From the Cutting Room Floor - Why Today's Conservatives Are Yesterday's Liberals

Written exactly five years ago today...

Labels are misleading. I prefer to deal with subject matter and specifics rather than attempting to categorize someone for an opinion that a particular group may or may not hold for any length of time.

Bush and the Republican majority have been either responsible for the introduction of or largely expanded much of the following:

Economy
True, Bush has passed tax-cuts, but the Republican party should be focusing on REPEALING taxes, not cutting them. There has been a failure to secure tax relief, let alone destroying the abomination known as the Federal Reserve and the IRS.

Law & Legislation 
Under Bush's watch we've gotten No Child Left Behind, The New Freedom Initiative and the Patriot Act to name a few. Where is the coordinated Conservative outrage over the SCOTUS Eminent Domain ruling, the fact that he appointed Harriet Miers and John Roberts, moderates, dressed to look like conservatives?

Security
We now have an illegal alien border war that rivals the war in Iraq on occasions and even though Congress approved it, Bush stopped the hiring of more border security.
With regards to Clinton and Chinese nuclear weapons, he started the flow, but folks, Bush took the gloves off.

Freedom
McCain- Feigngold, Free Speech Zones, Help America Vote Act, Record less ballots, Real ID Act

Government Limits
The creation of not one, but TWO new executive departments - Homeland Security (Without border security) and the Department of Intelligence. He also signed a prescription drug program for Medicare. We got a partial showing on (No reform) social security, a transportation bill that is so pork laden, that it makes Senator Kennedy looks thin in comparison, a doubling in the size of the BATF, the biggest Federal budgets in history of $2.6 trillion. (compared to $1.8 trillion under Clinton, over 44% INCREASE in the size of government.)

Globalism
He signed CAFTA, has stated that he will sign FTAA, and signed back onto UNESCO.

War
We have waged war with not one, but two countries. We are eyeing up perhaps two more with Syria and Iran.

The Real Effect
Now arguably, conservatives have not created many of these situations, but at best have served as political speed bumps, simply slowing down socialism's progress.

Yes it would seem that the 'conservatives' are out liberalling the liberals. With these kind of friends, who needs enemies?

Inevitably, inconsistencies should be expected as reality and human nature begin to show through idealistic promises that were made in all sincerity. Yet when one virtually abandons almost all goals and maintains merely a pretense for the effort of pacifying the masses, you begin to wonder when things will begin to go the way we want it to.

Instead, all has been thrown into the so-called 'War on Terror' er, 'Global Struggle Against Terror' errr, 'Times Have Changed So We Must Throw All Common Sense Out the Window In a Vain Attempt to Make Ourselves Feel Better' on Terror of course. Yet we inevitably march on.

The thinking goes something like this -

'The terrorists loathe our freedom, therefore, we will take away our freedoms and give them to other countries.'

Brilliant.

This is the sort of thing that can only be achieved through massive focus group testing and by spending at least one million dollars.

Imagine if your local SWAT team worked that way. Having taken a bank full of hostages, some terrorists settle down to await negotiations. Police arrive in utter urgency and after establishing a perimeter, they begin to negotiate the release of the hostages.

"Ten million dollars and a helicopter" come the request over the radio.

"Alright." (We must be resolute in the face of terror.)

Undeterred, the chief sets up checkpoints and begins searching the pizzeria across the street.
After all, they should have nothing to hide.

Two hours later, the chief recounts the details of the search to the local media. He spares no drama as he recounts how they caught a woman with overdue library books, a deadbeat dad and two teens with joints.

Now, back to the hostages, the chief vows that he will never waver in the face of terror and orders his snipers to start shooting hostages in the hope of hitting some of the would be robbers.
However, it appears that in your pursuit, the terrorists got away.

I agree that our responses should be harsh and unrelenting in the face of terrorism, yet we must think of what we are doing and how it will affect our progeny.