HomeschoolrsRUs
07-12-2006, 12:12 AM
Conscience of a conservative::By Paul Greenberg (http://www.townhall.com/Columnists/PaulGreenberg/2006/07/12/conscience_of_a_conservative)
American conservatism is at one of its low ebbs. Conservatives seem divided, dejected and drifting, caught between anger and indecision. The polls and pundits tell us that the political party we've made ours is headed for setbacks in the congressional elections, and further defeats loom ahead.
[ snip , snip ]
Who with any political sense in the Œ50s would have predicted that, by the end of the century, conservatism would come to dominate American political thought?
How did it happen? It came to pass because American conservatism was able to articulate the country's values in a way that made sense to a new generation of Americans.
A battle is always raging for the soul of American conservatism. It is a battle between those who would find a familiar place to hunker down, and those who would risk engagement with ideas and the world.
There have always been those who would reduce the conservative impulse to something narrow and mean and afraid - an exclusive little club restricted to Our Kind of People, rather than a great, open, embracing faith.
The great political achievement of Ronald Reagan was to transform a cozy club into a populist movement, and his example remains instructive.
American conservatism is at one of its low ebbs. Conservatives seem divided, dejected and drifting, caught between anger and indecision. The polls and pundits tell us that the political party we've made ours is headed for setbacks in the congressional elections, and further defeats loom ahead.
[ snip , snip ]
Who with any political sense in the Œ50s would have predicted that, by the end of the century, conservatism would come to dominate American political thought?
How did it happen? It came to pass because American conservatism was able to articulate the country's values in a way that made sense to a new generation of Americans.
A battle is always raging for the soul of American conservatism. It is a battle between those who would find a familiar place to hunker down, and those who would risk engagement with ideas and the world.
There have always been those who would reduce the conservative impulse to something narrow and mean and afraid - an exclusive little club restricted to Our Kind of People, rather than a great, open, embracing faith.
The great political achievement of Ronald Reagan was to transform a cozy club into a populist movement, and his example remains instructive.