presidency.  Entitled American Theocracy, it has an interesting dedication:

"This book is dedicated to the millions of Republicans, present and lapsed, who have opposed the Bush dynasty and the disenlightenment in the 2000 and 2004 elections."

Mr. Phillips' book is a well-written warning which no patriot (liberal, conservative, or whatever) should ignore. One strong clue lies in this book's complete title:

American Theocracy: The Peril and Politics of Radical Religion, Oil, and Borrowed Money in the 21^st Century.

Even though it was well-written and made to be accessible to a lay audience, I had to re-read (and did so with pleasure) the last section of the book dealing with finance. Like most Americans, economics is not my strong suit. And before anyone beats me up about that ("How can you be president without economic savvy?"), I offer a reminder: Ronald Reagan didn't have a lot of smarts in that area either.

I think of American Theocracy whenever I recall what one of my "conservative" e-mailers wrote to me (as we went back and forth on a couple of issues): "I am a lazy man. Many Americans are lazy in the [sic] respect of politics." I answered by saying: "I urge you to lose your laziness. There's too much at stake for that indulgence."

As I pondered his "lazy man" claim a bit longer, I wish I had added this to my response:

"I'm sure there are a lot of politically lazy Americans out there. Too many, I'm sure. But those same people (I'm equally sure) are very industrious in their workplace. We've got to get beyond political laziness. And that means, among other things, by educating yourself. Yes, I mean you should read a couple of books and claw and scratch your way to (at least) some broad understanding of the issues that threaten our country.

"We can no longer rely on electing a ‘strong man,' hoping he's really strong. We've got to elect leaders who aren't afraid to offer bold policy alternatives with long- as well as short-range features. Just as we demand quality in the goods we buy, we need to demand quality from the candidates who seek our support come election time. But if we're not savvy enough to know quality when we see it, we'll damn ourselves to the sound-bite artists who seek to manipulate us."

Steven Searle for U.S. President in 2008

I am the only candidate with a contract: "You wouldn't sell your house without a contract; why give your vote away?"

http://www.BestPartyAvailable.org/

bpa_cinc@yahoo.com