Conservatives, Check Your Brain at the Door?

While the stupidity rampant in the far left has been a constant source of consternation for me of late (in case you somehow missed that), I have to confess that the conservatives are really starting to grind on my nerves almost as much. Clearly, I could never support Kerry for any number of reasons and so I will vote for the President as the alternative because I actually do think things could be worse. But when are the Republicans going to stop this "circle the wagons" mentality and lose the dishonesty that is plaguing them right now? Yes, the Dems are blood thirsty and downright dishonest this year but that doesn't mean that the other party should do the same. President Bush and his administration have made serious errors that have cost our country. Sometimes that happens, we make mistakes. We are human after all. But this administration's failure to even recognize mistakes, let alone do anything to correct them, is a surefire way to lose this election. We want a President who is sure of himself, maybe a little cocky, but not one who is arrogant and condescending. Regardless, Republicans keep making excuses for the errors. How about they just apologize and say "We were wrong, sorry." That would be novel.



But I have found an honest conservative voice out there and a recent post on his site gives me hope that there might be a chance for the true conservative movement yet. It's a truly great piece of writing and I could not agree more. Here's the conclusion:

I don't know, folks. I just think that this cult-like devotion to one man or one party is disturbing, no matter what side of the political fence you find yourself standing. You can't be a conservative and have express misgivings about the Bush presidency? You can't be a Bush voter unless you support every single thing this president does? You can't call yourself a Republican unless you can fully check off every single item in the party's agenda?



No way. I'm a free-thinking American. Criticize me how you want, stop reading the blog if you like. But I'm not going to be bullied by anyone, whether they come from the left or the right. And to be honest, I expected better from right-thinking people.

Wouldn't it be nice if our politicians were that honest just once? I hardly buy into the "all politicians are evil and self serving" or "the other guys are baby eaters" arguments. I tend to think that anyone who runs for office does it because they have at least an inkling of concern for this country and they want to serve it in the way they think best. But when we've gotten to the point when our political leaders can't even be human any more, doesn't something have to change? And as the movement that champions reason and respect and independence, shouldn't the conservative (and I mean that in purest, libertarian way) movement be promoting a better way?