I do hope you will read John Davidson’s rejoinder to my defense of free markets and my accompanying monologue. He captures the failure theater of the right I have been growing concerned with. Using the buzzwords with which the hyper-online right echo chamber catechizes itself, he says it is time to move past the three legged stool of conservatism, because it has failed us, and…well… like the good kids at Columbia, start a (counter)revolution, purge the enemy, and, I guess, get clicks.
Let me apprise you what time it is. It is not end of time, but it is now Biblically Time of The End".
The final step to destruction was electing BHO as POTUS. Full Communism begin in Sept 2008 when the Gov't bailed out. My dhimmitude is rigid against islam, as it is not a religion but a very, very, intolerant cancerous ideology only. No amount of lipstick can change that pig.
BHO was then elected and under his Hope to Change US to Islam and Communism and he was a full myrmidon minion of Saul Alinsky's. Thirdly BHO's egregious nuclear agreement with Iran, he lifted ALL Sanctions and gave them the Billions of dollars expedited the coming Battle of Armageddon end of seven years of troublesome times (Tribulation). Sept 2008 fully opened the doors for BHO in Jan 2009 forward. Under the Auspecies of the US Constitution freedom of Religion, etc. the muslims came in and as they get the numbers, they elect their own, and replace a yellow bellied stupid Democrat stupid who wanted them in to vote Democrat. Now Hamas terrorist backers are destroying (bastardizing the precipice) the US Constitutional Protesting and the traditions and culture of The US.
In addition the US leadership has formally (formalized) adopted, abortion and homasexuality, all an abominations in the sight of GOD.
Let me apprise you, that the Big Ship of destruction can not and will not be turned even with Un-Civil W II. So, believe as you choose, and to each his own, and to thine own self be true. Selah
"Counterrevolutionary,” “seize power — and use it,” “political fantasy,”¹ “dhimmitude,” “fight back,” “a beachhead,” I was actually kinda disappointed he didn’t throw in “America will be free from river to sea” and “doesn’t Erickson know what time it is?”
Don't despair, ChazAtl. You must have patience and diligence. There is no easy fix. The Marxists are on a long march through our institutions. We must control our immediate towns and districts, form coalitions, and form voting blocks. Perseverance is needed.
This is a great and timely piece and I think gets to the heart of what the Republican Party needs to discuss, debate and reconcile.
Unfortunately this domain of Erick's preferred style of conservatism I think is old hat and destined to lose election after election in our modern times.
From my perspective it is simple. The Democrats are more offensive in their political game. They actually play both offense and defense better than do Republicans. The reason is that Republicans are too self-confident in their moral righteousness... able to compartmentalize their politics from the rest of their lives. In ranking what is important in their lives, politics for the Democrats and left is at the top... connected to their own personal self-worth. For the right and conservatives it is third of forth down the list if not even lower... behind God, family, friends, career, etc.
This ranking difference is the Republican disadvantage because the right side ignores the politics until it starts to harm the other top rankling categories. So Republicans become the reactionaries and swing to extremes... thus making people like Erick uncomfortable that they are showing signs of Marxism.
But it is people like Erick that keep tugging back on the harness of proactive Republican offense and defense political strategy. So in effect, the old establishment Republican high moralists are responsible for the wild swing toward reactive activism that alarmingly looks like similar behavior as the radical left.
What we need is for the old guard establishment Republicans to let go of the damn harness and encourage a standard and persistent Republican principles offense and defense. Stop tearing down (attempting to harness) Republican politicians that are actively critical of the Democrats and deliver a strong message for Republican power. Because otherwise you are just putting a wedge into the GOP and it is causing it to explode in internal conflict. And the new GOP guard will eventually explode because the Democrats are dirty, evil and destructive... and a threat to the world.
Sometimes you think your voting for the conservative candidate only to find out it’s not . They preach free markets cuts to government spending school choice then Bingo they have a memory lapse,we have to get back to a government that rules least rules best and a free enterprise for all attitude
Great job with this one Erick - It's refreshing to seeing actual ideas for us to improve the country vs. just campaign slogans and bs platitudes.
We need some novel thinking to actually avert the never ending deficits, crippling national debt load, and impending forced austerity. There are not incentives anymore for politicians in congress / presidents (on either side) to reign in fiscal excesses to avert a future disaster that will happen long after they are gone.
Perhaps we need to consider scoring politicians on the size of deficit (or in a perfect world surpluses) relative to GDP that occurs while they are in power as something the media pays attention to.
I get what Erick is saying. But the only way anything happens is we win elections. Dems are very good politicians republicans have good policies.
But this is not just politics anymore. We are at war. It’s a cultural war. But a war nonetheless.
So we need to stand firm on our convictions and not get into the mud with the muddied hands.
The big problem…
The media is on the lefts side. Masking the truth and muddling the rights message twisting every word.
If a republican says he believes in a two parent family with solid Christian beliefs they call him a racist bigot living in the past.
If that same candidate calls for a reduction in crime and men should play other men. They are called discriminatory.
The truth is the left doesn’t want to just win. They want to conquer and setup a despotic system that appears to be democratic but is anything but. This is not unlike the democratically elected dictatorships in places like South Africa and Liberia.
They have a start with the mail in ballot frauds. But it’s a question of how far will they go.
All the while we have talking points made by you that we need not be like them. Which is correct but also a bit naive.
How do you beat a rigged system then? How do you win a game when the ref has changed the rules in the middle of the game?
“Forgiveness flounders because I exclude the enemy from the community of humans even as I exclude myself from the community of sinners.” – Miroslav Volf
* * *
“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor i and hate your enemy.’But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”- Matthew 5:43-48
When my enemy’s my neighbor,
Tell me, Lord, what should I do?
Should I rewrite Holy Scripture?
Should I keep my faith in You?
Should I redefine what “love” is?
Until I’ve been proven “right”?
Should I deconstruct the gospel
And walk NOT by faith but sight?
Should I just go on believing
That I really need to “win”?
Should I withhold grace and mercy?
Then pretend I haven’t sinned?
Should I worship You…( half-hearted?)
Should I trust You…(and obey?)
Should I just keep pointing fingers
(And pretend I’m on The Way?)
Should I listen to thy Word, Lord?
Should I bow and count the cost?
Should I follow You…(to Calv’ry?)
Where I placed You on the Cross?
________________________________
“For if, when we were enemies of God, we were reconciled to Him through the death of His Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through His life!”- Romans 5:10
I do especially love your last paragraph Erick. And thanks for adding those links, btw. Being peaceful, I see good points in both of your arguments. I do like taking the higher road, but I feel we have to level the playing field a bit, as the left has managed to grab hold of most media and academia and have deeply infected the bureaucracy. We need to use cudgels (there's that word, again) to train the progressives into a pathway for a stable republic, because their way will end in destruction for this nation. Creating new awards for actual journalism (think the Free Press is actually doing this), mocking the stupid excesses of the left (Gutfeld is great at this, when he is not gross), and aggressively challenging the left to defend their 'ideas' against reality, are some ways we can get back to some kind of norm. The left has tipped things pretty far. It's time for a pendulum swing back to the real.
I don’t think he’s all that wrong Erick. Not sure it’s conservatism that has failed, however. As evidenced by the recent FISA extension/enhancement and the funding of a war where the end game is not at all clear seems quite typical of not conservatism but the establishment GOP. During my final year in DC working for Anschutz’s media company it became quite clear that the monied interest controlled just about every lever of government and “we the people” was being used as a bromide to divert attention from the hollowing out of America both economically and socially. I don’t think the basic tenets of conservatism are at fault, but I do believe that the DC GOP has lost its way. Clearly.
After thoroughly reading the article, it seems to me the guy is mostly correct. And really all he is saying is that we need to re-do 1776 and put the country back to the way the founders intended.
My son and I discussed the political climate in the country. He said we need a leader who will fight for the country. I told him we are the leaders who need to fight for the country. We don't need a Caesar, a Napoleon, or a King. We need citizens willing to perform their civic duty and take responsibility for running their government, whether at the town, city, state, or federal level.
In the great PBS production of I Claudius, at one time PBS fulfilled its mission. The remarkable actor John Hurt's character, Caligular, said, "If Rome had but one neck, I would chop it through." A dictator's, contempt for the citizenry is well documented.
Apparently, Mr. Davidson never heard that "absolute power corrupts absolutely.
Very well said. I'd add that Davidson's embrace post 2020 of election conspiracy theories should give a great deal of context to what he means by "the right needs to seize power". This is immediately discrediting to many on the post-liberal Right willing to go along with Trumps desperate power grab. In practice, the post-liberal Right seizing power looks too much like the post-liberal Left.
I will also add that Davidson also came out with a book on America's slide into paganism. A fuller exchange on the subject between Erick and him is overdue. I will agree with Davidson, that this slide in America has happened in part because Conservatives were unable to mount an effective defense of traditional values. However, that is not an argument for abandoning those values. It's an argument for adjusting tactics.
Somehow it seems the most vituperative responses from Eric are aimed at people on the right who do note that republicans have a history of letting the real Marxists win. We wouldn't be where we are if conservatives and republicans hadn't turned a blind eye on so many occasions. I am for free markets and much less government than we have. But it isn't just democrats who have allowed it to grow.
When I was publisher of both Human Events and RedState, Erick was the rebel. He’d get drive the establishment folks crazy. I ran interference for him all the time. He truly helped lead the Tea Party takeover of Congress. Erick’s a great guy, but from the start, he struggled with Trump. I know he must love Trump’s policies but equally dislikes Trump’s behavior. Personally, I think DC is so broken, we need a bull in the China shop…
I think Eric is a good guy. That is why I subscribed to his site, even though I don't listen to things, just read. And I hated the idea of Trump in the 2016 election. Still not a big fan of how he acts sometimes. But I do like most of his policies and was pleasantly surprised to find that I did. But it seems to me that Eric is refusing to see how badly DC is and really wants to return to something that may not have existed in the first place, or hasn't for a long time. This is the time for strong men, but we are in the soft men phase right now. And by that I mean, "Hard times make strong men, strong men make good times, good times make soft men, soft men make hard times.
I think it’s difficult for some people to believe the Democrats of 2024 are not the Democrats of just 10 years ago. Not sure if Erick is in that camp, but when you step back and look at everything from the border to the economy to the quiet anti-Semitic behavior of the Democrats, I don’t see how anyone can deny that this isn’t your mom’s Democrat party.
Exactly. I have relatives who are democrats but who simply cannot see what the current democrat party is. They are the Roosevelt/JFK kind and don't see that we have the radicals claiming to be democrats now.
To the extent Republicans, not conservatives, abandoned fiscal sanity and conservative principles, it is because those Republicans were... using left wing means for right wing ends.... “trans-conservative” because increasingly this wing of the right is progressive in its means, but still identifies as conservative in its outcomes.
There Left has their gradient degrees of Socialist/Marxist parties, Democrat, Green, Communist, etc. The Right has Republican and Libertarian. Libertarians are neither serious nor conservative.
Trump will not usher in a new party, he is the poster boy for what Davidson advocates.
I don't think we need a "Conservative" party, we actual conservatives need to operate within the Republican Party to elect actual conservatives.
Davidson is throwing the baby out with the bath water, like for French like to do, and they are on their 14th constitution and 5th Republic.
I don’t know if I understand all of that but……I’m definitely a free market person and a government by the People, for the People. And I’m absolutely a constitutionalist. I also believe that you could do away with about 90% of Washington's swamp .
Linda...you are always on point! I agree...the government has gotten only bigger and some of these agencies created needs to be abolished. Unaccounted for bureaucrats are running the country. That shouldn't be...BUT conservatives need to stop giving into liberals...they NEVER compromise.
Don't give in to Chancellor Palpatine..
Let me apprise you what time it is. It is not end of time, but it is now Biblically Time of The End".
The final step to destruction was electing BHO as POTUS. Full Communism begin in Sept 2008 when the Gov't bailed out. My dhimmitude is rigid against islam, as it is not a religion but a very, very, intolerant cancerous ideology only. No amount of lipstick can change that pig.
BHO was then elected and under his Hope to Change US to Islam and Communism and he was a full myrmidon minion of Saul Alinsky's. Thirdly BHO's egregious nuclear agreement with Iran, he lifted ALL Sanctions and gave them the Billions of dollars expedited the coming Battle of Armageddon end of seven years of troublesome times (Tribulation). Sept 2008 fully opened the doors for BHO in Jan 2009 forward. Under the Auspecies of the US Constitution freedom of Religion, etc. the muslims came in and as they get the numbers, they elect their own, and replace a yellow bellied stupid Democrat stupid who wanted them in to vote Democrat. Now Hamas terrorist backers are destroying (bastardizing the precipice) the US Constitutional Protesting and the traditions and culture of The US.
In addition the US leadership has formally (formalized) adopted, abortion and homasexuality, all an abominations in the sight of GOD.
Let me apprise you, that the Big Ship of destruction can not and will not be turned even with Un-Civil W II. So, believe as you choose, and to each his own, and to thine own self be true. Selah
"Counterrevolutionary,” “seize power — and use it,” “political fantasy,”¹ “dhimmitude,” “fight back,” “a beachhead,” I was actually kinda disappointed he didn’t throw in “America will be free from river to sea” and “doesn’t Erickson know what time it is?”
Don't despair, ChazAtl. You must have patience and diligence. There is no easy fix. The Marxists are on a long march through our institutions. We must control our immediate towns and districts, form coalitions, and form voting blocks. Perseverance is needed.
This is a great and timely piece and I think gets to the heart of what the Republican Party needs to discuss, debate and reconcile.
Unfortunately this domain of Erick's preferred style of conservatism I think is old hat and destined to lose election after election in our modern times.
From my perspective it is simple. The Democrats are more offensive in their political game. They actually play both offense and defense better than do Republicans. The reason is that Republicans are too self-confident in their moral righteousness... able to compartmentalize their politics from the rest of their lives. In ranking what is important in their lives, politics for the Democrats and left is at the top... connected to their own personal self-worth. For the right and conservatives it is third of forth down the list if not even lower... behind God, family, friends, career, etc.
This ranking difference is the Republican disadvantage because the right side ignores the politics until it starts to harm the other top rankling categories. So Republicans become the reactionaries and swing to extremes... thus making people like Erick uncomfortable that they are showing signs of Marxism.
But it is people like Erick that keep tugging back on the harness of proactive Republican offense and defense political strategy. So in effect, the old establishment Republican high moralists are responsible for the wild swing toward reactive activism that alarmingly looks like similar behavior as the radical left.
What we need is for the old guard establishment Republicans to let go of the damn harness and encourage a standard and persistent Republican principles offense and defense. Stop tearing down (attempting to harness) Republican politicians that are actively critical of the Democrats and deliver a strong message for Republican power. Because otherwise you are just putting a wedge into the GOP and it is causing it to explode in internal conflict. And the new GOP guard will eventually explode because the Democrats are dirty, evil and destructive... and a threat to the world.
Sometimes you think your voting for the conservative candidate only to find out it’s not . They preach free markets cuts to government spending school choice then Bingo they have a memory lapse,we have to get back to a government that rules least rules best and a free enterprise for all attitude
Great job with this one Erick - It's refreshing to seeing actual ideas for us to improve the country vs. just campaign slogans and bs platitudes.
We need some novel thinking to actually avert the never ending deficits, crippling national debt load, and impending forced austerity. There are not incentives anymore for politicians in congress / presidents (on either side) to reign in fiscal excesses to avert a future disaster that will happen long after they are gone.
Perhaps we need to consider scoring politicians on the size of deficit (or in a perfect world surpluses) relative to GDP that occurs while they are in power as something the media pays attention to.
I get what Erick is saying. But the only way anything happens is we win elections. Dems are very good politicians republicans have good policies.
But this is not just politics anymore. We are at war. It’s a cultural war. But a war nonetheless.
So we need to stand firm on our convictions and not get into the mud with the muddied hands.
The big problem…
The media is on the lefts side. Masking the truth and muddling the rights message twisting every word.
If a republican says he believes in a two parent family with solid Christian beliefs they call him a racist bigot living in the past.
If that same candidate calls for a reduction in crime and men should play other men. They are called discriminatory.
The truth is the left doesn’t want to just win. They want to conquer and setup a despotic system that appears to be democratic but is anything but. This is not unlike the democratically elected dictatorships in places like South Africa and Liberia.
They have a start with the mail in ballot frauds. But it’s a question of how far will they go.
All the while we have talking points made by you that we need not be like them. Which is correct but also a bit naive.
How do you beat a rigged system then? How do you win a game when the ref has changed the rules in the middle of the game?
“Forgiveness flounders because I exclude the enemy from the community of humans even as I exclude myself from the community of sinners.” – Miroslav Volf
* * *
“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor i and hate your enemy.’But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”- Matthew 5:43-48
When my enemy’s my neighbor,
Tell me, Lord, what should I do?
Should I rewrite Holy Scripture?
Should I keep my faith in You?
Should I redefine what “love” is?
Until I’ve been proven “right”?
Should I deconstruct the gospel
And walk NOT by faith but sight?
Should I just go on believing
That I really need to “win”?
Should I withhold grace and mercy?
Then pretend I haven’t sinned?
Should I worship You…( half-hearted?)
Should I trust You…(and obey?)
Should I just keep pointing fingers
(And pretend I’m on The Way?)
Should I listen to thy Word, Lord?
Should I bow and count the cost?
Should I follow You…(to Calv’ry?)
Where I placed You on the Cross?
________________________________
“For if, when we were enemies of God, we were reconciled to Him through the death of His Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through His life!”- Romans 5:10
Outstanding essay, Erick. I hope lots of folks read it all the way through.
John Davidson? Seriously, who is he?
? I can’t find the article Erick’s referring to.
Nor can I.
This piece: https://thefederalist.com/2024/04/26/conservatisms-three-legged-stool-has-no-legs-left/
I do especially love your last paragraph Erick. And thanks for adding those links, btw. Being peaceful, I see good points in both of your arguments. I do like taking the higher road, but I feel we have to level the playing field a bit, as the left has managed to grab hold of most media and academia and have deeply infected the bureaucracy. We need to use cudgels (there's that word, again) to train the progressives into a pathway for a stable republic, because their way will end in destruction for this nation. Creating new awards for actual journalism (think the Free Press is actually doing this), mocking the stupid excesses of the left (Gutfeld is great at this, when he is not gross), and aggressively challenging the left to defend their 'ideas' against reality, are some ways we can get back to some kind of norm. The left has tipped things pretty far. It's time for a pendulum swing back to the real.
I don’t think he’s all that wrong Erick. Not sure it’s conservatism that has failed, however. As evidenced by the recent FISA extension/enhancement and the funding of a war where the end game is not at all clear seems quite typical of not conservatism but the establishment GOP. During my final year in DC working for Anschutz’s media company it became quite clear that the monied interest controlled just about every lever of government and “we the people” was being used as a bromide to divert attention from the hollowing out of America both economically and socially. I don’t think the basic tenets of conservatism are at fault, but I do believe that the DC GOP has lost its way. Clearly.
After thoroughly reading the article, it seems to me the guy is mostly correct. And really all he is saying is that we need to re-do 1776 and put the country back to the way the founders intended.
That’s how I read it too Kathy. I do think he may be a bit hard on conservatives versus establishment DC GOP.
Thanks Erick.
Wow, People remove the wax from your ears, Go read it twice then have someone read it to you in case you missed something. This is the way.
My son and I discussed the political climate in the country. He said we need a leader who will fight for the country. I told him we are the leaders who need to fight for the country. We don't need a Caesar, a Napoleon, or a King. We need citizens willing to perform their civic duty and take responsibility for running their government, whether at the town, city, state, or federal level.
In the great PBS production of I Claudius, at one time PBS fulfilled its mission. The remarkable actor John Hurt's character, Caligular, said, "If Rome had but one neck, I would chop it through." A dictator's, contempt for the citizenry is well documented.
Apparently, Mr. Davidson never heard that "absolute power corrupts absolutely.
And by what power do we have to accomplish that?
We only have a limited amount of influence with votes. And that is corrupted. So what next?
Amen!
Thank you!
Peace
William
Very well said. I'd add that Davidson's embrace post 2020 of election conspiracy theories should give a great deal of context to what he means by "the right needs to seize power". This is immediately discrediting to many on the post-liberal Right willing to go along with Trumps desperate power grab. In practice, the post-liberal Right seizing power looks too much like the post-liberal Left.
I will also add that Davidson also came out with a book on America's slide into paganism. A fuller exchange on the subject between Erick and him is overdue. I will agree with Davidson, that this slide in America has happened in part because Conservatives were unable to mount an effective defense of traditional values. However, that is not an argument for abandoning those values. It's an argument for adjusting tactics.
I read John Davidson's piece first, your reply is a master class in critical thinking.
Davidson vs Erickson, hmm
Somehow it seems the most vituperative responses from Eric are aimed at people on the right who do note that republicans have a history of letting the real Marxists win. We wouldn't be where we are if conservatives and republicans hadn't turned a blind eye on so many occasions. I am for free markets and much less government than we have. But it isn't just democrats who have allowed it to grow.
When I was publisher of both Human Events and RedState, Erick was the rebel. He’d get drive the establishment folks crazy. I ran interference for him all the time. He truly helped lead the Tea Party takeover of Congress. Erick’s a great guy, but from the start, he struggled with Trump. I know he must love Trump’s policies but equally dislikes Trump’s behavior. Personally, I think DC is so broken, we need a bull in the China shop…
I think Eric is a good guy. That is why I subscribed to his site, even though I don't listen to things, just read. And I hated the idea of Trump in the 2016 election. Still not a big fan of how he acts sometimes. But I do like most of his policies and was pleasantly surprised to find that I did. But it seems to me that Eric is refusing to see how badly DC is and really wants to return to something that may not have existed in the first place, or hasn't for a long time. This is the time for strong men, but we are in the soft men phase right now. And by that I mean, "Hard times make strong men, strong men make good times, good times make soft men, soft men make hard times.
I think it’s difficult for some people to believe the Democrats of 2024 are not the Democrats of just 10 years ago. Not sure if Erick is in that camp, but when you step back and look at everything from the border to the economy to the quiet anti-Semitic behavior of the Democrats, I don’t see how anyone can deny that this isn’t your mom’s Democrat party.
Exactly. I have relatives who are democrats but who simply cannot see what the current democrat party is. They are the Roosevelt/JFK kind and don't see that we have the radicals claiming to be democrats now.
Yup.
I think Erick speaks to this...
To the extent Republicans, not conservatives, abandoned fiscal sanity and conservative principles, it is because those Republicans were... using left wing means for right wing ends.... “trans-conservative” because increasingly this wing of the right is progressive in its means, but still identifies as conservative in its outcomes.
There Left has their gradient degrees of Socialist/Marxist parties, Democrat, Green, Communist, etc. The Right has Republican and Libertarian. Libertarians are neither serious nor conservative.
Trump will not usher in a new party, he is the poster boy for what Davidson advocates.
I don't think we need a "Conservative" party, we actual conservatives need to operate within the Republican Party to elect actual conservatives.
Davidson is throwing the baby out with the bath water, like for French like to do, and they are on their 14th constitution and 5th Republic.
Exactly
I don’t know if I understand all of that but……I’m definitely a free market person and a government by the People, for the People. And I’m absolutely a constitutionalist. I also believe that you could do away with about 90% of Washington's swamp .
Linda...you are always on point! I agree...the government has gotten only bigger and some of these agencies created needs to be abolished. Unaccounted for bureaucrats are running the country. That shouldn't be...BUT conservatives need to stop giving into liberals...they NEVER compromise.
Amen to that