August 29, 2004
TRUE COMPASSION ESCHEWS MORALITY? (via Tom Morin):
Je ne regrette rien: After a tumultuous first term, George Bush has much to be proud of—and much to reconsider (The Economist, Aug 26th 2004)
Radicalism can be good—but Mr Bush's brand has turned a compassionate conservative into a contradictory one. What is conservative about allowing government to grow faster than under Mr Clinton? What is humble about announcing that you are trying to introduce democracy to the Middle East? Where is the compassion in his support for a federal ban on gay marriage, the limitations on stem-cell research or his other moves to accommodate the zealots of the Christian right?In a race where Mr Kerry now seems to be the narrow favourite, the president is going to Madison Square Garden promising, in large part, more of the same. Yes, there will be an attempt to reach out to independent voters: moderates such as Arnold Schwarzenegger and Rudy Giuliani have been given prominent speaking slots. But Mr Bush is undaunted. His message is that America should stick with a man who faced hard choices and took the right decisions. Il ne regrette rien.
For this newspaper, that verdict looks mostly right for Mr Bush's foreign policy. The charge that he set off in a needlessly unilateralist direction on taking office is vastly overdone; he sought allies throughout; and in many ways his forthright style was a breath of fresh air after the muddle and evasions of the Clinton era. Yes, he dropped out of the Kyoto Protocol in a tactless way; but that was a bad treaty which America was never going to accept in any case (the Senate voted against it by a margin of 95-0). Mr Bush upset many people by ripping apart the outdated anti-ballistic-missile defence treaty with Russia—then baffled his critics by getting both Russia and (more hesitantly) China to go along with him.
But it was the thunderbolt of September 11th that counted most. Those atrocities set the course for the remainder of his presidency. Since then, we continue to think that Mr Bush has got the big foreign-policy decisions right. He understood the nature of the war that had been declared against America and the western world. He made it clear that it is not a war between civilisations, let alone religions; but he has also served notice to Arab regimes of the need to change. He rightly decided to destroy al-Qaeda's home in Afghanistan—and, yes, on the evidence that presented itself at the time, he rightly decided to invade Iraq.
Are they really asking what is compassionate about deficit spending in a national emergency, democratizing oppressed nations, and Christianity? Posted by Orrin Judd at August 29, 2004 4:36 PM
Yes, Orrin, they really are -- but replace George W. Bush with Franklin D. Roosevelt and change nothing else, and they'd be singing his praises day and night.
It's not logic or priorities of which we speak here; it's partisanry.
It's de Touqville's curse all over again. The ruling party uses its discretionary spending to consolidate and expand its support. The minority party is reduced to complaining about the deficit spending.
Posted by: jd watson at August 29, 2004 6:48 PMFrancis: Does that mean you sing the praises of Franklin D. Roosevelt? Also: Do you consider yourself to be a conservative?
Are they really asking what is compassionate about deficit spending in a national emergency, democratizing oppressed nations, and Christianity?
"Compassion" these days is all about sodomites shacking up and getting us to respect them for it.
Posted by: Matt Murphy at August 29, 2004 8:55 PMAs a Canadian citizen and resident, look at where " Compassion" got us. Nowhere except into a quagmire of liberal whining. I swear, you give these people an inch and theyll take a mile. But I guess its all for the best though. We wouldnt want the Federal government showing even a hint of moral convinction would we? THAT would be tactless. A real faux pas. Geez...
Compassion is the mark of a sociopath. I've heard too many wagging-finger lectures about Concern and Compassion (TM) from those oh-so-compassionate-ones while they're grinding their boot on my face.
Posted by: Ken at August 30, 2004 12:36 PMBut, Ken...
Who cares what "compassionate conservatism" actually means? You're at the Brothers Judd blog. If Compassionate Conservatism(TM) seems "strategic," or "politically brilliant," then that's all that matters. Principles are not important. What counts is ensuring the election of people with an "R" next to their names. It doesn't matter what kind of policies these "R" people embrace while in office. It just matters that they are part of the "R" team.
So, sorry. You'll need to find another comments thread on another blog if you want to talk about a candidate's principles. Here we discuss only strategy, gamesmanship and the best ways to fool the public into voting for "R" candidates. Because "R" is the team we picked a long time ago, and we ain't budging -- no matter what the "R" people actually do while in office.
What's principled about letting your enemies rule rather than compromise?
Posted by: oj at August 30, 2004 2:06 PMBut what makes the Democrats your "enemy"?
Once upon a time, when the Republicans did more than pay lip service to conservative values, such a stance made sense. Today, though, what's the point? George Bush isn't any more of a conservative than John Kerry -- and he's hardly less of a liberal.
I do understand the allure of getting caught up in the horse-race aspect of politics. It's similar to the fun fixation many of us develop with sports.
But I guess I just don't understand blind partisan faith. I'm confounded by people who seem more interested in how Karl Rove "will get the president reelected" than what the point of having him reelected is to begin with.
Posted by: But, Ken... (Otherwise Known As Semolina Pilchard) at August 30, 2004 3:35 PMWhat's the point of conservatism if not to foster a stable and decent society? An ownership society does that a welfare state doesn't. Neither involves the low level of government and taxes of the 19th century.
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