by: the Common Constitutionalist
If you’re a member of the Tea Party or are simply a conservative, no doubt you’ve heard the following: Oh you idealists – you have to live in the real world. You must be more pragmatic. You have to be willing to occasionally compromise and those we elect must understand that they will have to work with the Democrats at some point to build bipartisan coalitions… wait for it… “To Get Things Done”.
Well, “getting things done” can mean different of things to different people.
To us conservatives, getting things done means cutting the size of government – I mean slashing it like Warren G Harding and Calvin Coolidge did. It means cutting government spending. I mean really cutting – not just a slight decrease of a massive spending increase (baseline budgeting).
It also means doing what is necessary to save the Republic in the face of a real or perceived public backlash (mostly perceived).
Yes, I understand that occasionally one has to compromise, but compromise shouldn’t be synonymous with surrender. What we have in the Republican leadership of both the House and Senate is just that – two halves of the Republican surrender coalition.
So, once again, I must do what I hoped I would never have to – strongly disagree with one of my heroes, Dr. Thomas Sowell.
In his recent article, “Facts and Factions” he is, in effect, defending and supporting the Republican establishment and doing so out of what I can only describe as fear.
Sowell quotes the late Sen. Patrick Moynihan: “You are entitled to your own opinion, but not your own facts”. I certainly agree with that.
Dr. Sowell then points out that “we are at a crucial point in the history of America, and perhaps approaching the point of no return”. I can’t argue with that either.
He explains up with three more years of Obama – “we must win back the Senate in order to rein in the lawless Obama administration”. Agreed, mostly.
So why on earth would he be so strongly supportive of the spineless but devious Mitch McConnell – the other half of the surrender coalition who lies about being conservative just long enough to win his primary?
McConnell has never demonstrated his willingness to make the tough choices. What proof can Dr. Sowell show us to placate our fears that McConnell won’t just roll over and surrender to Obama and the mainstream media the establishment fears? I can tell you, true conservatives will not.
Case in point: Without a strong conservative coalition in the House, John Boehner and Mitch McConnell would have already rammed through the “Amnesty” bill.
Why is it that he and others believe that only the establishment can “win the day”?
Dr. Sowell writes: “those Republicans who seem ready to jeopardize their own party’s chances of winning these two crucial elections [2014 and 2016] by following a rule-or-ruin fight against fellow Republicans may claim to be following their ideals. But headstrong self-righteousness is not idealism, and it is seldom a way to advance any cause.”
Rule or ruin? Honestly? Who are the ones running vicious attack ads? The Rove led establishment Republicans against their conservative challengers. That’s who! We don’t see that vitriol aimed at the Democrats. No, we conservatives are enemy number one.
And, fellow Republicans? They aren’t fellow Republicans. They are big government progressives.
The establishment Republicans can and do give away the store to the Democrats in the name of compromise, but won’t give an inch to the conservatives.
Recent history has proven that the Republican base will turn out and the right (conservative) candidates can and do win. With the support of the party, conservatives can win the day and start the process of getting our country back.
It’s the establishment who refuse to support conservatives and work harder to defeat them than the Democrats.
If we win the Senate back with the McConnells, Grahams and McCains in charge, we will have simply switched from a jet to a bullet train ride to our demise.
I’m sorry Dr. Sowell, but again it pains me to say that, in my opinion, you’re wrong about this.