I don’t dispute that we’re seeing a conservative revolution in this country, although calling it a coup d’etat is hyperbole. To take just the example of the undemocratic practices of the U.S. Senate, it must be admitted that the Senate rules now in operation are there by the acquiescence of the majority. For good or ill, our government has long operated on the assumption that changes cannot be made unless there is some degree of bipartisan consensus. This has made change hard, but it has also made disruption and disorder hard. In a purely majoritarian system, we would see massive oscillations in the functioning of government, as conservative majorities simply unwound whatever progressive majorities had enacted. It is the Supreme Court’s threat to do exactly that to Obama’s healthcare system that is the greatest concern presently facing the country.
The conservative takeover of the Republican Party has made it impossible to find bipartisan consensus even on the government’s obligation to pay its bills. The conservatism of the GOP is literally breaking our system of government. The conservatism of the Supreme Court of the United States is showing signs that it is prepared to join the destruction. The conservatism is the problem, not the lifetime appointment of judges or the filibuster rule. The filibuster is a hassle at the moment, but it was very helpful during Bush’s presidency and it would be even more helpful in a Romney presidency. However, it is unlikely that the filibuster will survive much longer. The Senate rule is in peril not because the Republicans will dishonor it, but because no government, progressive or conservative, can function with a 60 vote requirement in the Senate if there is essentially no ideological overlap between the parties.
Really, the only question is which party will pull the trigger on spiking the filibuster. Since the filibuster protects programs like Social Security and Medicare even in times of Republican rule, it is unlikely that the Democrats will eliminate it. For the same reason, the conservatives will eliminate it as soon as practicable.
The crisis is a result of conservatism in the GOP. Either we find a way to fix that problem, or our country is going to be unrecognizable.
Who are the real conservatives here? Those who call themselves conservatives today are in fact radical reactionaries, and we should call them such.
I would agree. Whats happened is that what Goldwater warned about has come to pass and the old conservitives have been shoved aside by radicals who are just using the name for convienience. What we are seeing is a set of ideas unprecidented in human history. How is that conservitive?
I’d rather them take the mantle of “conservative” if its associated with shoving women into the kitchen and ruling Medicare unconstitutional.
You guys sound like Andy Sullivan with this crap. “This isn’t conservatism!!! How I define conservatism is conservatism!” Or the religious evangelicals with their, “But they aren’t TRUE CHRISTIANS!”
No True Scotsman. They’re all conservatives, this has just what conservatism has always been. They’re only reactionaries now because they still haven’t given up the conservatives of yesteryear’s battles.
I was thinking of the war of ideas. The conservative movement succeeded in planting the meme of “conservative = good, liberal = bad”. Calling their agenda radical, and the progressive agenda conservative, is turning their own meme against them.
So, you are seeing the problem as a problem of branding, effectivly. Interesting thought. Lord knows there’s a large portion of idiots on both sides.
“calling it a coup d’etat is only somewhat hyperbolic.” There, fixed. The simple fact is that the republicans have been working for this exact moment for decades. The behavior in the House, in the Senate, in the Supreme Court, and in every state where they hold a majority screams “this country is ours, motherf…….r, and there ain’t nothing you can do about it.”
And I guess we’ll just have to see if there is.
As long as campaigns depend on television and cable advertising and as long as the Citizens United decision stands, we are not going to fix the problem by sitting back and depending elections to do the job for us.
I’m not sure that Bush v. Gore and the Iraq War election of 2002 weren’t a coup d’etat. There were a bunch of Democrats who changed over the next four years.
The crisis is not a result of conservatism. It is the result of a party so intent on gaining permanent power that it will use any and everything as a tactic.
We’ve seen this before in American history. It was just as scorched earth when the moneyed wing of the Federalist party wanted to hold onto power in the period from 1796 to 1810.
It really is a confession that from a policy standpoint, Republicans have nothing to offer.
I’ve read some speculation that the original source for this was here
http://www.dailycal.org/2012/04/02/leftism-at-the-uc-leads-to-skewed-education-report-claims/
And that Santorum or his speech writer read this sentance and was confused
Which actually has a kernal of a good thought worthy of debate. Can someone really be said to have left college with a real education without doing any of those courses?
Of course Santorum looked at that good thought and came up with pasta on pizza.
The dilema that’s left in the murky is the recognition that the proposals and ideals of the current version of Conservatism have no successes in good government to point to. Nothing I can see that they hold dear actually translates into an innovative, world leader every American expects of policies. Reagan was not the president they hold up, Bush left no disaster stone unturned, on and on.
So we’re left with a party of single dimensional paper dolls who can’t seem to do anything but flutter in the wind. And from the clips I saw this morning of Palin with Lauer on NBC, she’s now leading the way to parody Tina Fey parodying her. Is that all they’ve got? Don’t answer that.