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It's Time For Conservatives To Play By The New Rules
Townhall.com ^ | July 13, 2015 | Kurt Schlichter

Posted on 07/13/2015 5:45:45 AM PDT by Kaslin

We conservatives have spent far too long playing by the old rules when liberals have completely changed the game. There was a time when laws meant what they said, when individual rights were important, when the government did not make it its business to oppress the executive’s ideological opponents, and when principles mattered. But that time has passed.

There’s a new set of rules, and while we don’t have control in Washington right now, we do have control most everywhere else – and someday a conservative will be president again. So there is no reason not to get going right now playing by the same rules the liberals do!

Of course, first we need to understand the basis of the new rules – it’s about having the moral courage to obtain and keep power. Until now, we conservatives have been guided by “principles” and “values” that only serve to distract us from what’s really important. Under the new rules, we will no longer let arbitrary ideas about how America should work get in the way of maximizing our ability to exercise our authority over others. After all, our supremacy is a moral imperative.

We will step beyond obsolete notions about process and embrace the primacy of results. We will stop treating “means” and “ends” like they are distinct and different – as 1984 (Read it – lots of great tactics, techniques and procedures!) teaches, “Power is not a means; it is an end.” Means and ends will flow together seamlessly, and we will stop getting hung-up on how we do things and focus on the real goal under the new rules – consolidating our power for the greater good.

Take the law. Under the old rules, judges were constrained by the plain meaning of the text, but that is far too restrictive. Words must mean what we need them to mean, no more and no less. We have to appoint judges who won’t prattle on about “judicial restraint” and “not legislating from the bench,” and who will reliably rule exactly how we need them to rule on each and every case. Let’s appoint judges, who understand that their purpose is to rationalize rulings that support our policy priorities, not seek some “legally correct” decision that might not. The law of the land is whatever we want it to be!

We should celebrate Judge Roberts’s recent Obamacare decision - it was liberating! He made it clear that when we want a different result, we don’t have to be deterred by the fact that the law means exactly the opposite. He affirmed that judges should interpret statutes – and the Constitution too – based upon a subjective desire for a particular outcome. Think of the possibilities for conservative progress if we aren’t hamstrung by some inconvenient text in a statute or the literal meaning of the words on some ancient parchment!

Where we have control of law enforcement, we have another great opportunity to play by the new rules. There are all sorts of liberal organizations out there shamelessly advocating policies and ideas we disapprove of. As we have learned, we can turn the power of the government upon them to root out this wrongdoing. We do not need to bother with accusing them of any kind of specific crime – why should we restrict our investigations to clear violations of laws? Instead, we can launch fishing expeditions to see what we can dig up – and even if there’s nothing, well, remember that the process is the punishment. Regardless, it’s important to establish that our political opponents will pay a price for presuming to oppose us.

And, naturally, when our allies are accused of breaking the law, we just ignore it. There needs to be two sets of laws – one for us, and one for everyone else. Otherwise, we might be constrained from doing what we please.

And there are other opportunities a huge government can provide us. Beyond audits and blocking vital certifications, the IRS has plenty of juicy information on every American – we can selectively release it to intimidate those who do not support us. And when we get a hold of everyone’s medical records under Obamacare – wow! What an opportunity!

Of course, there will not be any Obamacare. Oh, technically it might be hard to repeal (though getting rid of the filibuster entirely will make it much easier!), but who needs to repeal it when we can just choose not to enforce it? Our next president simply has to instruct the rest of the executive branch that they will not be taking any action with regard to implementing Obamacare, not collecting any of its taxes (they are taxes this week, right?) and not enforcing any of its mandates. Understand that we won’ be refusing to carry out the law – we’ll just be focusing on different executive priorities!

Perhaps the mainstream media will speak up, at least at first. But, you know, the New York Times, NBC and the rest really seem to have way too much power over our national conversation. It just isn’t fair how these big companies drown out the voices of regular people. Heck, these corporate entities are not even people and certainly should not have rights like people do to speak freely and so forth. They are more of a public utility, and frankly, they have not been serving the public good. That’s why we will use the FCC to take charge and oversee the shamefully deregulated mainstream media. We especially need some sort of doctrine to ensure fairness that forces the Washington Post and CNN to give a fair hearing to conservative ideas, religious views, and traditional values.

You know, there’s been a lot of bigotry against conservatives, religious people, and traditional Americans, and it is time the government took action by concentrating its anti-discrimination efforts on those spewing hate against them. We will have to root out policies and practices that result in such prejudice. Step one is focusing on colleges, where hate against normal Americans runs amok. Colleges that refuse to conform will lose their funding and tax exempt status – oh, and we will be taxing excessive endowments too. Schools like liberal Harvard have billions socked away, money that could be better used serving working Americans’ priorities than those of wealthy college administrators.

And speaking of billions, Hollywood and the entertainment industry need our attention. They spew out a tremendous amount of hate against conservatives, religious people, and traditional Americans, and that kind of intolerance simply cannot be tolerated. We’ll need to take action under the discrimination laws to punish the kind of offensive words and portrayals that make normal Americans feel unsafe and marginalized in theaters and their own homes.

Moreover, those in Hollywood and in the high tech world are getting far too rich. They are simply not paying their fair share – remember that their wealth came from the regular Americans who buy movie tickets and iPhones, and it is only right that these rich liberals give something back to working American families.

A 40% surcharge on all Hollywood and Silicon Valley windfall profits would go a long way towards making things fairer – and this has nothing to do with the fact that most Hollywood and Silicon Valley political money goes to our opponents. But don’t worry about our conservative allies in those two fields – if they don’t pay we just won’t prosecute them! But if you’re liberal, watch out!

Of course, it’s entirely possible that we and the Hollywood and high tech moguls can resolve the issues that led to them pouring money into our enemy’s coffers and come to some understanding that keeps us from having to rollback copyright protections on their intellectual property to, say, ten years.

This is only the beginning – the new rules liberate us from the constraints that for so long kept us from truly making conservative progress. All those “principles” and “ideals” about right and wrong and all that only served to take our eyes off of the real prize – our power, which we would only use for the common good.

Sure, we were all sad to see the old rules go, but gone they are. Our liberal friends made sure of that. So let’s make the best of it!


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Editorial; Politics/Elections
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To: Piranha
I am not the literary type and am struggling with Vista and Windows 8. I don't know how to be a computer warrior except at sites like this. I shot expert with an m14 once though.
41 posted on 07/13/2015 6:53:21 AM PDT by mountainlion (Live well for those that did not make it back.)
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To: Da Coyote

42 posted on 07/13/2015 6:57:54 AM PDT by TADSLOS (A Ted Cruz Happy Warrior! GO TED!)
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To: Kaslin

Conservatives are too lazy to do much more than generate blog articles and bluster online or the radio.

We refuse to use the left’s online weapons against them, nor are many of the wimps on our side willing to fight dirty or hard because they are more afraid of what the church ladies will think of them on Sunday.

The left basically fights in 4 dimensions while our side thinks that AM radio and bible quotes are all that you need to win.

When we stop trying to be all show, then we will easily mop these people off the map.


43 posted on 07/13/2015 7:04:03 AM PDT by VanDeKoik
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To: Little Ray

No. But that does not negate the idea that we need to play by different rules than we have been.


44 posted on 07/13/2015 7:04:27 AM PDT by generally (Don't be stupid. We have politicians for that.)
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To: VanDeKoik

We have tactics we can use but they involve sacrifice. How many here have ejected the media from their living rooms? How many fund liberal propaganda with their cable TV payments? How many swear they will defend their guns but can’t even bring themselves not to patronize the liberal entertainment media? There is much more we could do, but even this one simple step is too much for most people here.


45 posted on 07/13/2015 7:10:19 AM PDT by trubolotta
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To: abb

Events will control the arguement. Liberalism fails every time its tried and will again. Imagine when Pearl Harbor II comes with a destruction of a base, an EMP attack, a nuke of a few US cities. When the nation is buckling and defeat is looming—who will people turn too? The people who gave you a free phone or insurance will not look very good because you know the Chinese will only give you chains.


46 posted on 07/13/2015 7:10:19 AM PDT by Forward the Light Brigade (Into the Jaws of H*ll Onward! Ride to the sound of the guns!)
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To: SecondAmendment; Kaslin; gaijin; C. Edmund Wright; Little Ray; Ethan Clive Osgoode; PATRIOT1876; ...

During the American Revolution, the “rules” said that you had to wear uniforms, march in formation, and engage in battle in an orderly manner. The American troops wore no uniforms, blended into the landscape, hid behind bushes, and disregarded the formal rules of battle. That is how they won.

That is what the liberals have done. They have not followed the law. They have used the courts to thwart the law and the will of the people. They have infiltrated the media and the education system and the executive ranks of business and commerce and shaped public opinion via lies and propaganda. They have behaved like Revolutionary War soldiers and they have succeeded.

We need to do the same - change the rules, change the game - to defeat them.


47 posted on 07/13/2015 7:13:01 AM PDT by generally (Don't be stupid. We have politicians for that.)
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To: Kaslin
I assume this article is not meant entirely seriously.

I would like to see some of it implemented, at least in the sense of total war against the tyrannical left. When we have power, we need to roll back the infringements on our freedom, not just hold the line.

If Walker or Cruz is the next president, we need to repeal Obamacare or "deem it to have been repealed" just like Pelosi deemed it to have passed.

We need to ignore the filibuster and dismantle every vestige of Federal Government overreach, eliminating the government jobs associated with the enforcement of repealed laws.

We need to prosecute those who abuse local, state, or federal laws to infringe on the right to freedom of speech, the right to the free exercise of religion, the right to keep and bear arms, and other God-given and constitutionally-protected fundamental human rights.

“Whoever, under color of any law, statute, ordinance, regulation, or custom, willfully subjects any person in any State, Territory, Commonwealth, Possession, or District to the deprivation of any rights, privileges, or immunities secured or protected by the Constitution or laws of the United States . . . shall be fined under this title, or imprisoned for any term of years or for life, or both, or may be sentenced to death.”

“Deprivation of rights under color of law” carries the death penalty, and “there is no statute of limitations for federal crimes punishable by death”. Thugs in office who trample the Bill of Rights can (and must) face justice at whatever time that the rule of law is restored in the future.

48 posted on 07/13/2015 7:38:07 AM PDT by Pollster1 ("Shall not be infringed" is unambiguous.)
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To: trubolotta

He basically is calling out LIEberals for their disrespect of the rules of polite society, not to mention their disrespect for the Rule of Law and the US Constitution.

LIEberals are tearing the country apart and Col. Schlichter points out the methods behind their madness.

The question I have (which I have yet to see a clear answer for) is: WHY ARE LIEBERALS SO INTENT OF DESTROYING AMERICA?

And, what will we do to combat their methods and their madness?


49 posted on 07/13/2015 7:47:55 AM PDT by Taxman (H. L. Mencken correctly observed: Government is actually the worst failure of civilized man.)
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To: Taxman

“He basically is calling out LIEberals for their disrespect of the rules of polite society, not to mention their disrespect for the Rule of Law and the US Constitution.”

So he is wagging a limp finger at them for winning rather than realizing that the answer to how to beat them is right there in front of his face?

Polite society is the first and simplest thing that tyrants kick over.


50 posted on 07/13/2015 7:57:22 AM PDT by VanDeKoik
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To: Gaffer

Not rebellion. Revolt. Revolt is attempting to overthrow corrupt govt for injustice and iniquities done to those who are in revolt. Rebellion is unjust attempts to overturn lawful and just authority.


51 posted on 07/13/2015 7:59:13 AM PDT by Secret Agent Man (Gone Galt; Not averse to Going Bronson.)
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To: oh8eleven

Bttt for later


52 posted on 07/13/2015 8:03:25 AM PDT by free_life (If you ask Jesus to forgive you and to save you, He will.)
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To: Taxman
WHY ARE LIEBERALS SO INTENT OF DESTROYING AMERICA?

I think the answer begins with the founding of America and the fact that it has been the most successful society at providing prosperity and happiness for the most people. It did this without elitists, monarchs, nobles or dictators ruling over ordinary people. Ordinary people doing extraordinary things is an unforgivable affront to the vanity of elitist. In their opinion, it is raw and undirected power they feel they have a right to control.

I think most of the followers of the liberal leadership are intellectually lazy, equally vain and along for a free ride. They rile at the idea that people they consider their inferiors are successful and happy without their help or approval.

The example set by America cannot be allowed to stand. It is a direct threat to the false promises and lies of Satan. I really believe it is no more complicated than that.

53 posted on 07/13/2015 8:07:41 AM PDT by trubolotta
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To: SecondAmendment

Was it abandoning conservative principles to declare independence and go to war against our own government in 1776? Sometimes the system is so broken that the most conservative thing you can do is throw out the rules.


54 posted on 07/13/2015 8:08:22 AM PDT by freedomfiter2 (Lex rex)
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To: Clean_Sweep

Yeah, I read it as a satirical piece. Glad I’m not alone.


55 posted on 07/13/2015 8:09:57 AM PDT by Jay Thomas (If not for my faith in Christ, I would despair.)
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To: Little Ray
The problem with adopting the enemy’s methods is that you become the enemy.

And frankly, they are far better at it.

56 posted on 07/13/2015 8:27:14 AM PDT by VRW Conspirator (American Jobs for American Workers)
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To: VRW Conspirator
The problem with adopting the enemy’s methods is that you become the enemy.

And frankly, they are far better at it.

Yes they are. For me, the choice is do I live to please man, or live to please God? We know what the left has chosen and the only law that counts for them is the one they make up as they go which is, basically, no law at all.

That being said, I see no conflict living for a higher purpose and defending that life with force if necessary.

57 posted on 07/13/2015 8:34:49 AM PDT by trubolotta
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To: VanDeKoik

Perhaps we conservatives should read this essay as a call to action and get off our asses and engage in full-body political combat against the LIEberals?

We know what they are doing and the tactics they are using.

What we don’t seem to have is an effective anti-LIEberal program.

Logic and Reason do not work.

We must not LIE; that is what the LIEberals do.

What then to do?


58 posted on 07/13/2015 8:37:53 AM PDT by Taxman (H. L. Mencken correctly observed: Government is actually the worst failure of civilized man.)
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To: trubolotta

That is a great answer!

HST, what do we conservatives do to de-rail the LIEberal Express?


59 posted on 07/13/2015 8:39:01 AM PDT by Taxman (H. L. Mencken correctly observed: Government is actually the worst failure of civilized man.)
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To: trubolotta
Great minds think alike! haha!
60 posted on 07/13/2015 8:42:33 AM PDT by NFHale (The Second Amendment - By Any Means Necessary.)
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