Reply #13: Conservative vs. Right Wing [View All]

There is a difference. A sober conservative really has more in common with a liberal Democrat than with the yuppie fascists in the Bush junta. The rule of law is important to a conservative; law is something to be trampled on for the right wing. A conservative believes in fiscal responsibility. Taxes should be as low as possible and government programs should get results; frankly, as a progressive, I don't disagree with that in principle. However, a right winger wants to bankrupt government in order to make it difficult or impossible to fund government programs, even some that are necessary or worthwhile; we're not just talking about some welfare program that might actually be dubious, but about funding public education. Consequently, instead of fiscal repsonsibility, the right wing pushes irresponsible tax cuts.

This isn't to say that sober conservatives and liberals and progressives see eye-to-eye on everything. That's nonsense. However, these different people can at least talk about issues like when are taxes too high and when is a specific government program being ineffective.

There can be no such dialog with Grover Norquist or Tom DeLay or John Ashcroft. What we have with them is an ideology that stands outside the traditions of American democracy.

Granted, for reasons that are mostly practical, conservatives have made an alliance with the right wing. The right wing offered them lower taxes and a more favorable business climate than some liberals would offer. However, the right wing threatens all of us. The bastardized use of the September 11 attacks to erode civil liberties, bankrupt the government and start colonial wars that have nothing to do with the pronounced aims of the conflict is something that should concern everybody who has read the Federalist Papers and who feels the words of the Bill of Rights flowing in his veins. It is time for conservatives to reconsider their alliance with the far right.

Consequently, we should invite real conservatives to join us in the quest to depose the Bush junta. We can go back to discussing our differences civilly afterwards. For now, we have a common foe who would take away our freedom and our right to choose our leaders and our representatives. We should unite and defeat the enemy that is the Bush junta.