Conservatism, The 4-letter word

Conservatism, The 4-letter word
By Kevin Bryant

Why is the word “conservative” treated as a four letter word in most circles? Most self-labeled “Liberals” hold some conservative beliefs even if they want to deny that fact.

Gay rights organizations are liberal based. So are most other organizations that deal with such issues as women’s rights, African American, Latino, Asian & and other ethnic groups organizations. Well over three quarters of them are liberal based, but I bet if you ask the members of these organizations if they would like to have their taxes raised by 10 to 15% over the next three years, most would say “no”. Ask those same groups if they believe they pay too much in taxes and most would say “yes”. OH MY – that is conservative thinking. Ask those same organization members if they believe that they believe that more government is the only solution to America’s problems and I would bet that over ½ would say no. That is conservative thinking…….but how could this be?

I think former Democrat Senator from Georgia, Zell Miller and former Democrat California Governor Ronald Reagan summed it up best when they both stated well over 20 years apart that they did not leave the Democratic Party, the Democratic Party left them. They are two men who held on to their core values and didn’t let politics sway them from those values or their conservative beliefs. One became a republican and eventually the President of the United States. The other retired from the senate still a member of the Democratic Party.

So, as shocking as this may sound, it is possible to be a conservative and be a democrat (Joe Lieberman, Sen - .CT) Just as it is possible to be a republican and be a liberal (Chuck Hagel, Sen - NE). You never hear main stream media blasting Hagel for his liberal views but how many times has commentators and opinion writers on CNN, MSNBC, NBC, CBS, NY Times, L.A. Times, Washington Post and so many others blast Lieberman for supporting John McCain for President over members of his own party.

By today’s standards of both parties, The Republican Party is almost a mirror image of the Democratic Party of the 50’s and early 60’s. The Democratic Party is what the Republican Party was in the early 20th century. Parties change platforms, party’s change their base constituents yet the values of most Americans do not change. They still believe in freedom and liberty.

I’m not a republican nor am I a democrat but I proudly state that I am a conservative.




Are you a conservative at heart? Take this little test and find out. My score was 34.
http://www.madrabbit.net/webrabbit/quizshow.html