AMERICAN CONSERVATISM IN 2008 AND BEYOND

See? You didn't get it. Just as I predicted. I win! I win! I win!

It appears that being a "conservative" is the litmus test for affiliation with the Republican Party.

http://unabridged.merriam-webster.com/cgi-bin/unabridged?va=constitutionalist&x=30&y=11
Main Entry: con·sti·tu·tion·al·ist Pronunciation Guide
Pronunciation: -_lst
Function: noun
Inflected Form(s): -s
1 : one who studies or writes on constitutionalism
2 : an adherent or advocate of constitutionalism or of some particular constitution ; specifically usually capitalized : an advocate of the United States Constitution about the time of its adoption

http://unabridged.merriam-webster.com/cgi-bin/unabridged?va=constitutionalism&x=30&y=9
Main Entry: con•sti•tu•tion•al•ism Pronunciation Guide
Pronunciation: -n l iz m, -n liz m
Function: noun
Inflected Form(s): -s
1 : the doctrine or system of government in which the governing power is limited by enforceable rules of law and concentration of power is prevented by various checks and balances so that the basic rights of individuals and groups are protected
2 : adherence to the principles of constitutionalism

I am not in favor of outlawing abortion perse.

I am not opposed to stem cell research at all and not strongly opposed to embrionic stem cell research.

I am in favor of all people having identical/equal rights.

I do not want gay people to be prohibited from adopting children.

I am a passionate feminist.

I am a passionate environmentalist.

I oppose war.

And how is that a problem for me?

Unfortunately, being conservative is not a litmus test for affiliation with the Republican Party. There are many of us who want being a conservative to become a litmus test for affiliation with the Republican Party.

In my case, I want being a "constitutionalist" to become a part of the litmus test for affiliation with the Republican Party. I'm working on just that.

Classical liberalism (also known as traditional liberalism[1], laissez-faire liberalism[2], and market liberalism[3] or, outside the United States and Britain, sometimes simply liberalism is a doctrine stressing individual freedom, free markets, and limited government. This includes the importance of human rationality, individual property rights, natural rights, the protection of civil liberties, individual freedom from restraint, equality under the law, constitutional limitation of government, free markets, and a gold standard to place fiscal constraints on government as exemplified in the writings of John Locke, Adam Smith, David Hume, David Ricardo, Voltaire, Montesquieu and others.

As such, it is the fusion of economic liberalism with political liberalism of the late 18th and 19th centuries. The "normative core" of classical liberalism is the idea that laissez-faire economics will bring about a spontaneous order or invisible hand that benefits the society, though it does not necessarily oppose the state's provision of some basic public goods with what constitutes public goods being seen as very limited. The qualification classical was applied retroactively to distinguish it from more recent, 20th-century conceptions of liberalism and its related movements, such as social liberalism Classical liberals are suspicious of all but the most minimal government and object to the welfare state.

I am not in favor of outlawing abortion perse.

I'm in favor of states but not the federal government outlawing abortion after the fetus is a fully formed human baby (e.g., after the 19th week of pregnancy).

I am not opposed to stem cell research at all and not strongly opposed to embrionic stem cell research.

I'm strongly opposed to federal government funded stem cell research

I am in favor of all people having identical/equal rights.

I want males to be limited to siring children and not bearing children. I want females limited to bearing children and not siring children. I want the mariage contract to be limited to be between one male and one female. I want the pairage contract to be limited to be between two females or between two males. I want the legal rights of marriage partners, and legal rights of pairage partners to be equal.

I do not want gay people to be prohibited from adopting children.

I am a passionate feminist.

I am a passionate masculinist

I am a passionate environmentalist.

I am in favor of the federal and/or state governments limiting the amount of toxic and noxious substances released into or onto the surface of the earth, and into the atmosphere.

I oppose war.

I oppose initiating a war, but I support fighting a war defensively and/or offensively in defense against those who initiate war.

I am in favor of the federal government securing our individual rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

Well now, Foxfyre, you and I can disagree on some of these (my comments about those I disagree with are in blue.):

Quote:

I am not in favor of outlawing abortion perse.

I'm in favor of states but not the federal government outlawing abortion after the fetus is a fully formed human baby (e.g., after the 19th week of pregnancy).

I basically support the original intent of Roe v Wade in which the state has no interest in the fetus in the first tri-mester, increasing interest in the second tri-mester, and a lot of interest in the third tri-mester. My rationale is one more of practicality and to allow necessary solutions that should be decided between a woman and her doctor but not sanctioning wholesale slaughter of viable babies for no better reason than convenience. I am passionately pro-life. I just don't want my government to have the power to tell me I must be or that I can't be. So for me it comes down to the most practical way we can defend human life without taking necessary rights away from the mother.

I do support the states and/or local communities deciding what laws will apply rather than the federal government.

Quote:

I am not opposed to stem cell research at all and not strongly opposed to embrionic stem cell research.

I'm strongly opposed to federal government funded stem cell research

As am I, but that is a different thing. President Bush has been trashed and condemned for outlawing embrionic stemcell research. He didn't do that. He just refused to allow federal funding for it and he was right about that. He did not nix federal funding of adult stemcell research and there I think he was wrong.

Quote:

I am in favor of all people having identical/equal rights.

I want males to be limited to siring children and not bearing children. I want females limited to bearing children and not siring children. I want the mariage contract to be limited to be between one male and one female. I want the pairage contract to be limited to be between two females or between two males. I want the legal rights of marriage partners, and legal rights of pairage partners to be equal.

Which isn't any different that all people having identical/equal rights. I don't care whether anybody is tall, short, straight, gay, beautiful, ugly or Martian who gets married as long as everybody is required to marry somebody of the opposite sex within the same laws, regulations, requirements as the law stipulates.

Where the 'parriages' come in though, I don't have any objection to how many folks choose to organize themselves into recognized family groups just so that such an option is available to everybody operating within the same laws, regulations, requirements as the law stipulates.

Quote:

I am a passionate feminist.

I am a passionate masculinist

Good. (I wonder if we use similar definitions?)

Quote:

I am a passionate environmentalist.

I am in favor of the federal and/or state governments limiting the amount of toxic and noxious substances released into or onto the surface of the earth, and into the atmosphere.

Yup. You're as lib as I am there. They probably won't believe that we really aren't in favor of dirty/polluted air, water and enjoy the aesthetic beauties of the Earth though.

Quote:

I oppose war.

I oppose initiating a war, but I support fighting a war defensively and/or offensively in defense against those who initiate war.

I am in favor of the federal government securing our individual rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

Yup. You're as lib as I am there. They probably won't believe that we really aren't in favor of dirty/polluted air, water and enjoy the aesthetic beauties of the Earth though.

Well heck, you guys make it tough for us to believe. Every time we start talking about being tough on these issues, it's all 'economic cost' and 'unfairly restricting business' and 'driving companies overseas.' Which is it? Are you an environmentalist, or a supporter or lower environmental regulations on American business? Can't be both.Cycloptichorn

Cycloptichorn wrote:

Well heck, you guys make it tough for us to believe. Every time we start talking about being tough on these issues, it's all 'economic cost' and 'unfairly restricting business' and 'driving companies overseas.' Which is it? Are you an environmentalist, or a supporter or lower environmental regulations on American business? Can't be both.Cycloptichorn

You pose an irrational Hobson's choice Cyclo. Not everything proposed by self-styled "environmentalists" is really beneficial to either the public good or, very often, the stated environmental objectives of the environmentalists themselves. Examples of this are abundant, involving everything from forest management to energy production and water & air pollution. Wisdom is usually found in a synthesis of environmental and economic objectives and issues - almost never in the extremes.