Conservatism is Relative!

By: Dan Clements 02/09/2008

As most of my listeners know I have been a member of the Constitution Party for almost six months. I did not come by this decision easy or lightly. I had been a Republican since I was 18 years old and supported the party until last September. Ever since Ronald Reagan left office, I believe the party has been redefined and pushed to the left. In this election season more than any other I have been through, the Republican Party does not have a clear conservative choice to vote for. Of all the Republican candidates, only Ron Paul can be called conservative, yet he was vilified by both mainstream political parties and the pompous mainstream press.

The question that needs to be asked is; how has our country gotten so far off course that someone who lives and votes according to the Constitution (Ron Paul) can be considered a kook or out of the mainstream. Has the country finally forgotten its Constitutional roots? Are we letting the LSF (liberal, social, fascist) have free rein in our country to the point that the Constitution doesn’t mean anything anymore? Are our politicians so power hungry that they will say and do anything just to obtain power? Have We the People become to lazy to govern ourselves? Do we even care what happens to our country anymore? Are we so self-absorbed that we don’t make sure that the people we put in office adhere to their oath of office?

As I thought about this article, it is clear that the term conservative has taken on a whole new meaning, even by conservatives. As a conservative, how do you define the term and apply it to your life? What standard do you use to measure your conservatism? Is it Ronald Reagan, Barry Goldwater, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity? Is it a party platform? What should be our standard? What ruler should we use? As a Christian my standard is God’s word the Bible. By it I know how God wants me to live, and what I need to know to be pleasing to God. Using the Bible as a standard we can sit down, study and learn and come to the same conclusions. As an American citizen what is our standard? I submit to you it is the U.S. Constitution, period, end of sentence, new paragraph.

Conservatism is relative to what you compare it to. As an American, my only standard can be the Constitution. It is the only document that you and I can use to see if we are conservative or not.

Conservatism defined; 2 a: disposition in politics to preserve what is established b: a political philosophy based on tradition and social stability, stressing established institutions, and preferring gradual development to abrupt change; specifically : such a philosophy calling for lower taxes, limited government regulation of business and investing, a strong national defense, and individual financial responsibility for personal needs (as retirement income or health-care coverage)

This is a basic definition from Webster dictionary and I submit to you the basis for my definition of conservatism.

We need to return this country back to its Constitutional roots before it’s too late and more drastic measures are needed to correct the present situation.

It is a shame that men like Newt Gingrich don’t seem to define conservatism by the Constitution. In his CPAC speech, Newt was telling the audience that with John McCain, we would only have to fight with him 20% of the time. Oh really? It seems to me that John McCain has been wrong about 75% of the time when it comes to conservative public policy.

And I take umbrage with Mr. Gingrich when he called third party politics dumb. What would you call spending a lot of time and money trying to find out what the American platform is, when all you had to do is look at the Constitution Party platform and see we already knew and stated the American platform. Compare the two platforms, http://www.constitutionparty.org/party_platform.php

http://www.americansolutions.com/actioncenter/petitions/?Guid=bf4a5257-45e3-4a94-97fc-57e2d7ecb6f9

With the exception that the American Solutions platform wants to give away money to the private sector, the Constitution Party has had it right for a long time now. As an American I must use the U.S. Constitution for my standard in defining conservatism. I can not and will not sit idle while so called conservatives redefine what a conservative is, so they can stay in power or defeat other political parties.

The home of true conservatism is the Constitution Party. We hold the founding documents of this country in high regard, and have stated that on numerous occasions. The founding fathers got it right the first time, with help from God. Yes the Constitution has been amended in the past, and may be in the future, but the process is slow and deliberate so as not to make a mistake, and if one is made it also can be corrected.

In this time in history, I would have to say the Democrat Party at the leadership level has become LSF, the Republican Party is now the party of moderates and compromisers, and the Constitution Party has now become the home of the true conservative.

We the People have a historic opportunity to take back our county through the political process. If we are to adhere to the preamble of the U.S. Constitution; We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this

Constitution for the United States of America. We must secure the blessing of liberty for those who come after us; we must protect the U.S. Constitution from foes both foreign and domestic, which can include those running for political office in this country.

Words mean things, and we can not in all good conscious let people redefine the term conservative, to meet their needs wants and desires. As far as I’m concerned if you are left of the U.S. Constitution, you’re left of conservatism. Remember conservatism is relative.

Dan Clements is a member of the Constitution Party and the host of BACK TO BASIC a Christian/political internet talk show. You can listen to Dan from 9am-Noont EST. M-F at www.constitutionalwarrior.com