By the Way, Conservatism is Dead

[FarLeftFist]

(edited for copyright purposes-proud patriot Moderator Democratic Undeerground)

LINK: http://www.smirkingchimp.com/node/27923

by Bob Burnett | April 9, 2010 - 12:04pm
Recently there's been a lot of speculation about why the mood on the right has turned so sour. Some observers attribute it to the lack of leadership at the top of the Republican Party, the surreal reality that Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh have more influence than do elected Republicans. Others say it's a poisonous combination of economic angst and racial hatred. But there's a more obvious explanation: we're witnessing the death throes of conservatism. The right-wing ideology that ran the US for thirty years has proven to be a total failure and the passage of healthcare reform was the final nail in its coffin.

In case you've forgotten, classic conservatism promised to keep us safe, reduce the size of government, lower taxes, and manage the economy. Republican broke each of these commitments.

Keep us Safe: Conservatives/Republicans used to poll much stronger than Liberals/Democrats on national security. Then came 9/11 and the debacle of the Iraq war, where the GOP lost credibility. Despite the transition from the Bush to the Obama Administration, there has been little change in the military budget (+ 3 percent). Not surprisingly, voters now see little difference between Democrats and Republicans on this issue.

Shrink Government: Conservative ideologue Grover Norquist famously promised, "Our goal is to shrink government to the size where we can drown it in a bathtub." Nonetheless, the Federal bureaucracy grew during the Bush presidency. Now the Republican base - frustrated with the failure of their leaders to follow through on this promise - has turned to the futile pursuit of "state's rights" or, as Texas Governor Rick Perry has proposed, the notion of secession from the USA.

(snip)

[bridgit]

1. Yes, but like a rabid weasel it tears its way all the way to the bottom...

[FarLeftFist]

2. Lets not forget those above mentioned conservative "promises"...

Aren't just failed policies, but failed ideologies. One of the posters in the article said it best "Thirty years of the Republican Revolution have shown us that government is the only solution to all the problems we created by treating government as the problem. Everyone understands this except wingnuts and the Democratic leadership."
Perry Logan
http://perrylogan.org/

[RKP5637]

3. The article is logical, but IMO RW voters are not logical and many today are

ignorant. Despite all of the thought out logic and implications there of, even if conservatism were dead, a great many would still vote in the worst. I know people here that think Bush was great and would like to see Sarah Palin be the next president. They think she is highly qualified, and that IMO is simply scary and faulty thinking. They will take their marching orders from Beck, Limbaugh, Hannity and the rest of the herd.

:argh: :argh: :argh:

[provis99]

8. I agree; voters mostly don't vote based on policies.

The vote based on simplistic appeals to emotion, and memorable slogans. Nazi Germany winning electoral victory proved that, and every academic study of the ordinary voter since the 1948 ANES has shown the scary reality of voters.

Conservatism is here to stay; it will be fully revitalized in time for the 2012 election.

[apocalypsehow]

4. Conservatism qua conservatism has been dead since 1688.

Tautologies as OP's make fine reading for the right audience. Not sure this educated, intelligent one, we have at DU is it.

[kickysnana]

5. Except in the Courts, unfortunately. n/t

[mindwalker_i]

6. It's not dead yet, it just got turned into a Newt.

It'll get better.

[Dr Morbius]

7. I wish I could agree.

Seeing that conservatives have purchased the media, and that the nation no longer has a free press (no one is free unless they are independent), I am sorry to say that conservatism isn't dead.

Nothing this evil can ever die.

[AnArmyVeteran]

9. Excellent post... I've long known conservatism was a failure... say 'Somalia'...

[Go2Peace]

10. It's not dead, it lives on and is stronger than it has been since WW2

As a number here have been trying to tell others who see this as a "party war" this is far deeper. We are in an age of regression and the newest science of propaganda, having grown out from marketing science, has re-energized the hopes of authoritarians. The old ideas have retaken hold, they are even in our own party and even many liberals have been encorporated authoritarian principles into many of their philosophies.

The article quotes Goerge lakoff, but I would be willing to bet that if you actually talk to Lakoff he does not share this man's view. There is much work to be done to re-claim our language and ideasphere, and it has barely started.

Although I disagree with the OP, I rec'd it because I think we need to discuss this idea. The problem is not "party specific". It is moving across the globe, not just in the USA. We may be seeing a reprieve, but if we deal with it more fundamentally it will be fighting progress tooth and nail and popping up and down throughout the globe.

[Quantess]

11. Yeah, we wish.

Only time will tell, but, I don't think the overall prognosis is good for anyone except the richest of the rich. And I'm not talking about the top 5% plebeians. I'm talking about the top .0001% richest.

[Kablooie]

12. Nope. Not dead. You are using logic and reality to argue, foreign concepts to conservs.

They are as healthy and vigorous as ever and waiting to grab control and drive the world into the bloody meat grinder once again.