by: the Common Constitutionalist
Have you noticed we conservatives complain a lot? It’s not as if we aren’t justified. Just look around at the country, the world. Progressivism, statism running rampant, affecting every facet of our lives. We do have plenty to complain about.
We see “The American Way” being eroded to the point where it is unrecognizable, although when you think about it, have any of us really seen or experienced the “American Way”? Not really – not even close. At least, not as the founders had envisioned.
Yet here we are. We get together virtually every day to lament a lost vision and discuss our disappointments. We don’t merely disseminate information; we air our disappointment in someone or something.
People like John McCain and Lindsey Graham consistently frustrate us, although I’m not sure why anymore. It would be more of a shock if either ever uttered anything conservative.
No, I’m talking about those we thought conservative but turned out to have fooled us completely or come out supporting something we firmly oppose. Those who give us pause and we say, “Gee, I really thought he was a conservative”, or at least conservative enough to support.
I recall that George W. Bush had us all fooled. He said all the right things back during the 2000 campaign. I remember hearing and saying myself, “Oh, he’s not his dad. He’s much more conservative”. Guess he fooled us!
Commentators like Bill O’Reilly, columnists like George Will and Bill Kristol and those like Karl Rove all were/are presented as conservatives and are most certainly not.
But maybe it’s not them. Maybe it’s us. We, or at least I am much more knowledgeable now than just a few short years ago. Maybe we/I just didn’t understand enough to recognize a statist. Frankly, I believe that’s it.
Folks like Ann Coulter’s ex-boyfriend Chris Christie was always a big fat progressive. We just weren’t educated enough to see.
Now it seems we’re hyper educated. We can spot a statist from a mile away and we see it everywhere.
And this is why I believe we shower attention on anyone who appears to display the slightest conservative bent or who utters a conservative phrase. We are desperate.
Look at the attention and praise received by Rand Paul’s filibuster. And why? Because there are so few of those incidences that they jump out at us.
It is usually the opposite occurrence. Remember how we felt when golden boy Marco Rubio came out in favor of the amnesty bill. We felt betrayed, right? We were.
It’s because we are all so starved for real conservatives that we jump on any bandwagon that at first blush appears to be, only to be disappointed most times.
I guess people like Ted Cruz and Mike Lee should be happy about this, in an odd sort of way. With such limited choices, it’s a slam-dunk who we will support if either chooses to seek higher office.
Progressive Republicans and Marxist Democrats will have a much tougher decision whom to get behind, for all their candidates are virtually the same. Pick your poison.
So let’s try not to be too jaded. Let’s put the pedal to the metal in support of who appears to be a true conservative and remember that it’s okay to admit, “I was wrong about him or her” and move on.