Saturday, December 03, 2005

Why I am not a political conservative

I wish I could be a political conservative. I grew up in Arizona, the home of Barry Goldwater, the first political candidate I ever rooted for when he ran for President in 1964. (I was ten.) My book was at one time #1 on the www.townhall.com website, ahead of Hannity, Thatcher, Buckley and Coulter. (For one week). I don't think that abortion is the way to deal with a problem pregnancy. I am a Christian of broadly evangelical leanings, and a fan of C. S. Lewis, who is far better liked by conservatives than by liberals (though his essay "Meditation on the Third Commandment" is a pre-emptive strike, written decades earlier, against the "Christian Coalition" mentality we find so prevalent today).

But I can't. This is the party that promised to "restore honor and integrity to the Presidency of the United States." Instead they tolerate this kind of corruption in one of their leaders, corruption that makes the famous zipper malfunction in the Oval Office (and the falsehoods told to cover it up) that led to impeachment small potatoes. I've heard it gets worse; the women workers in Saipan are forced into prostitution and forced to get abortions when they get pregnant. Oh well, at least they aren't given the right to choose.

Is there another side to this story? The total heartlessness of these people just galls me. Compassionate conservatism? It's starting to sound like military intelligence, business ethics, and jumbo shrimp.

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