Trent Clark is the epitome of the Conservative mindset. Win elections by promosing prosperity and freedom, then surrender on the issues, delivering high taxes and more government intrusion.
Establishment Conservatism is not of the Right. That Conservatism is Leftism by deception and delay.
People like Clark are the reason I no longer call myself a Conservative.
My columns in the Idaho State Journal are self-limited to just over 600 words. Its flattering that Brian takes 3,823 to respond. Here's the brief answer: Law limited to that necessary for freedom was advanced by Locke in Treatise II, published in 1690. It was still believed true when Jefferson modified Locke's listing of "natural rights" to "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" 86 years later. It was again this concept that the 1960 "Conscience of a Conservative" references when its author wrote "The laws of God, and of nature, have no dateline." Brian, the conservative principles of which I write are not your whims of political opportunism . . . they are never "outdated."
To take a much more high-level view, look at the conservative movement for the past century. What have they conserved? They couldn't stop the New Deal, the Great Society, nor Obamacare. They couldn't conserve freedom of association, freedom of speech, or even the women's restroom. The problem is not the principles - I think we all agree on those - but the strategy. I see leaders today such as Dorothy Moon, Brent Regan, and Raúl Labrador who understand what time it is, and that the country our fathers built is all but gone, and so we need to get serious about restoring conservative values. We need to quit compromising with the left, quit allowing moderates and centrists to dictate our platform, and quit worrying about what mainstream press will say about us.
I've no time for people like Asa Hutchinson, who vetoed a bill to outlaw transgender surgeries for children by invoking the name of Reagan in saying the party of small government shouldn't interfere with private health decisions. I've no time for Brad Little when he vetoed a bill to stop businesses from mandating an experimental injection as a condition of employment by saying government shouldn't regulate business, only to give them millions of taxpayer dollars in the form of the Launch Grant.
You are elected political representatives. You are not Gods, you are human, never forget that. You all need to listen to us, we are getting seriously pissed off at all the childish bickering. DO THE Job we sent you to do.
STOP the left. STOP the Evil. THIS is IDAHO. The last bastion of Freedom.
Too many of you knuckleheads need to leave. You need to retire. You are living in a fantasy FUSA that does not exist anymore.
I’ll prolly catch shit for this comment, wont be the first time, prolly not the last either.
Brilliant commentary, Brian. I fully agree with all your views, except perhaps regarding marijuana. Yes, the alcohol and drug laws are inconsistent; however, the fact that one potentially damaging substance (alcohol) is allowed by law does not make it OK to allow another (marijuana). I’ve seen the result of lax drug laws in CA and OR -- a slide that has destroyed entire states and individual brains! For those who need medical marijuana, regulate it as a prescription drug, which it should be. (And yes, I totally agree about the incredible dangers and power of Big Pharma -- but the Pharma industry must be addressed separately.)
Thank you, Brian, for standing against the powerful influences in both parties that continue to destroy “We the People” and for supporting and representing the grass roots growing within the Republican Party. It seems that calling someone “extremist” is enough to bump them out of contention; but it shouldn’t. Today’s extremist is tomorrow’s centrist, often because the extremist viewpoint was correct and the Overton Window just needs more time to open!
It’s incredibly shameful that the Republican Party treated Ammon Bundy and other “outsider” Republicans so horribly; had these people been elected, our state and nation would have far fewer problems because these “liberty” folks would have fought for the people who pay their salaries and want to live free of government tyranny.
My definition of a “true conservative:” Someone who stands for and believes in the principles of America’s founding documents (Declaration of Independence, Constitution, and especially the Bill of Rights), all of which are based on Natural Law. That’s the bottom line and it appears to be so for Idaho Freedom Foundation (IFF) and Idaho Freedom Action (IFA) as well.
Trent Clark is the epitome of the Conservative mindset. Win elections by promosing prosperity and freedom, then surrender on the issues, delivering high taxes and more government intrusion.
Establishment Conservatism is not of the Right. That Conservatism is Leftism by deception and delay.
People like Clark are the reason I no longer call myself a Conservative.
And yet when, I wonder, have I ever "surrendered."
Excellent article!
My columns in the Idaho State Journal are self-limited to just over 600 words. Its flattering that Brian takes 3,823 to respond. Here's the brief answer: Law limited to that necessary for freedom was advanced by Locke in Treatise II, published in 1690. It was still believed true when Jefferson modified Locke's listing of "natural rights" to "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" 86 years later. It was again this concept that the 1960 "Conscience of a Conservative" references when its author wrote "The laws of God, and of nature, have no dateline." Brian, the conservative principles of which I write are not your whims of political opportunism . . . they are never "outdated."
I'm still working on brevity.
To take a much more high-level view, look at the conservative movement for the past century. What have they conserved? They couldn't stop the New Deal, the Great Society, nor Obamacare. They couldn't conserve freedom of association, freedom of speech, or even the women's restroom. The problem is not the principles - I think we all agree on those - but the strategy. I see leaders today such as Dorothy Moon, Brent Regan, and Raúl Labrador who understand what time it is, and that the country our fathers built is all but gone, and so we need to get serious about restoring conservative values. We need to quit compromising with the left, quit allowing moderates and centrists to dictate our platform, and quit worrying about what mainstream press will say about us.
I've no time for people like Asa Hutchinson, who vetoed a bill to outlaw transgender surgeries for children by invoking the name of Reagan in saying the party of small government shouldn't interfere with private health decisions. I've no time for Brad Little when he vetoed a bill to stop businesses from mandating an experimental injection as a condition of employment by saying government shouldn't regulate business, only to give them millions of taxpayer dollars in the form of the Launch Grant.
You are elected political representatives. You are not Gods, you are human, never forget that. You all need to listen to us, we are getting seriously pissed off at all the childish bickering. DO THE Job we sent you to do.
STOP the left. STOP the Evil. THIS is IDAHO. The last bastion of Freedom.
Too many of you knuckleheads need to leave. You need to retire. You are living in a fantasy FUSA that does not exist anymore.
I’ll prolly catch shit for this comment, wont be the first time, prolly not the last either.
Thank you for this comment. Well said. Sometimes salty language is needed.
Brilliant commentary, Brian. I fully agree with all your views, except perhaps regarding marijuana. Yes, the alcohol and drug laws are inconsistent; however, the fact that one potentially damaging substance (alcohol) is allowed by law does not make it OK to allow another (marijuana). I’ve seen the result of lax drug laws in CA and OR -- a slide that has destroyed entire states and individual brains! For those who need medical marijuana, regulate it as a prescription drug, which it should be. (And yes, I totally agree about the incredible dangers and power of Big Pharma -- but the Pharma industry must be addressed separately.)
Thank you, Brian, for standing against the powerful influences in both parties that continue to destroy “We the People” and for supporting and representing the grass roots growing within the Republican Party. It seems that calling someone “extremist” is enough to bump them out of contention; but it shouldn’t. Today’s extremist is tomorrow’s centrist, often because the extremist viewpoint was correct and the Overton Window just needs more time to open!
It’s incredibly shameful that the Republican Party treated Ammon Bundy and other “outsider” Republicans so horribly; had these people been elected, our state and nation would have far fewer problems because these “liberty” folks would have fought for the people who pay their salaries and want to live free of government tyranny.
My definition of a “true conservative:” Someone who stands for and believes in the principles of America’s founding documents (Declaration of Independence, Constitution, and especially the Bill of Rights), all of which are based on Natural Law. That’s the bottom line and it appears to be so for Idaho Freedom Foundation (IFF) and Idaho Freedom Action (IFA) as well.