The Conscience of a Conservative - The Conservative Sixties

http://ng.csun.edu/Econ%20375%20Fall%202001/Goldwater/Barry%20Goldwater%20and%20The%20Conservative%201960s.htm ^ | 4/5/03 | Matthew Dalleck

[fieldmarshaldj]

With all due respect to Goldwater, it must also be pointed out that his 2nd wife was a raving liberal (and many, many years his junior) and she manipulated her elderly husband into supporting issues/candidates he never would have 30 years prior. Can you have imagined "Whitewater" as an issue for the Kennedy's in the early '60s and BG saying it was "no big deal ?" Shame on his second wife.

[tpaine]

Speaking of despicable, I was thinking about what fraction of the human race is likely to stand up and say no to dreadful mass enthusiasms.
-gc-


Arthur Koestler agrees:
--- The continuous disasters of man's history are mainly due to his excessive capacity and urge to become identified with a tribe, nation, church or cause, and to espouse its credo uncritically and enthusiastically, even if its tenets are contrary to reason, devoid of self-interest and detrimental to the claims of self-preservation.
We are thus driven to the unfashionable conclusion that the trouble with our species is not an excess of aggression, but an excess capacity for fanatical devotion.
_________________________________

We see how small that percentage really is, when anti-constitutional 'ethusiasms' are put foward by our demo/rino politicans.

[Reagan Man]

So the heart, mind and soul of Barry Goldwater was hijacked by his second wife. LMAO

I would be the first conservative to cut a fellow conservative some slack. But Goldwater never cut anyone any slack. As Feder's piece says, Goldwater was a bitter man to the very end. The basic principle of a right to life for all human beings, trumps the concept of "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness". When Barry Goldwater began lending his support to Roe v Wade, he ceased to be a "true" conservative.

Here's some more reading material on Goldwater and abortion rights. Link to "Barry Goldwater: Champion of Liberty, But for Whom?"

[fieldmarshaldj]

Interesting, I did not know about his first wife and Planned Parenthood, but know more about the second wife. I won't argue the bitterness angle, because he was very bitter, especially towards Reagan, whom he believed reaped all the rewards of BG's groundwork-laying in the early '60s. It only grew throughout the '80s and clearly his hatred was beginning to blind him (along with senility). After wife #1's death, his second wife was clearly manipulating and directing him to defeat many Conservative efforts (one of the seminal moments was the infamous 6th House race, cited in the article, the English-Wead race). One last thing should be pointed out as well, I was never of the opinion that Goldwater was "fully" a Conservative in the first place, too much of it seemed Libertarian. The abortion issue could be explained away with that, but that doesn't account for the hypocrisy. But, again, it comes right back to the bitterness... Barry still remains one of my heroes, but that of 1964 Barry, not post-1980 Barry (when he should've retired, rather than barely hold onto that Senate seat that he was almost defeated for in a year that should've been a cakewalk. Just imagine if he had been defeated, wouldn't that have been ironic ?).

[tpaine]

You keep making the same silly point. -- Sure, - Goldwater went off the deep end and became very bitter after his defeat. Big deal.
The real point is that the republican party was hijacked by the nixon rinos, who imo, 'helped' in his defeat. We are still paying the price.

[Reagan Man]

If you want to believe Goldwater's second wife brainwashed him, okay fine. I find that a first class cope out. So be it.

>>>One last thing should be pointed out as well, I was never of the opinion that Goldwater was "fully" a Conservative in the first place, too much of it seemed Libertarian.

Didn't want to go there, but since you brought it up, I can't say I disagree with you. Libertarians aren't true conservatives.

I suggest we watch out. Possible incoming rounds of blistering rhetorical hogwash.

[tpaine]

"The Conscience of a Conservative advanced the conservative cause in several ways. Building on William F. Buckley's pathbreaking work at National Review, Goldwater adeptly reconciled the differences between traditionalists and libertarians. The expansion of the welfare state, he wrote, was an unfortunate and dangerous development that undermined individual freedom. Suggesting that New Deal liberalism marked the first step on the road to totalitarianism, Goldwater argued that government should be removed from most areas of American life. Yet he was no strict libertarian."

>>>One last thing should be pointed out as well, I was never of the opinion that Goldwater was "fully" a Conservative in the first place, too much of it seemed Libertarian.
-FM-

Didn't want to go there, but since you brought it up, I can't say I disagree with you. Libertarians aren't true conservatives.
-RM-

How droll, -- You've been itching to 'go there', and have, -- since your first day at FR.
Your well known irrational hate for libertarians far outweighs your 'conservative' chops.

[RJCogburn]

Feder writes a limp and wounded piece. I have never quite understood what his appeal is....

FWIW, I knew Feder in the 60's and his critcism of Goldwater is a later development, but not a suprise from a rather superficial commentator.

[fieldmarshaldj]

"If you want to believe Goldwater's second wife brainwashed him, okay fine. I find that a first class cope out. So be it."

Not to hammer a dead horse, he was already into his 80s, and how many of us can remain particularly sharp or clear-headed at that age, let alone still remain alive ? I don't think there's any male member of my family who has lived to see 80, perhaps save one.

"Libertarians aren't true conservatives."

There are some basic issues with which we share, but a lot of basic differences. Not to paint them all with a broad brushstroke, many are not the lunatic fringe, but many are. I personally have not had a good time with them in onlineland, and participating with them in political Sims was a very harrowing experience. I served as a Republican Senator in one about the time an influx of Libertarians came in and took control of the caucus. I don't particularly appreciate getting called names like "left-wing statist", etc. when I voted practically the equivalent of a 90% ACU rating. They literally forced me to switch to the 'Rat caucus (and you know it's a bad sign when the 'Rats sound more reasonable, even when filled with hard-left Socialists, then the Libertarians).

[Reagan Man]

>>> ... you know it's a bad sign when the 'Rats sound more reasonable, even when filled with hard-left Socialists, then the Libertarians.

The Libertarian philosophy will never amount to anything in American politics. Actually, on social issues, libertarians have much more in common with liberals, then they ever will have in common with traditional conservatives.

Libertarians support the ethical theory that achieving one's own happiness is the proper goal of all human conduct. That is called egotistical hedonism and shows values and beliefs, that lack of a moral compass.

[Reagan Man]

I don't know Don Feder, but he has written some fine pieces over the years. His essay following Goldwater's death was outstanding. He told the truth.

[tpaine]

Awww... Obviously, you and Rmam have been greviously abused by some of those nasty old libertarians.
Gee willickers...
You could try formulating a political philosophy you could defend, of course. -- Or, -- you could retire from the fray.

Whichever you choose, be assured that most rational people could care less.

[fieldmarshaldj]

RM, That's the one thing these hard-core libertarians have in common with liberals, both enjoy getting their rocks off with baseless put downs of their Conservative opponents, usually in the absence of coherent arguments. This one chooses to attack and there isn't any argument present, and therein is the ultimate irony. Well, give this one credit for not throwing in a gratuitous "statist !" *sigh*

[FierceDraka]

President Ronald Reagan - ya gotta love that guy!

[Reagan Man]

Don't waste your time, fieldmarshaldj.

Some people are just not worth the effort responding to. It's best to ignore them.

[fieldmarshaldj]

Yup, probably right...

[Doctor Stochastic]

"Extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice. ... Moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue".

I believe this was written by Karl Hess. After Goldwater's defeat, the Republicans ostracized Hess.

[cicada]

To suggest that the Conservative philosophy is out of date is akin to saying that the Golden Rule, or the Ten Commandments or Aristotle's Politics are out of date.

I wish that would fit into my tagline. I did not know of this book until I saw a referece to it in a Ben Shapiro column. It is out of print at Amazon and bn.com, but available online at Conscience of a Conservative .

It is amazing how much of what was written 40 years ago still applies today. My mother was a Goldwater Girl back about the time I was born. I remember we had a deck of cards with Barry's picture on it.

I wish I had been aware of how important an argument was being made, what was being defended by the conservative movement, what was rescued by Ronald Reagan in the 80s. What we are rescuing now.

This book, apparently ghost written by Brett Bozell, still makes sense because it is premised upon the wisdom expressed in the U. S. Constitution. It is now time to stand up and do our duty to preserve those ideas.