America Is Conservative

A recent state-by-state Gallup poll shows that, in every single one of the 50 states, most Americans identify themselves as politically conservative. So how is it that we've ended up with more left-wing liberals in Washington than at any other time in this nation’s history?

The only possible answer is that most of those conservatives stayed home on Election Day because there wasn’t a conservative to vote for. It seems to me that this is an excellent opportunity for a certain political party if it's intelligent enough to take advantage of the situation.

I won’t be holding my breath.

Here’s the Gallup poll and article, mysteriously titled “Conservative Label Prevails in the South” when the poll itself reveals that the conservative label prevails, period.

Related: Powerline - Conservative Nation
Related: NewsBusters - Conservatives Outnumber Liberals

Right-Wing College Group Riles Campuses

From FOXNews.com

A student group that bills itself as "America's right wing youth movement" focused on countering radical multiculturism, socialism and mass immigration is causing a stir on a growing number of college campuses across the country.

The conservative political group Youth for Western Civilization is currently organized on at least seven university campuses. According to its Web site, the group hopes to inspire Western youth on the "basis of pride in their American and Western heritage," counter and ultimately defeat "leftism on campus" and create a social movement in which a right-wing subculture is an alternative to what it calls a "poisonous and bigoted" campus climate.

"A great part of college is definitely meeting people of different backgrounds, but a multicultural ideology teaches that we should appreciate things just because they're different from our culture with no regards to the quality of the culture and that all cultures are inherently equal," said Trevor Williams, president of YWC's Vanderbilt chapter. "I absolutely disagree."

Of course they're being accussed of hate speech and racism by their fellow students.

"Western is a veiled term that means white," University of North Carolina graduate student Tyler Oakley wrote in an e-mail to FOXNews.com. "I believe that our democracy is strong enough to allow extreme forms of speech, but YWC's message is essentially a negative one, an assault on not being white or non-Western, and is therefore hateful, if not blatant hate speech."

Finally, real campus radicals. Added to the conservative links page.

Read More: Right-Wing College Group Riles Campuses Nationwide
Their Website: Youth for Western Civilization

Memo to Susan Roesgen

Conservatives and Capitalism existed long before FOXNews.

Where do you think that money came from? The Government only has the money it takes from the American Tax Payer. It's was our money to begin with! Get a clue girl.

Related: Who Pays Corporate Taxes?

Tea Party Protest

"They've had enough of Democrats forcing taxpayers to pick up the tab for more wasteful spending instead of working together to make the tough fiscal decisions Americans are forced to make each and every day. They've had enough of seeing their hard-earned tax dollars wasted on pork-barrel spending that won't create jobs, rebuild their savings, or get our economy moving again. And they've had enough of Congress and the White House mortgaging our children and grandchildren's future by saddling them with mountains of debt destined to bankrupt our country." - House Republican Leader John Boehner

Read More: Anti-Tax 'Tea Party' Protesters Turn Out in U.S. Cities

Jesus or John Galt?

From Capitalism Magazine

In the aftermath of the substantial Democratic victory in last November’s election, Republicans nationwide are reported to be doing a great deal of “soul searching.” Indeed they should. After all, times are not looking good for the Republican Party. Former President Bush left office with record-low support, and both houses of Congress, along with the White House, are now solidly Democratic. Michael Steele, a former lieutenant governor and recently elected chairman of the Republican National Committee, attributed the Republican loss in the last election to a lack of understanding of what the party stood for. In his words, “We didn’t have anything to say to the American people other than, ‘We’re not Democrats.’” Saxby Chambliss, the newly re-elected Republican senator from Georgia, has echoed Steele, calling on the party to return to its principles.

But what principles are those? Historically, the political philosophy of the Republican Party has been an amalgam of advocacy for small government and capitalism, combined with support for religion and traditional values. The more capitalist element of the party tends to concern itself primarily with economic policy, traditionally supporting less government spending, lower taxes and deregulation. By contrast, the religionist element of the party tends to focus on social policy. It is the driving force behind Republican support for increasing the role of religion in public life, the repeal of Roe v. Wade, and various attempts to ban gay marriage.

But the line between economic and social policies has become increasingly blurred. Though the capitalist and religionist elements have each tried to grant the other autonomy within its own area of interest, the differences in their fundamental principles have resulted in conflicting policy approaches. Most religionists, for example, don’t seem to have a problem with the growth of the welfare state, as long as faith-based initiatives get a piece of the pie (as they did in the case of the Bush Administration’s “social service grants” for religious organizations, which handed out $2.2 billion in one year alone). The capitalist Republicans, on the other hand, tend to advocate for reducing government programs and handouts. A reduction in welfare recipients, for example, was a key ingredient of the Republican Party platform in the mid-90s.

Read More: Jesus Christ or John Galt? The Republican Party's Identity Crisis.

Liberty and Tyranny

The modern liberal assault on the Constitution has steadily snowballed since President Roosevelt's New Deal and resulted in a federal government that is a massive, unaccountable conglomerate.

The time for re-enforcing the intellectual and practical case for conservatism is now. Conservative beliefs in individual freedoms stand for liberty for all Americans, while liberal dictates lead to the breakdown of civilized society - in short, tyranny. Looking back to look to the future, Levin writes "conservatism is the antidote to tyranny precisely because its principles are our founding principles."

In a series of powerful essays, Mark Levin lays out how conservatives can counter the liberal corrosion that has filtered into every timely issue affecting our daily lives, from the economy to health care, global warming, immigration, and more -- and illustrates how change, as seen through the conservative lens, is always prudent, and always an enhancement to individual freedom.

Read More: Liberty and Tyranny

Feeding Lions

Paul A. Ibbetson has a new book out, Feeding Lions: Sharing the Conservative Philosophy in a Politically Hostile World.

Here's Amazon's editorial review...

Feeding Lions is a book that comes clean on just why conservatives and liberals can't get in the same room without a fight breaking out. Using a healthy dose of heartland humor, the author takes readers on a journey of discovery that will anger liberals and awaken the dormant conservative who sleeps in the majority of the nation. This book avoids reams and reams of boring statistics and gets down to business right away by laying out the fundamentals of conservatism and why they fall in diametric opposition to liberalism. The goal for this book is quality, not quantity, and each page is full of serious intellectual analysis on the battle being waged for the hearts and minds in this country, and why conservative views MUST win the day.

Sounds pretty good. I just heard about the book today so I haven't read it yet, but I know I will. I hear it's a quick and fun read. That's how I like'em.

Paul is also the author of Living Under The Patriot Act: Educating A Society.His website is here.

CPAC Highlights

Here are some of my favorite moments from the Conservative Political Action Conference.

Niger Innis of CORE gave a rousing speech. I wish there was some video, but I couldn't find anything.

I really enjoyed Ann McElhinney and Phelim McAleer's presentation of their new film "Not Evil Just Wrong." It's a hard look at what environmentalism has cost the world. They cover the full gamut from the ban on DDT to global climate change.

And then there was Rush, the man that doesn't need a last name. You've probably heard what the MSM has to say about his appearance but I think Jim Blazsik put it best with this post.

If you want to measure how effective a person is in communicating conservatism, you watch for three things:

1) The reaction of dedicated conservatives - need I say more?
2) The reaction of the liberal media - freaked. The more liberals whipped themselves up into a frenzy, the more threatened they feel. Just look at what they did to Sarah Palin. They have a hard time with ideas, instead of just having a "message."
3) The reaction of wimp Republicans - embarrassing. Michael Steele insulted conservatives and of course Rush Limbaugh - he better clean this up quickly.

Read his entire post here…

You can, and should, watch Rush's speech here…

My Name is Bruce Kelly, and I hope Barrack Obama Fails.

CPAC

The Conservative Political Action Conference is underway and you can watch via the Fox News Live Stream.

Fairness, Idealism and Other Atrocities

By P.J. O'Rourke

I've been a fan of P.J. O'Rourke since his National Lampoon days (yeah I'm that old). Here's his commencement speech to America.

Well, here you are at your college graduation. And I know what you're thinking: "Gimme the sheepskin and get me outta here!" But not so fast. First you have to listen to a commencement speech.

Don't moan. I'm not going to "pass the wisdom of one generation down to the next." I'm a member of the 1960s generation. We didn't have any wisdom.

We were the moron generation. We were the generation that believed we could stop the Vietnam War by growing our hair long and dressing like circus clowns. We believed drugs would change everything -- which they did, for John Belushi. We believed in free love. Yes, the love was free, but we paid a high price for the sex.

My generation spoiled everything for you. It has always been the special prerogative of young people to look and act weird and shock grown-ups. But my generation exhausted the Earth's resources of the weird. Weird clothes -- we wore them. Weird beards -- we grew them. Weird words and phrases -- we said them. So, when it came your turn to be original and look and act weird, all you had left was to tattoo your faces and pierce your tongues. Ouch. That must have hurt. I apologize.

So now, it's my job to give you advice. But I'm thinking: You're finishing 16 years of education, and you've heard all the conventional good advice you can stand. So, let me offer some relief:

1. Go out and make a bunch of money!

Here we are living in the world's most prosperous country, surrounded by all the comforts, conveniences and security that money can provide. Yet no American political, intellectual or cultural leader ever says to young people, "Go out and make a bunch of money." Instead, they tell you that money can't buy happiness. Maybe, but money can rent it.

There's nothing the matter with honest moneymaking. Wealth is not a pizza, where if I have too many slices you have to eat the Domino's box. In a free society, with the rule of law and property rights, no one loses when someone else gets rich.

2. Don't be an idealist!

Don't chain yourself to a redwood tree. Instead, be a corporate lawyer and make $500,000 a year. No matter how much you cheat the IRS, you'll still end up paying $100,000 in property, sales and excise taxes. That's $100,000 to schools, sewers, roads, firefighters and police. You'll be doing good for society. Does chaining yourself to a redwood tree do society $100,000 worth of good?

Idealists are also bullies. The idealist says, "I care more about the redwood trees than you do. I care so much I can't eat. I can't sleep. It broke up my marriage. And because I care more than you do, I'm a better person. And because I'm the better person, I have the right to boss you around."

Get a pair of bolt cutters and liberate that tree.

Who does more for the redwoods and society anyway -- the guy chained to a tree or the guy who founds the "Green Travel Redwood Tree-Hug Tour Company" and makes a million by turning redwoods into a tourist destination, a valuable resource that people will pay just to go look at?

So make your contribution by getting rich. Don't be an idealist.

3. Get politically uninvolved!

All politics stink. Even democracy stinks. Imagine if our clothes were selected by the majority of shoppers, which would be teenage girls. I'd be standing here with my bellybutton exposed. Imagine deciding the dinner menu by family secret ballot. I've got three kids and three dogs in my family. We'd be eating Froot Loops and rotten meat.

But let me make a distinction between politics and politicians. Some people are under the misapprehension that all politicians stink. Impeach George W. Bush, and everything will be fine. Nab Ted Kennedy on a DUI, and the nation's problems will be solved.

But the problem isn't politicians -- it's politics. Politics won't allow for the truth. And we can't blame the politicians for that. Imagine what even a little truth would sound like on today's campaign trail:

"No, I can't fix public education. The problem isn't the teachers unions or a lack of funding for salaries, vouchers or more computer equipment The problem is your kids!"

4. Forget about fairness!

We all get confused about the contradictory messages that life and politics send.

Life sends the message, "I'd better not be poor. I'd better get rich. I'd better make more money than other people." Meanwhile, politics sends us the message, "Some people make more money than others. Some are rich while others are poor. We'd better close that 'income disparity gap.' It's not fair!"

Well, I am here to advocate for unfairness. I've got a 10-year-old at home. She's always saying, "That's not fair." When she says this, I say, "Honey, you're cute. That's not fair. Your family is pretty well off. That's not fair. You were born in America. That's not fair. Darling, you had better pray to God that things don't start getting fair for you." What we need is more income, even if it means a bigger income disparity gap.

5. Be a religious extremist!

So, avoid politics if you can. But if you absolutely cannot resist, read the Bible for political advice -- even if you're a Buddhist, atheist or whatever. Don't get me wrong, I am not one of those people who believes that God is involved in politics. On the contrary. Observe politics in this country. Observe politics around the world. Observe politics through history. Does it look like God's involved?

The Bible is very clear about one thing: Using politics to create fairness is a sin. Observe the Tenth Commandment. The first nine commandments concern theological principles and social law: Thou shalt not make graven images, steal, kill, et cetera. Fair enough. But then there's the tenth: "Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything that is thy neighbor's."

Here are God's basic rules about how we should live, a brief list of sacred obligations and solemn moral precepts. And, right at the end of it we read, "Don't envy your buddy because he has an ox or a donkey." Why did that make the top 10? Why would God, with just 10 things to tell Moses, include jealousy about livestock?

Well, think about how important this commandment is to a community, to a nation, to a democracy. If you want a mule, if you want a pot roast, if you want a cleaning lady, don't whine about what the people across the street have. Get rich and get your own.

Now, one last thing:

6. Don't listen to your elders!

After all, if the old person standing up here actually knew anything worth telling, he'd be charging you for it.

P.J. O'Rourke, a correspondent for the Weekly Standard, is the author of "Parliment Of Whores"

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