THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
An Online Journal of Political Commentary & Analysis
Volume XI, Issue # 93, April 1, 2009
Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
Government Committed to & Acting in Accord with Conservative Principles
Ensures a Nation's Strength, Progress, & Prosperity
WHO WILL RESURRECT CONSERVATISM?
By Christopher G. Adamo
WHAT AMERICA NEEDS FOR SURVIVAL AS A FREE & SOVEREIGN NATION: A REBIRTH OF AMERICAN
CONSERVATISM, EMANATING NOT FROM ONE CHARISMATIC INDIVIDUAL POLITICAL LEADER, BUT FROM THE PEOPLE OF
THE AMERICAN HEARTLAND, PEOPLE RESOLVED TO ACCEPT NOTHING LESS THAN REAL CONSERVATISM AS U.S.
DOMESTIC & FOREIGN POLICY -- TO BE EFFECTIVE IN PROMOTING THE CONSERVATIVE REVIVAL, CONSERVATIVE
CANDIDATES & OTHER POLITICALLY ACTIVE CONSERVATIVES MUST SHARE & ARTICULATE A VISION & POLICY AGENDA
THAT RESONATES WITH THE AMERICAN PEOPLE & INSPIRES THEM. CONSERVATIVES MUST REMAIN FOCUSED ON
ISSUES THAT ARE OF GREAT SIGNIFICANCE TO THE AMERICAN PEOPLE & ARE PERCEIVED BY THEM TO BE VITAL TO
THE GENERAL WELFARE, OR PUBLIC INTEREST, OF THE U.S.A. THE SOCALLED "MODERATE" (I.E., LIBERAL) ELEMENT
IN THE REPUBLICAN PARTY MUST BE DESTROYED, & THE REPUBLICAN PARTY MUST BE MAINTAINED & REINFORCED AS
AMERICA'S ONE & ONLY TRULY CONSERVATIVE PARTY.
FULL STORY:
With the dawn of each new day, America is affronted by yet another outrage
from the Obama administration and its lackeys on Capitol Hill. In response,
the people of the heartland are increasingly vocal in their anger and
opposition to the premeditated dismantling of our once-great country. The
simmering “backlash” is real and will continue to grow and generate
political momentum for the Right, so long as Conservatives remain focused on
the significant issues. Nothing should be allowed to dilute or distract them
from the correct priorities.
Unfortunately, a seemingly fitting and proper concern is doing just that.
Too many Conservatives are looking for that mythical political “leader” who
will suddenly appear on the national scene to take up the standard of
Conservatism and advance it against the onslaught of the Obama hordes. And,
while such a battle does indeed need to be fought, it is unproductive and
dispiriting to dwell on the notion that any one individual, unblemished by
past baggage and thus immune to the wholly predictable media character
assault, might magically materialize to coordinate and lead this fight.
For starters, it must be conceded that, among the field of Conservatives, no
mere mortal will ever pass muster with the Liberal media. Certainly, no one
ever has. Too many Conservatives lost their zeal for Alaska Governor Sarah
Palin in the wake of those blistering media attacks on her, simply because
they believed the bad press thereafter rendered her as “damaged goods.”
Likewise, the effort to erase Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal from the
national scene, because he ostensibly did poorly in his response to the
Obama State of the Union show, was, in reality, a pre-planned Democratic Party and Liberal Leftist media
strategy that would have been implemented, no matter how flamboyantly Jindal
had countered Obama’s scripted and staged event. Sadly, socalled Republican
“moderates” (i.e., Liberal "Republicans," or Rupublicans In Name Only) accepted the
Democratic Liberal Leftist assessment of Jindal far too easily.
If media disparagement is all that is necessary for the Conservative base to be
scattered and dispersed, it is guaranteed that nobody on the political Right will ever
move into the limelight without receiving this inevitable scrutiny. And, at
that point, they will just as inevitably be found wanting, and marked for
rejection, at the behest of the Liberal establishment.
Such a scheme is, in itself, nothing new for the political and cultural Left, but has been standard
operating procedure for several decades. Consequently, its only chances for
success depend on encouraging a mindset among Conservatives to believe and
embrace such propaganda. Conservatives hold the keys to their own successes
and failures. What may have changed, and thus requires immediate attention,
is the growing willingness to trust the judgment of Liberal critics.
Consider the primary icon of Conservatism during the past half-century,
Ronald Wilson Reagan. His legacy is now universally upheld among Conservatives as
the epitome of the “glory days.” Yet, even he was never beyond the reach of
unscrupulous and often fabricated castigation on the nightly news. In fact,
bludgeoned incessantly by the media prior, during, and even long after his
terms as President, Reagan’s virtues were hardly considered universal or
self-evident, until the very recent past.
In truth, the media disparaged him in the severest of terms, only conceding
anything worthy on his part long after he had left the White House. And that
concession was itself not a true recognition of his merit as President, but
only a means of highlighting the comparative lack of any individual of a
similar stature in the current field of Conservative notables.
Reagan was long considered too “extreme” by Republican Party regulars to rally Middle
America. As a result, he lost the 1976 presidential primaries to the
perennially insipid incumbent Gerald Ford. It is entirely likely that Reagan’s
success in 1980 would never have ensued, were it not for the resurgence
of American self-awareness that resulted from the Iranian hostage crisis of
1979, and Jimmy Carter’s consistent bungling of that episode.
Throughout his term as President, Reagan’s policies and directives were
invariably treated as dire assaults on the fabric of America, or as possible
catalysts to world war and the end of humanity. Political opponents such as U.S.
House Speaker Thomas “Tip” O’Neill (Democrat - Massachusetts) described him as wholly ignorant,
and diplomat Clark Clifford called him “an amiable dunce.” The term
“Reaganomics” was concocted in a disparaging effort to blame his fiscal
policy for the economic downturn of the early 1980s.
Perhaps most significantly, throughout the entire Reagan era, from his
ascendancy to the “sunset” of his presence on the national scene, the
predictable cadre of Republican “moderates,” from 1980 rival John Anderson
to his successor George H.W. Bush, sought to soften and undermine his
Conservatism, redounding ultimately to their own political harm.
Second only to Ronald Reagan as a Conservative pillar during the past three
decades, was former Georgia Congressman and one-time U.S. House Speaker Newt
Gingrich. Yet, like Reagan, Gingrich was hardly the assured standard bearer
of the Conservative movement before its coalescence among the “grassroots”
as a repercussion of Bill Clinton’s 1992 presidential election victory.
As Republican Minority Whip beginning in 1989, Gingrich was virtually unknown
to most of Middle America prior to his 1994 “Contract with America.”
Possessing neither the physical stature nor the charisma to engender
pop-culture enthusiasm, and disparaged by the media as a heartless
neanderthal, Gingrich only rose to prominence as it became evident that
America was stridently rejecting the Liberal Leftist & Statist/Socialist offensive of
President Clinton.
Riding the tidal wave of Conservative public sentiment that swept the nation
in the 1994 elections, Gingrich was at once the leader of the Conservative
movement and the quintessential villain of the Left. Yet, despite an all-out
attempt by the Left to politically destroy him, Newt Gingrich’s vision
resonated with the people of the nation and inspired them, for at least as
long as he was willing to brave the media firestorm and stay on message.
In the admittedly dire straits where America currently finds itself, it
seems to many that the only hope of political salvation must come with the
advent of a new and remarkable Conservative leader. Yet, such a scenario,
originating from the top and filtering down to the grassroots, is, in
actuality, the modus operandi of the political Left, not the political Right.
The shriveled reality behind the immense Obama mystique stands as inarguable
proof. Here is an iconic “rock-star” of Liberalism that, in truth, is strictly
a media creation. As a result, despite his ostensibly “messianic” persona, a
serious media analysis could totally deflate his Presidency in the matter of
weeks. Could any Conservative icon, having ascended to prominence under
similar circumstances, ever expect to be immune to a similar fate?
A rebirth of real Conservatism, emanating not from one charismatic
individual, but from the people of real America, who are resolved to accept
nothing less, will be the defining element that inspires and motivates
committed Conservatives in the political realm. “We the People” must convey
our conviction that the cause is just and right, and that they who honorably
represent us will receive the support they need to carry on the fight.
LINKS TO RELATED TOPICS:
American Politics, Political Competition, & the Control of
Public Policy: Elections, Political Parties, Political Factions,
Ideologies, & Special Interest Groups
American Government & the U.S. Presidency:
Presidential Politics & National Leadership
The American Political System:
Politics & Government in the U.S.A.
The American Political & Cultural Left:
Liberals, Statists, Socialists, Marxists, & Other Leftists:
The Democratic Party, Academia, & the Mainstream Media
Liberalism Versus Conservatism in American Politics
-------------------------
POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY & POLITICAL IDEOLOGIES:
COMPETING SYSTEMS OF POLITICAL THOUGHT
Conservatism
Traditional Conservatism: Questions & Answers
Conservatism: Attitudes, Types, & Present Status
Constitutional Conservatism: American & British
Liberalism
Classical Liberalism: Intellectual Foundations
Classical Liberalism: Conservative Liberalism
Manchester Liberalism & Social Darwinism
Modern Social "Liberalism": Statist "Liberalism"
Radical & Totalitarian Ideologies
Radicalism, Utopianism, & Totalitarianism
Christopher G. Adamo is a freelance writer and staff writer for the New
Media Alliance. He lives in southeastern Wyoming. He has been active in
local and state politics for many years and is a managing partner in Best
American Buy (www.bestamericanbuy.com), an e-commerce business that markets
products exclusively made in America. His contact information and archives
can be found at www.chrisadamo.com
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THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
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Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
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