Conservatism, Dead by its Own Hand

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Sam Tanenhaus writes for the New York Times and the bias is so overt it boogles the mind. This book is meant to damage the Republican Party. To consider Clinton a Conservative is a joke.

Andrew Gregowicz of IL 11:01PM October 06, 2009

Though Republicanism is damaged, Conservatism is alive and growing.
Don't misinterpret Obama's election as a desire for liberalism or progressivism. On the contrary, it was a signal to the Republicans they blew it by acting like liberals in their spending. Many voted for him to eliminate the vestiges of "racial charges". As I campaigned for state office last year, I heard many say they would vote for Obama to get rascism behind us. That doesn't show liberal or conservative leanings.
As for Palin, she may not be as corrupted with DC politics as the career politicians, but she demonstrates LEADERSHIP, by taking on and cleaning up her own party. We don't necessarily need a policy wonk in charge. We need someone who has a good morale compass, is a good of character, who can inspire, has a great work ethic, and lead by example.

Randy Dutton of WA 6:21PM October 05, 2009

Constitutional conservatives are more accurately understood as strict constructionists. Yet, in today's political discussion, it is most often revisionist Republicans who distort the strict definition of the actual words of the Constitution by claiming, for example, it is merely a "church," rather than "religion," which shall not be established by law or government. However, the wording in the Constitution does not include the word "church." It is a "religious" test which shall not be required as a qualification to any office or public trust, not just a church test, and it is "religion" which shall not be established by law or Congress, not just a church.
Yet, with significant support from the "religious right," it was a Republican President who signed congressional bills into law which, in 1954, unconstitutionally, put "under God," by law, into the national pledge of allegiance and, in 1956, put "in God we trust", by law, onto all currency of the United States--both laws in obvious violation of what the Constitution actually commands.
Therefore, it is currently not the Republican Party which most often upholds the Constitution in respect to what it actually says in Article Six and the First Amendment. In my opinion, the best book on this issue is The Religion Commandments in the Constitution: A Primer.

Gene Garman, M.Div. of KS 4:48PM October 05, 2009

I suspect you know little or nothing of the Crusades - or understand what their failure has wrought. Although, a look at the darkness of Islam should make it clear to anyone with eyes to see.
Your predictable and facile comments about Palin indicate to me that you would have thought Lincoln or Teddy Roosevelt rubes as well. Pseudo-intellectuals, such as yourself, often value political "savvy" and its cousin "correctness" above honesty, morality, plain speaking and common sense. Palin doesn't smell like a phony to most Americans - Obama reeks of it.
But, the most amazing thing of all is that someone paid you to write a book with a premise so obviously false. Consider yourself fortunate that your publishers are so lose with their money in these tough times.

R.L. Schaefer of CA 2:55PM October 05, 2009

Political correctness and the Rove coalition made the term "conservative" a synonym for the Republican party, which is today a liberal, religious party.
Many would consider Goldwater the last conservative. Bill Buckley and his gang dragged Catholicism into politics, but since our highest value today is political correctness, it is taboo to criticize Catholics, especially post JFK, who "proved" a Catholic president isn't a puppet of the Pope, so the Catholicism was simply not mentioned out of fear of the civility police.
Then Pat Robertson and the Evangelicals jumped onto the Republican bandwagon. Then the Israel-first neo-conservatives. Despite the long history in the US of religious people avoiding politics, political correctness trumped the first amendment and stifled any criticism of religious groups promoting their agenda through politics. Thus Catholics, Evangelicals, Christian Zionists, and neoconservatives all came under the rubric "conservative."
Thus it came to pass that a big government, big spending, big deficit, borrow-and-spend president like Bush could be called a "conservative," the very opposite of a Goldwater or Taft conservative, because he is an anti-abortion, Israel-first Evangelical.
So if conservatism is dead, is it big government liberal conservatism, fiscal conservatism, neoconservatism, or religious conservatism that kicked the bucket?

Larry Trumpeter of KS 2:20AM October 05, 2009