It does not pay to be a modern, American conservative these days. It seems as though we are lumped in with Adolph Hitler and possibly even Satin himself. Images of hillbillies, half-witted country folk and mean-spirited white supremacists are conjured up to whip liberals into a divisive frenzy. Everything that has gone wrong in the world has been a result of right-winged treachery…whereas everything that has gone right with the universe is directly attributable to some liberal, left-winged policy. Only scholars and aristocracy comprise the left, whereas only the uneducated inhabit the dark reassesses of conservatism. Those who espouse patriotism are considered jingoists and akin to an unwitting child expressing his often misplaced love for his mother. Liberals of course are the mature adults of our society whose love is a more mature, responsible… an adult-kind of love. The problem with this analogy is that it can be turned around quite effectively to state that Liberals are like spoiled children who constantly question their parents and always think they know better… only to find out that when they venture into the real world, they often are found crying for mother when they get in trouble. That has been the case in this society for some time: liberal-minded policy is often trouble. Seldom does the ideal match the real world. Teachers and professors who often deal in ideals are quite liberal-minded… back to the adage those who can’t do tech. Surely it is nice to give something to someone else, it is far better to talk then fight, it is a far cry better to negotiate than to take… however the realities are quite different on the ground. It is for this reason that liberals can not handle war.
All war is based on deception and seldom do things seems as they are. Liberals have difficulty with realities… or only realities which differ from the ideal. World politics during peacetime is war without arms… where deception is still the key. The liberal establishment spent decades gutting the intelligence capabilities of this country out of fear for their precious civil rights. Senator Torricelli put fourth a bill which forbids the use of unsavory characters in intelligence gathering. Cuts in budgets were commonplace and an attempt to abolish the CIA altogether was attempted. Liberals spent decades degrading our intelligence gathering capabilities for irrational fears of a police state emerging. Now we wonder why our guesses about our adversaries were so sketchy and why we have been deceived on so many occasions. That is what countries do and that is definitely what our enemies do… they deceive us. That is a fine example of liberal-minded policy really screwing up this country.
The problem as I see it is that there is an Axis of evil out there and for every axis, there is a fulcrum. That point of contact is France and Russia. They are not our friends and never have been. We have been fooling ourselves in thinking that any of them were. Modern times bring with them the knowledge of Nuclear Weapons technology and weapons of mass destruction. Every self-respecting enemy of ours or Israel is working feverishly on acquiring that technology. France, Russia and in some part Germany are actively assisting that effort as a naive attempt to counter our supremacy and keep us off balance. The sad facts are that eventually someone… somewhere will get one into this country and set one off. When that happens, then we are thrust into Armageddon and then all freedoms shall be rescinded… enter the police state.
Consider that a few hard choices now can minimize the risk in the future. A few common-sense precautions can lessen the chance of a complete dismantling of our civil rights in the future. A few well placed preemptions can abate the need to deal with nuclear-armed nutcases in the future. It’s a horrible choice but the alternative is to do nothing and hope that the crazies in the Middle East cool off and forget about wanting to destroy us an all… That could happen… Not! The only thing that France, Russia and Germany are purchasing with their treachery is time… if you help an alligator find other prey, he may eat you last, but eat you he will.
Many hold that our energies would best be spent dismantling the sources of animosity in the world. Boarders, Language, nationalism, socio-economic disparity and religion are the primary instigators of conflict. This school of thought believes that minimizing the disparities in the world will minimize the animosity in the world. Reducing or eliminating the animosity in the world will prevent conflict.
There is another school of thought, which believes that national, cultural and economic sovereignty is inexorable to self-actualization and is an inalienable right of all people on earth. That other nations have a duty to their people to create an environment, in which, provides a venue for their national sense of self-actualization. That when failed nations directly threaten our own national interests, that we are inclined to remove the threat. That strength of will and might shall stand guard against despots and demagogues and discourage our detractors. It shall provide a positive good in the world to be mimicked. It shall serve as a beacon of freedom to the oppressed. Conflict will be prevented by our strength and animosity of nations shall be thwarted by their own labors… in the beam which our freedoms cast upon them.
**Note: I recognized a bit of Lincoln in that last paragraph:
“Property is the fruit of labor…property is desirable…is a positive good in the world. That some should be rich shows that others may become rich, and hence is just encouragement to industry and enterprise. Let not him who is houseless pull down the house of another; but let him labor diligently and build one for himself, thus by example assuring that his own shall be safe from violence when built.”
The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln edited by Roy P. Basler, Volume VII, “Reply to New York Workingmen’s Democratic Republican Association” (March 21, 1864), pp. 259-260.
