Mood:
don't askNow Playing: Accuradio.com
Topic: Braveheart Conservatives
So, the worst has come to pass and the Republican Party has decided to nominate John McCain for its presidential candidate. What can I say? Quite frankly, with the nomination of McCain, I suspect the GOP has put a pistol to its collective head and is preparing to pull the trigger.
Despite the furious efforts of the Republican spin machine, McCain is not a conservative leader in any sense whatsoever. And while he likes to tout his “lifetime American Conservative Union rating of 82%,” the fact of the matter is that the last time he was rated by the ACU, in 2006, he came in at a dismal 65%, making him the 39th most conservative senator in a senate not exactly overflowing with conservative leadership. In other words, he really had to work overtime to place so low when the competition is largely comprised of fellow weak-kneed Republicans!
John McCain has authored some of the most harmful legislation in contemporary US history. First there was his unprecedented assault on the First Amendment known as McCain-Feingold, signed into law by often domestically-hapless President Bush. Not content with wrecking political speech, he then attacked our domestic security with McCain-Kennedy, an illegal immigration amnesty bill so outrageous that I have heard tell that even some “migrant workers” were too embarrassed to embrace it. And now, with one eye on the presidency, he has deigned to wreck out economy with McCain-Lieberman, an environmental bill that is the American intellectual heir to the disastrous Kyoto Accords.
Wow, such examples of “conservative leadership”! Who could ask for better bona fides of his “Reagan-revolution foot soldier” status!
If only his sorry record ended there. Let’s not forget his putting together of the “Gang of 14,” whereby he went behind the back of Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist to link arms with some of the most liberal Senate Democrats and Republicans to ensure that the unconstitutional filibustering of judicial nominees would not be put to a timely death. And who could forget his “Reagan-esque” approach to taxation when he voted against both of President Bush’s tax cuts not because of spending, as he now claims, but because they favored the wealthy? McCain also opposed drilling much needed crude in Alaska, once again siding with his environmental extremist Democrat compatriots.
“But Scott, he will be so much more reliable on the War on Terror than any Dem nominee!” Good point. I did forget the fact that he bravely stood with 97 other senators to support The Surge. Wow! What political courage! Hmm…I wonder how he would have voted if the tally was different, say 50 against The Surge? Perhaps his decision to link arms - yet again - with his Democrat pals (are you sensing a pattern here?) and put forth what Mark Levin has termed “The Al Qaida Bill of Rights” is a clue? I wonder what type of courage it took to grant terrorist thugs legal protection the likes of which have never be enjoyed by illegal combatants anywhere in the world. Not content to stop there, he then also began to vociferously argue for the closing of Gitmo.
On second thought, are you so sure that McCain can be trusted with the war?
Judges! He must be good on conservative judges! Wait…didn’t he remark that he didn’t care for Justice Alito because “he wore his conservatism on his sleeve”? Now, of course, McCain denies he ever said such a thing, but Bob Novak has unearthed what he most definitely did say:
“I found what McCain could not remember: a private, informal chat with conservative Republican lawyers shortly after he announced his candidacy in April 2007. I talked to two lawyers who were present whom I have known for years and who have never misled me….They gave me nearly identical accounts, as follows:
‘Wouldn’t it be great if you get a chance to name somebody like Roberts and Alito?” one lawyer commented. McCain replied, “Well, certainly Roberts.’ Jaws were described as dropping. My sources cannot remember exactly what McCain said next, but their recollection is that he described Alito as too conservative.”
How did we conservatives ever get along without the likes of John McCain?
John McCain is no conservative. In fact, it is an outrageous insult to Conservatives (with a capital ‘C’) everywhere for him to expropriate the hallowed label that real conservatives have labored so long to make a cornerstone of American politics. McCain is the antithesis of conservatism. Contrary to what he and his minions believe, Conservatives are not gullible; we know a hawk from a handsaw whichever way the political winds blow and that is what’s driving his campaign to marginalize the Conservative vote by replacing it with, what else?, moderate Dems, Reps, and confused independents.
“But what are we going to do?” many have asked. Alas, I don’t have an answer. I know some friends who have no intentions of voting for a president this year. Others will vote for McCain in a forlorn hope of an acceptable McCain presidency. I am content to let each search their hearts as to what the best policy is; this is not something that is arguable. Decide for yourself.
Truth be told, this whole situation reminds me of that great Conservative film, Braveheart. In many ways, the modern Republican Party is akin to Fourteenth Century Scotland. The GOP leadership, analogous to the Scottish nobles, is more concerned about squabbling for political power than fighting for their supposed ideals of freedom from big, intrusive government. Their oft-repeated cry of “Pro Libertate!” has proven to be little more than rhetoric that is easily squelched in backroom political strategizing crafted to deliver a political victory at any cost. In Braveheart, William Wallace, facing a similar situation, chastises the Scottish nobles:
“There is a difference between us. You think the people of this country exist to provide you with position. I think your position exists to provide the people with freedom. And I go to make sure they have it.”
In many ways, I find Wallace to be the Ronald Reagan or Newt Gingrich of the American Conservative cause - a man of uncompromising principle. He cares not for public adulation or titles; he only cares for promoting his ideals of liberty for his beloved nation. Unfortunately for Wallace, his noble contemporaries find such ideals as little more than an annoyance in their quest to achieve their practical political goals:
Robert the Bruce: This Wallace... he doesn't even have a knighthood. But he fights with passion and he inspires.
Robert's Father: And you wish to charge off and fight as he did, eh? [Robert nods slightly] So would I, eh?
Robert the Bruce: Well, maybe it's time.
Robert's Father: It is time... to survive. You're the seventeenth Robert Bruce. The sixteen before you passed you land and title because they didn't charge in. Call a meeting of the nobles.
Robert the Bruce: They do nothing but talk.
Robert's Father: Rightly so. They're as rich in English titles and lands as they are in Scottish, just as we are. You admire this man, this William Wallace. Uncompromising men are easy to admire. He has courage; so does a dog. But it is exactly the ability to compromise that makes a man noble.
Alas, little has changed. With McCain’s growing momentum, we now hear declarations that Reaganism is no more, that such steadfast Conservative leadership is “once in a lifetime” and hence, little more than a passing fancy. Uncompromising Conservatism is an aberration; the compromising politics of a John McCain is the new standard. Our GOP nobles, rich in Washingtonian titles and lands, have no stomach for a fight of principle, they simply want to survive.
William Wallace warns Robert the Bruce about the unwise pursuit of compromising politics:
“Now tell me, what does that mean to be noble? Your title gives you claim to the throne of our country, but men don't follow titles, they follow courage. Now our people know you. Noble, and common, they respect you. And if you would just lead them to freedom, they'd follow you. And so would I.”
Unfortunately, this year, it looks like Conservatives have no one to follow into battle; no reason to hold our standards high. Regardless of who wins the presidency in November, we will need to follow the “Highlander Way” and continue the fight as small bands of dedicated rebels, achieving what victories we may in the name of Conservatism. Anticipating treason from within and hostility from without, we will nonetheless keep the flame alight for our next William Wallace.
