It's Not My Party, But I'll Cry If I Want To

Being a Constitutional Conservative leaves one often in a rather lonely place politically. While I have registered with the Libertarian Party as that closest to my thinking, even many of their positions do not come into alignment with my own. This apparently outside-of-the-box positioning however leads me with some things that I would like to say (or more accurately whine) about where political parties are concerned today in the US:

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Listen, I have nothing against Democrats and in fact considered myself one in my youth. (Hey, I did grow up in Chicago after all, where being Republican was damned near illegal.) I believe however, that you have been led astray by a well educated, self seeking, power elite that have taken over your party's message. 

Where once you were the party of the little guy, trying to make sure that everyone in this country got a fair chance at achieving their piece of the American Dream; you now appear to have been led down an egalitarian path. The focus is no longer on equal opportunity, but on equal results. Your support of the union member has now evolved into a support of the union leadership. Intent on attacking big business and the bloated rich that you demonize in this country (in spite of the fact that they pay the government's bills), your leadership now appears oblivious to big unions and the bloated fringe interests of environmental concerns and animal rights. 

Who in fact is more evil these days, GM or the UAW? (Oh wait, they're the same thing.) Who is more onerous and odorous, Exxon or the Sierra Club? Who cares less about animals than they do about the exercise of power within government, the beef industry or PETA?

The truth of the matter is that any large organization, on either side of a given issue, is prone to egregious influencing and extortion of elected officials. Look around you with unclouded eyes., you may find that you have been led astray. 
 

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As for Republicans, I have nothing against you either, and in fact considered myself one in my youth (a bit later on, of course). I believe however, that you have been led astray by a well educated, self seeking, power elite that have taken over your party's message (hmmm, that sounds vaguely familiar). 

You have abandoned your core beliefs in fiscal responsibility and small government, choosing instead to become the party of "somewhat less than the Democrats". Once the supporter of Capitalism and a free market-based economy, you now attempt to defend corporate bailouts, increased government handouts, and limited wealth redistribution. Far from being a party with a clearly defined message, you are now being told by your own leadership to accept ideals and concepts which were previously anathema to your principles in the name of creating a "big tent". Even worse, you allow your party of opposition to define what that big tent should be. Circuses have big tents my friends, but that doesn't mean that we will vote for the clowns. 

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Libertarians, you are nearest and dearest to my heart these days; but you have taken the concept of a political party to a level of disorganization that almost reaches an art form. This lack of basic organization skills makes your fund raising difficult and hinders your inclusion on the broader field of American politics. 

Far from trying to change this however, you glory in the internal anarchy and take pride in your self-imposed fringe status. In the name of such worthy causes as limited government and the 2nd Amendment, you have seemingly taken under your wing every anti-government cause on the planet. In the hope of increasing your power base, you embrace fringe groups that often scare your staunchest supporters and allow others to demonize the very freedoms that you seek as "wacky". 

As a Constitutional Conservative, I simply ask that each of the political parties of this government follow the dictates of the document that defines it and limits its powers. The Constitution, contrary to the belief of some, was not created as an 'organic' document and is not subject to the opinions of either the Executive or Legislative branches of the government or the whims of politicians, as seems far too often to be the case these days. Even the Supreme Court is limited in the interpretive oversight that it has on this document (though there are times when you would be hard-pressed to convince them of that.) 

It is the framework that supports the freedoms that protect us, and should be treated with appropriate respect as a consequence. I ask only that the branches federal government simply follow the guidelines in this document as set out by the Founding Fathers; and if they find them too limiting and wish to in some way change them, that they do so through the Constitutional processes provided rather than through creative interpretation. (For those of you who have not read this document lately, they call these Amendments.) 

I truly believe in these dangerous days that none of the political parties (and few individuals except perhaps, some of the more well-informed groups that came out of the Tea Parties) limit themselves to this simple rule-of-thumb, and that makes me rather sad. 

It's a terrible thing in this country to discover that the elected leaders who took an oath to "preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States" have mostly abandoned it either through willful neglect or carefully orchestrated deceit.

So I cry out against each of you; Democrat, Republican, and yes even Libertarian as I paraphrase the lyric: "It's not my party, but I'll cry if I want to". And as the line continues from this song from my youth, "You would cry to if it happened to you." My friends, it is ... 

(By the way, did you know that the expression "rule of thumb" came from English common law, wherein a man was allowed to legally beat his wife, so long as the stick used was less thick than his thumb. Perhaps the practice is worth reviving, only this time for use on recalcitrant politicians.)