"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." -Manuel II Paleologus
--We need to return to conservatism and ignore the media's advice to go moderate. That is a sure path for the GOP to go the way of the Whigs.--
That sounds good, but the problems with conservatism are manifold:
1. The definition of conservative is too subjective? Who is a conservative? George Will? Bill Kristol, Pat Buchanan?
2. Reason for problem 1 is that conservatism is not a well-defined ideology. Conservatism has no manifesto; it has no blueprint for an ideal future to be attained. Conservatism does not do a good job of explaining why certain things are conservative and certain things are not, and it does an even worse job of explaining why conservative ideas are so much better.
3. Ordinary people like a clear goal. They look at political ideology like a homework assignment or a therapy of sorts ("If we do X, then we will attain Y, "Y" being a society as close to perfect as humanly possible). Maybe 3 is a problem for us because so many people who call themselves conservative are so interested in getting into a Heaven of the hereafter that they have lost sight of attaining at least a quasi-perfection here on earth.
4. What is the point of political victory when it is transient. The dems had power, then the republicans took it, then the dems took it back; in 2, 4 20 years the republicans (in some form) will take it back again ... ad nauseum, ad infinitum. I wish there was some way we could stop that damnable pendulum from swinging, so we could leave a LASTING political legacy for our descendants when we are gone.