The Conscience of an (ex-)Conservative
When this article by Washington state-based writer Philip Gold first came out during the pre-TIME/Newsweek cover days of Howard Dean, it struck me as courageous. After all, the whisper at the time was that it was unpatriotic--if not treasonous--to question the actions or motives of the Bush administration. This guy was actually turning his back on a life time of work for the conservative movement!
Originally published in the Minnesota Journal of Law and Politics, Gold leads his article with this:
Leaving an organization can be hard. Leaving a movement, harder. And leaving an idea — unless you realize that the movement has deserted the idea, and that it’s time to say so — traumatic.
Given the deep interest some conservatives seem to have in the Dean Movement (as indicated by the many inquiring minds visiting this site), Gold's reasoning could be helpful to some of the more disillusioned Republicans who pulled the lever for Bush in 2000 but feel like they got something they didn't bargain for. Gold did a lifetime of research and came up with the conclusion that,
For all the blather about the “war of ideas,” 20th-century conservatism produced virtually nothing of lasting value.
Many of our friends turned Republican for Bush in 2000 because they thought he was a regular guy that would "restore integrity" to the White House. Turns out Bush sadly is a regular guy with a White House that wants to restore their version of integrity to the world. At least, those neo-conservatives who are in charge of his White House do.
Say's Gold,
After 30 years, I realized why. Deep down, these people — these people who can be so gracious and so decent in their personal lives — believe that they’ve been deprived of their proper place at the center of the universe. Deep down, they know that, were the world right, everyone would be like them, or at least aspire, or pretend to aspire, to be like them.
Sounds familiar doesn't it?
(Cross-posted at DeanTV.org)
Originally published in the Minnesota Journal of Law and Politics, Gold leads his article with this:
Leaving an organization can be hard. Leaving a movement, harder. And leaving an idea — unless you realize that the movement has deserted the idea, and that it’s time to say so — traumatic.
Given the deep interest some conservatives seem to have in the Dean Movement (as indicated by the many inquiring minds visiting this site), Gold's reasoning could be helpful to some of the more disillusioned Republicans who pulled the lever for Bush in 2000 but feel like they got something they didn't bargain for. Gold did a lifetime of research and came up with the conclusion that,
For all the blather about the “war of ideas,” 20th-century conservatism produced virtually nothing of lasting value.
Many of our friends turned Republican for Bush in 2000 because they thought he was a regular guy that would "restore integrity" to the White House. Turns out Bush sadly is a regular guy with a White House that wants to restore their version of integrity to the world. At least, those neo-conservatives who are in charge of his White House do.
Say's Gold,
After 30 years, I realized why. Deep down, these people — these people who can be so gracious and so decent in their personal lives — believe that they’ve been deprived of their proper place at the center of the universe. Deep down, they know that, were the world right, everyone would be like them, or at least aspire, or pretend to aspire, to be like them.
Sounds familiar doesn't it?
(Cross-posted at DeanTV.org)
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