small-c
"Conservatism is a philosophy without a party in America any more. It has been hijacked by zealots and statists."
That's Andrew Sullivan today, on the Schiavo euthanasia case and the inappropriate Congressional response thereto. As usual, Sullivan's been plucking the words right out of my mouth. The appeal of the Republican Party to Canadian conservatives continues to mystify me; indeed, the appeal of the Republican Party to libertarian conservatives in America does as well. (The lesser of two evils?) Earlier this week, Sullivan quoted Reagan, in right-on-the-money fashion:
"If you analyze it I believe the very heart and soul of conservatism is libertarianism. I think conservatism is really a misnomer just as liberalism is a misnomer for the liberals -- if we were back in the days of the Revolution, so-called conservatives today would be the Liberals and the liberals would be the Tories. The basis of conservatism is a desire for less government interference or less centralized authority or more individual freedom and this is a pretty general description also of what libertarianism is."
So much for libertarianism. Now, if you were to combine Canada's social freedoms and fiscal responsibility, with America's low taxes and economic fundamentals, you'd have something. Can't a blogger dream?
posted by T.R. Cooper @ 1:21 PM
3 Comments:
The 'cheering' for American Republicans by Canadian Conservatives is very easy to understand. In the States, the 'right' wins - So Canadian conservatives think that they should look south of the border for ideology and technique. They want to feel part of a winning team.
The flaw in that plan is that much of the GOP's ideology is abhorent to Canadians who might otherwise vote conservative.
Even conservatives in the U.S. are starting to have second thoughts about the current state of conservatism. Witness David Brooks most recent op-ed where he chastises the GOP for selling out K street. Congresses approval ratings among republicans in the wake of the Schiavo case have plummeted to their lowest levels since 1997. Is the tide turning? Dean better hope so as his political future now depends on it.
Freedom for the sake of freedom always has few true friends, I think. Those who favour it have to make a devil's bargain with the side they think is less immediately harmful. Sad but true.
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