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When Conservatives aren’t and Liberals are illiberal what’s left? A vicious ‘center’ growing?

Some have called it polarization, under a view that this is new. It is not new, and we had a good view of factionalism and its results from about 1836-1860.

Barry Goldwater, whose principled but damaging opposition to the civil rights act of 1964 actually set the criterion for claimed conservative, but in objective terms actually NON CONSERVATIVE, so called ‘social value’ republicanism.

“I am a conservative Republican, but I believe in democracy and the separation of church and state. The conservative movement is founded on the simple tenet that people have the right to live life as they please as long as they don’t hurt anyone else in the process.”
“I don’t have any respect for the Religious Right.”
“Every good Christian should line up and kick Jerry Falwell’s ass.”

In case you are wondering about the context of the last quote…

When Sandra Day O’Connor was nominated to the Supreme Court in 1981, some Religious Right leaders suspected she might be too moderate on abortion and other social concerns. Moral Majority founder Jerry Falwell told the news media that “every good Christian should be concerned.” Replied Goldwater, “Every good Christian should line up and kick Jerry Falwell’s ass.”

Likewise through the looking glass…. a claimed member of Ted Kennedy’s staff once told me that “Lieberman is a spineless war criminal”. What would that make Hubert Humphrey? Or Henry Jackson?

OR FDR, who btw is in writing citing that public workers, those who work for any govt, have no right to unions/striking since theirs is a special employment and undertaking.

What is a LIBERAL?

He is a man who ran for Congress in 1940, joined the army as soon as we were attacked, and returned to serve in Congress only when FDR demanded Congressmen serve where they were elected or resign. He visited Buchenwald a few days after it was liberated. He supported nuclear deterrence so strongly that in 1958 faced a primary challenge from the left as a democrat. He has THE strongest record of support for civil rights, and the legislation it spawned both in 1957 and 1964. In 1974, he sponsored the Jackson-Vanik amendment in the Senate (with Charles Vanik sponsoring it in the House) which denied normal trade relations to certain countries with non-market economies that restricted the freedom of emigration. I think we could objectively say based on Apple that would make it CHINA. But that would be INCONVENIENT.

Today these values are derided as neoconservative fascism by those who name themselves liberal, much as Goldwater is derided as some kind of elder warped crank for opposing those who name themselves ‘conservative’ but supported the government intervening to claim ownership of the individual named Terry Schiavo. Hello Mr. Santorum, Mr. Dobson.

There is little room for conservatives who deride the values and effects of propounding legislative action based on faith.

There is NO ROOM AT ALL on the other side for those who will not hew directly to the line of so called liberals, but whose intolerant progressivism is so illiberal that the man with the 3rd most liberal domestic voting record in the senate cannot be a liberal democrat.

This is PRECISELY what James Madison warned about.

I am not one who believes that compromise must be an end in itself, thus my thoughts on debt and spending. Which is to say, what might be considered a fair compromise will not solve the problem. However, it is the spirit of compromise, achievable in most efforts, which defines the principle behind those moments when one side says on THIS issue we cannot achieve it.

It is that spirit which is completely missing today and results in the departure of people such as Ben Nelson and Olympia Snowe.

We are in real trouble when each side regards the actions of the other wondering if it is just some stratagem in a process which is evil.

Solution of this requires REAL leadership.

You see anyone?

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