CajunBlazer
CajunBlazer's JournalWhat Is Conservatism and What Is Wrong with It?
One of the better essays on conservationism I have seen. Warning, it is long, but if you truly want to understand these folks and their motivations, this scholarly article by Philip E. Agre, a former UCLA professor is interesting read. It has been around for a while, so you may have come across it before.
Even if you find that you can't accept the author's explanation of the roots of conservationism skip to the end of the essay to where he offers useful suggestions as to how defeat conservatives and their philosophy.
Liberals in the United States have been losing political debates to conservatives for a quarter century. In order to start winning again, liberals must answer two simple questions: what is conservatism, and what is wrong with it? As it happens, the answers to these questions are also simple:
Q: What is conservatism?
A: Conservatism is the domination of society by an aristocracy.
Q: What is wrong with conservatism?
A: Conservatism is incompatible with democracy, prosperity, and civilization in general. It is a destructive system of inequality and prejudice that is founded on deception and has no place in the modern world.
These ideas are not new. Indeed they were common sense until recently. Nowadays, though, most of the people who call themselves "conservatives" have little notion of what conservatism even is. They have been deceived by one of the great public relations campaigns of human history. Only by analyzing this deception will it become possible to revive democracy in the United States.
//1 The Main Arguments of Conservatism
From the pharaohs of ancient Egypt to the self-regarding thugs of ancient Rome to the glorified warlords of medieval and absolutist Europe, in nearly every urbanized society throughout human history, there have been people who have tried to constitute themselves as an aristocracy. These people and their allies are the conservatives.
http://polaris.gseis.ucla.edu/pagre/conservatism.html
The Supreme Court after the Upcoming Elections – An Analysis
Every four years we hear commentators say that the upcoming elections will be of great importance. However, the 2016 Presidential and Senatorial election may well be absolutely pivotal. Those elections could well affect the political climate for an entire generation or more, not only because they will determine whether the Republicans or the Democrats will control the executive branch and half of the legislative branch of our government, but also because they will probably decide whether conservatives or liberals will control the third branch of government, the Supreme Court, for years to come.
Assuming that there are no changes to the Supreme Court between now and then, when the next President takes office in January of 2017, the oldest Justice will be 83. The next two oldest will be 80 and a fourth Justice will be 78. The next oldest justice will be a relatively young 68. While Supreme Court Justices are appointed for life, of the last 11 Justices who left the court, 10 retired. Only Justice William Rehnquist died in office at the age of 81. The average retirement age for other ten Justices was 79 years old.
http://www.cajunscomments.com/the-supreme-court-after-the-upcoming-elections-an-analysis/
Is everyone enjoying Donald Trump as much as I am?
The morning news on my favorite cable network has become real entertainment. I don't ever remember enjoying the antics of someone with an ego the size of Manhattan. It's amazing to watch the other 15 Republicans candidates squirm as he dominates the airways, stealing supporters from just about everyone and causing "establishment" candidates to fret about the damage Trump is doing to their party. The very thought of Trump as a possible third party candidate causes their blood to freeze. My only concern is that Trump will say something that will turn off his most ardent supporters.
However, the Donald, who is not only leading in the polls, but almost doubling Jeb Bush in support, is simply exposing the ugly underbelly of the GOP - its radical far right base. The tea party zealots, religious fundamentalists, and racists are sick and tired of "moderate" Republicans who pander to them with slick rhetoric in the primaries than pivot to the center in order to broaden their appeal for the general election.
The Republican Party’s problem is not Donald Trump, it is the people who make up the beating heart of that party.
The Iran Deal – What Conservatives (Conveniently) Forget
The ink was not even dry on the Iranian nuclear deal before the conservatives came out against it in force. As expected, Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s hard line Prime minister, appeared on television screens everywhere calling the agreement a “historic mistake for the world”. Republican Senators, House members, and Presidential candidates flooded the cable news airways criticizing the deal and calling it “dead on arrival” before they even had time to read it. You can also bet that Iranian hardliner Republican Guards are also fuming behind the scenes. The Iranian hard line Rajanews website criticized the deal, saying Iran gave away too much. It is really no surprise that these disparate groups of conservatives are united in their reactions, if not the reasons for their reactions.
All of these conservatives, Bibi Netanyahu, Republican members of Congress, the Iranian Republican Guard, can present a myriad of arguments as to why the agreement should have never be signed and should now be abandoned. Their talking points of course vary according to their perspectives, and many of them sound reasonable on the surface, but they all fall apart like boats crashed into the rocks by a storm when confronted by two simple facts: 1. The United states was not alone on our side of the negotiating table and the US can not single highhandedly make further sanctions work. 2. The critics offer no viable alternatives.
Rest of article: http://www.cajunscomments.com/the-iran-deal-what-conservatives-conveniently-forget/
Donald Trump - a Democratic Party Asset
A week or so ago I received an email requesting that I sign a petition asking a major corporation to break its ties with Donald Trump because of all of the really obnoxious and mostly false comments he made about illegal immigrants. I refused the request, though certainly not because I agreed with his comments; I certainly do not. I just didn’t want to be part of anything which would keep the Donald from continuing to spew his venom. I think the Donald Trump is an asset for the ultimate Democratic Party nominee both now and in the General Election even though he has virtually no chance of winning the Republican nomination.
Rest of article: http://www.cajunscomments.com/donald-trump-a-democratic-asset/
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