AMERICAN CONSERVATISM IN 2008 AND BEYOND

Whatever the future of the conservative movement might be, it will surely continue to have a fundamental component related to moral virtues and support for that fundamental unit of society, a man, a woman, children and another woman or man or restroom buddy. A movement pure as the driven slush.

Whatever the future of the conservative movement might be, it will surely continue to have a fundamental component related to moral virtues and support for that fundamental unit of society, a man, a woman, children and another woman or man or restroom buddy. A movement pure as the driven slush.

Modern American Conservatism/Classical Liberalism
(adapted from Wiki)

Modern American Conservatism (MAC)/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 MAC/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 MACs promote strong national defense and necessary regulation to prevent the citiziens/states from doing violence to each other, but are otherwise suspicious of all but the most minimal government necessary to perform its Constitutional mandates and object to most of a federal welfare state.

Ludwig von Mises, Friedrich Hayek, and Milton Friedman, are credited with influencing a revival of classical liberalism in the twentieth century after it fell out of favor beginning in the late nineteenth century and much of the twentieth century. In relation to economic issues, this revival is sometimes referred to, mainly by its opponents, as "neoliberalism". The German "ordoliberalism" has a whole different meaning, since the likes of Alexander Rüüüüstow and Wilhelm Rööööpke have advocated a more interventionist state, as opposed to laissez-faire liberals. Classical liberalism has many aspects in common with modern libertarianism, with the terms being used almost interchangeably by those who support limited government.

I thought you were off in Hawaii getting married, Cy.

Now lets suppose those dirty bombs are completed and positioned strategically to do great damage to the USA. What will our President and the current Congress do then? Fight? Or surrender? So far they have surrendered on every issue they have been challenged by thugs and dictators around the world. By what theory do you then assume that they would finally choose to fight rather than have Sharia law imposed on the USA? It is an illustration of what that kind of mindset leads to, not a specific prediction of what is going to happen.

Prove me wrong. Until you do, I win

As yet, not a single member criticizing him have accurately represented what he said or have given any indication that they want to.

As yet, not a single member criticizing him have accurately represented what he said

Oh and my definition of 'numbnut':

1) Thinks personal insults, ad hominem, or clever 'put downs' is valid debate and makes him/her look smart, intelligent, credible, and/or funny.

2) Frequently disrupts the flow of conversation with non sequiturs, straw men, red herrings, and/or irrelevant information, or nitpicks one phrase, term, or word to ensure that no discussion of an interesting topic can take place.

3) Spams the thread with frequent disruptive multiple long, wordy copy and pastes from highly biased sources that are as often as not unsourced and unlinked.

4) Refuses to articulate a valid rebuttal or his/her rationale for a point of view but take every opportunity to discredit or dispute the person or source and/or the way that a point of view is expressed.

And yes, we have numbnuts from both the left and right.