Barry Goldwater, famous as “Mr. Conservative” and the original founder of the conservative movement, once made a famous quote about what constitutes virtue and what constitutes vice. For those of you who are perhaps unfamiliar with what he said, here’s the quote in its entirety:

I would remind you that extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice. Let me remind you also that moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue.

Purely as an exercise, I’d like contrast and compare for a moment what Goldwater had to say regarding what I consider to be some of the core values of the progressive movement versus what certain prominent Democratic leaders have said and done, and specifically, in this case, what former President Bill Clinton and current Senator Hillary Clinton have said and done.

(cont.)

Gays in the Military

Barry Goldwater on gays in the military:

You don’t need to be straight to fight and die for your country. You just need to shoot straight.

Bill Clinton on gays in the military:

“The Senate voted 68 to 32 against my policy…” “It was only then that I worked out with Colin Powell this dumb ass ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ thing.”

Comment: Not one of Bill Clinton’s shining moments was it? Maybe I’m being a little unfair here in comparing Clinton;s actions as President to Goldwater’s stance on the issue, but I’ve always wondered why the hell he simply didn’t stick to his guns and say bigotry against gays and lesbians has no place in the military, just like bigotry against African Americans had no place back in the 50’s when President Truman desegregated the armed forces by Executive Order. I guess I just don’t get the whole triangulation, third way strategy, because to be frank, I believe Clinton would have been a whole lot better off if he’d have practiced a little “extremism in defense of liberty” rather than his compromised “moderate policy” which the Military essentially ignored anyway.

Abortion and the Right to Choose

Goldwater on the right to choose:

That’s a decision that’s up to the pregnant woman, not up to the pope or some do-gooders or the Religious Right.”

Hillary Clinton on the the right to choose:

…I think it’s essential that as Americans we look for that common ground that we can all stand upon. [Our] core beliefs and values can guide us in reaching our goal of keeping abortion safe, legal and rare into the next century.

Comment: Hmm. Gotta give that round to Mr. Conservative, also. The whole “safe, legal and rare” slogan seems like a losing position to me in light of all the chipping away at the right to have an abortion the right wing has managed to accomplish over the past 40 years. In many states the availability of abortion as a practical matter has been effectively eradicated, especially for poor women. So while abortion is still technically legal (provided you don’t need that misnamed “partial birth abortion” five male justices of the Supreme Court seemed to think women, no matter how important it might be to their personal health, just don’t deserve), it sure is becoming rarer and rarer. I think Goldwater’s position has a clarity that current Democratic Leaders seem afraid to embrace, or in some cases have simply abandoned.

Gay Marriage

Hillary Clinton on gay marriage:

“Senator Clinton supports full equality for people in committed relationships, including health insurance, life insurance and pensions, and hospital visitation and believes we have to keep working to reach those goals,” said Jennifer Hanley, a spokeswoman for Mrs. Clinton.

Asked if Mrs. Clinton’s support for “full equality” was tantamount to supporting gay marriage, Ms. Hanley said the senator supported civil unions, a legal arrangement that includes the civil benefits of marriage but does not disturb tradition.

Now, to be honest, I don’t really have a quote from Barry Goldwater about the issue of “gay marriage.” Maybe he’d have been for it, and maybe not. But here’s what he did say regarding his core political beliefs:

On equality:

Equality, rightly understood as our founding fathers understood it, leads to liberty and to the emancipation of creative differences; wrongly understood, as it has been so tragically in our time, it leads first to conformity and then to despotism.

And more fundamentally his definition of conservatism:

“The conservative movement is founded on the simple tenet that people have the right to live life as they please as long as they don’t hurt anyone else in the process.”

He also famously once said “every good Christian” should “kick Jerry Falwell in the ass.”

Now, I’m no starry eyed lover of all things Goldwater. I don’t think he would have made a very good President, and his economic policies were essentially adopted by Reagan and other “supply side”, “trickle down” and “drown the government in a bathtub” Reagan acolytes such as Grover Norquist. His ideas on government would have wrecked our economy, opened our securities markets to massive fraud and corruption and likely made our food, air and water unfit for human consumption if carried to their logical extreme. He was a devoted libertarian, after all.

But by God, wouldn’t it be nice to hear a Democratic politician of Bill and Hillary’s stature proudly standing up in defense of equality and justice for all (and especially for the rights of women, gays and other minorities) with rhetoric at least equal to that which Mr. Goldwater once proclaimed? Isn’t that the minimum standard we should expect from “Liberal Democrats?”

I sure as hell think so.