Video: “Ronald Reagan Speech – 1964 Republican National Convention”

Video:  “Ronald Reagan Speech – 1964 Republican National Convention“

Hey, Mitt, What about the Constitution?

I just heard Chris Wallace on Fox News talking to Mitt Romney, who differentiated between Democrats who advocate government solutions to economic and health-care “problems” with Republicans who advocate “free-market” solutions.

He seemed to be supporting a Republican plan in which the federal government would give individuals more control over their health care.

Mitt needs to reread the Constitution.  There is nothing in it that allows the federal government to interfere in health care at all.  The only plan a Republicans should propose is one to get the federal government out of health care–period.

Unfortunately, in this interview at least, Mitt sounded more like another big-government Republican than a conservative.

My Summer Reading List

I’m hoping to get a lot of reading done this summer.  The following books are on my list:

My Books

• Cleon Skousen, The 5000 Year Leap:  The 28 Great Ideas that Changed the World
• Mark Levin, Liberty and Tyranny
• F. A. Hayek, The Road to Serfdom
• Jonah Goldberg, Liberal Fascism:  The Secret History of the American Left from Mussolini to the Politics of Meaning
• Ronald J. Pestritto and William J. Atto, eds., American Progressivism:  A Reader
• Ronald J. Pestritto, Woodrow Wilson and the Roots of Modern Liberalism
• Amity Shlaes, The Forgotten Man:  A New History of the Great Depression
• Robert Gellately, Lenin, Stalin, and Hitler:  The Age of Social Catastrophe
• Glenn Beck, An Inconvenient Book
• Walter Williams, Liberty Versus the Tyranny of Socialism
• Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged
• Ayn Rand, The Fountainhead

Library Books

• Thomas E. Woods, Jr., and Kevin R. C. Gutzman, Who Killed the Constitution?  The Fate of American Liberty from World War I to George W. Bush
• Randy E. Barnett, Restoring the Lost Constitution:  The Presumption of Liberty
• George A. Akerlof and Robert J. Shiller, Animal Spirits:  How Human Psychology Drives the Economy, and Why It Matters for Global Capitalism
• Andrew Klavan, The Last Thing I Remember

Republican Party: Means to an End

The goal of any political party is to get its candidates elected to office and keep them there.  Obviously, the goal of the Republican Party is to get Republican candidates elected.

However, the goal of conservatives within the party is to get conservative candidates elected.  The Republican Party is at best a means to that end.  If the GOP doesn’t move back to the right and start working toward that goal, then there is no reason for conservatives to stay in the party, which is leaving us.

Protesting Is Not Enough

I recently ran across a quote attributed to Leonardo da Vinci: “I have been impressed with the urgency of doing. Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Being willing is not enough; we must do.” I’ve had a couple of exchanges on Twitter along these lines, and I’d like to paraphrase the Renaissance genius for contemporary conservatives:

Listening to talk shows is not enough; we must study.

You can learn a lot from listening to, watching, and reading Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Glenn Beck, Laura Ingraham, and other talk show hosts about current events and issues; I have. However, if you want to really understand issues and be able to support your views, you need to study history, philosophy, economics, and specific issues in depth. That probably means reading. (Horrors!)

Obviously, you should start with the Declaration of Independence, the U.S. Constitution, and the Federalist Papers.

After that, you can find books (and websites) on various issues on the Information on Issues for Conservatives wiki, and I plan to add to this wiki in the future. I would also recommend Penn Pfiffner’s Freedom Reading List on the Free People Free Markets Ning site. Glenn Beck has some history books listed on the 912 Project website, and last week he spoke to the authors of the following books on an episode of his show titled “Destined To Repeat(?)”:

• Robert Gellately, Lenin, Stalin, and Hitler: The Age of Social Catastrophe
• Ronald. J. Pestritto, Woodrow Wilson and the Roots of Modern Liberalism
• Amity Shlaes, The Forgotten Man: A New History of the Great Depression
• Johan Goldberg, Liberal Fascism: The Secret History of the American Left, From Mussolini to the Politics of Change

Complaining is not enough; we must teach.

Start with your family, especially children and college/university students, and friends.  Join the online conversation with a Twitter account or a blog.  (If you need help, I’m working on a series of lessons on Social Media for Conservatives.)  Explain to them what you’ve learned in your studies.  Discuss the issues in a reasoned and polite manner.

Protesting is not enough; we must lead.

Contact your elected representatives and let them know what you think about the issues they’re considering.  Volunteer for a conservative official or candidate.  Serve in your community on a city or county board or commission or with a non-profit organization.  Run for office.

Whatever you do, stick to your conservative principles.

Just Conservatives

Conservatism is a political philosophy based on the premises “that all men [and women] are . . . equal, that they are endowed . . . with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness [i.e., individual liberty], [and that] to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men [i.e., limited government], deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed” (Declaration of Independence).

A conservative is someone who accepts, adheres to, and argues from these premises.  A person who doesn’t believe in these principles, individual liberty and limited government, is not a conservative.

We don’t need labels like fiscal conservative, social conservative, paleoconservative, neoconservative, etc.  Either someone is a conservative, or he or she is not–period.

We Surround Them: Glenn Beck’s Nine Principles

Glenn Beck’s nine principles:

1. America is a good place–not perfect, but good.
2. I believe in God, and he’s the center of my life.
3. I must try to be a better, more honest person every day.
4. Family is sacred.  My spouse and I are the authority, under God, when it comes to my family.
5. If you break the law, you pay the price.  Justice is blind, and nobody is above that.
6. I, as a citizen, have a right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, but that is not a guarantee of equal results.
7. I work hard for what I have, and I will share it with others, when I choose, who I choose, should I choose.  The government cannot force me to be charitable.
8. It’s not un-American for anyone to disagree with my opinion, but my opinion and others’ opinions may be anti-American.
9. The government works for me.  It’s not the other way around.  They answer to me.  I don’t answer to them.

If you agree with these nine principles or even just seven of them, Glenn wants you to take a picture of yourself and send the photograph to him at wesurroundthem@gmail.com .

Romney-Palin in 2012?

Within the last day or two, somewhere I saw “Romney-Palin in 2012.”  In a previous post, I listed four qualifications for elected officials:

1. conservative principles
2. integrity
3. intelligence
4. initiative

Both Romney and Palin are going to have to prove to me that they meet the first qualification.

Over the last few years, Romney has changed some of his views (flipped), and I’m not aware that he has changed any of them back (flopped).  However, even though he has moved to the right, the health care/insurance plan he instituted in Massachusetts leads me to believe he’s a big-government Republican rather than a true conservative.

Palin is going to have to explain how a conservative could agree to be McCain’s running mate and retain her integrity.

The biggest barrier, though, to Romney becoming the GOP’s presidential candidate is the religious bigotry of some evangelicals on the right.

Videos: Rush Limbaugh on Hannity

“Rush Limbaugh on Hannity: Does Rush Want Obama to Succeed, Part 1“

 

“Rush Limbaugh on Hannity Part 2 The Future of Conservatism“

Videos: “Pawlenty and Steele on the future of the Conservative Movement within the Republican Party”

Part 1

Part 2