Posted on 02/28/2003 7:15:42 AM PST by ReleaseTheHounds
In his new book on the Bush presidency, "The Right Man," former Bush speechwriter David Frum offers an analysis of "compassionate conservatism" that includes a nice throwaway line about liberals.
"Bush described himself as a 'compassionate conservative,' " Frum writes, "which sounded less like a philosophy than a marketing slogan: Love conservatism but hate arguing about abortion? Try our new compassionate conservatism -- great ideological taste, now with less controversy."
Then came Frum's line on liberals: "Conservatives disliked the 'compassionate conservative' label in the same way that people on the left would dislike it if a Democratic candidate for president called himself a 'patriotic liberal.' "
Frum's point is fair enough: Conservatives hate having to add the adjective "compassionate" to their label, because doing so implies that they once lacked compassion. Liberals presumably would dislike adding "patriotic" to their label because doing so would imply that they once lacked love for their country.
Nonetheless, Bush was smart to embrace the compassionate conservative idea. He knew perfectly well that a large number of Americans were suspicious -- for good reason, I'd argue, but never mind -- that conservatives really didn't care much about the poorest in our midst.
Compassionate conservatism was a brilliant slogan that did three things at once. It acknowledged that conservatives had a problem. It insisted that conservatives really did care about the poor. And it tried to change the debate about poverty by claiming that advocates of programs outside government, especially church-based programs, had better ideas about how to help the poor.
By the same logic, it is time to proclaim loudly and without apology that there is such a thing as "patriotic liberalism."
Of course there should be no need to do this. Liberalism, the philosophy of Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry Truman, waged and won America's war against Nazi Germany and imperial Japan and laid the groundwork for the successful battle against Soviet communism. Jimmy Carter's campaign for human rights created the ideological underpinning of Ronald Reagan's successful Cold War policies.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
But notice Dionne's revisionist history, especially the very last sentence in the excerpt: "Jimmy's Carter's campaign for human rights created the ideological underpinnings of Ronald Reagan's successful Cold War policies."
The gall of E.J. Dionne trying to make that link! Ronald Reagan's successful Cold War policies were in direct opposition to almost everything Jimmy Carter did while in office -- it was a complete reversal of weakness, appeasement, looking the other way, acting cowardly, trying to be popular... the same cr*p he has been doing ever since he was run out of office. God bless Ronald Reagan.
The phrase "compassionate conservativism" is redundant. "Patriotic liberalism" is not.
I'm sure E.J. considers Neville Chamberlain to be the epitome of compassion.
What a bunch of hooey! Today, Harry Truman would be considered a right wing nutjob and probably be another Zell Miller or a Republican. The only thing Truman has in common with today's democrat party is his closeness for labor - and even he ordered the railroad strike to be broken in 1947. Both FDR and Truman would have little respect for the hate-America filth in the streets right now. The democrat party is nothing like what it used to be; its not even for the "working man" anymore. The democrats are un-patriotic and that is why they lost last November's election. By the same token I will wait for Dionne's article on how the GOP is not rascist because its the Party of the Linclon that freed the slaves. I'm not holding my breath for that one.
Hmmm. I don't think liberalism won the war. I remember reading somewhere that soldiers sailors and airmen went to battle and won it with the M1, Hellcat, and lots of HE. Not to discredit the leadership of "liberal" politicians, but the first Axis of Evil was'nt brought to its knees with PBS, welfare and grant money for perverted artists.
It's called an "oxymoron," E.J. Only one of the types of morons routinely associated with Liberalism.
Patriotic liberals would support the call of a commission convened by CIRCLE, the Center for Information and Research on Civil Learning and Engagement, and the Carnegie Corp. to have our schools place a new emphasis on civic education. This would include a genuine rigor in the teaching of government and history and a new emphasis on extracurricular activities now endangered by budget cuts.
We can only pray that this becomes part of the Democrat platform in 2004.
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