by Diane Alden

The conservative movement compromised the day Ronald Reagan appointed George H.W. Bush his VP.

That decision allowed the Rockefeller/Dole/Ford/Bush wing of the Republican establishment to steer the party towards the big government left. It was a decision based on pragmatism, compromise, and “unity” at any cost.

This was the same Ronald Reagan who was vilified, laughed at, and marginalized by the Rockefeller wing of the Republican establishment. Whatever the reason for his decision, ultimately it meant conservatism would be defined by the left-wing press and abused by the big government wing of the GOP.

Ann Coulter refers to this wing as the “loser wing.” She is right. The only way this bunch wins is when they run left in a blue state or hide behind conservative rhetoric and agenda in the national election.

Recently, a shill for the Republican establishment blamed the 1992 loss of George H.W. Bush and the 1996 Bob Dole disaster on conservatives. Take it to the bank, that same establishment is going to hang McCain’s flameout in November on conservatives as well. Conservatives can do nothing right — so to speak, at least for the Republican establishment.

They want conservatives to sell their books or promote their agenda and tell them someday conservative goals will happen. When in power they promote “moderate” candidates over conservatives as George W. Bush has done time and time again. I wish conservatives would understand this and make the break before they become more insignificant to the establishment than they already are.

In 2008, many principled conservatives are standing their ground.

No more compromise on principle because there are so few conservative principles the establishment believes in. Conservatism as a political movement was hijacked and real conservatives for at least a decade read out of the party. An example of what the establishment thinks of conservatives comes from former member of George H.W. Bush’s administration, Bill Bennett.

On CNN, he referred to conservatives who can’t swallow McCain, as akin to “Trotskyites.” Nice going Bill, next time you want to sell a ghost written book let us know. Rush Limbaugh mentioned this episode on his radio show last week. It is one of numerous insults the Republican establishment is hurling at conservatives.

Conservatives involved in the illegal immigrant problem have felt the wrath of the Republican establishment for some time. Presently that wrath is spilling over onto anyone who won’t back McCain. Heaping coals on conservatives are Warren Rudman, Michael Medved, Phil Gramm, Rick Perry, Bill Kristol, Fred Barnes, Wall Street Journal editorial board, Trent Lott, Lindsey Graham — you get the idea.

They appear incensed that conservatives in and out of the media are no longer willing to carry Republican establishment water regardless of how deadly to this nation or which senseless big government Republican they back.

Where do conservatives stand in the Republican Party?

Writer/commentator Selwyn Duke has an insightful take on that topic.

“Some liberals know that the best way to ensure constant movement toward the left is by portraying the status quo as dangerously far right. If you repeatedly warn that we teeter on the brink of rightist hegemony, people will assume that to achieve ‘balance’ we must tack further left toward your mythical center.

“Then we have conservatives influenced by the natural desire to view the world as the happy place they’d like to inhabit. Ingenuous sorts, they confuse Republican with conservative, party with principles, and electoral wars with the cultural one.”

The left often refers to conservatives as racist, protectionist, isolationist, xenophobic, fascist right winger, hater, divisive, sexist, extremists, kooks, conspiracy buffs, etc. These words have been used so often by the left they no longer have meaning. Conservatives should have expected the establishment wing of the Republicans would attempt to denigrate and marginalize principled conservatives using those same insults.

Those involved in illegal immigration fight have felt the sting of those words for years.

To some extent, the only respite for conservatism and conservatives was in the Reagan years. The breathing space peaked in the conservative driven Republican revolution of 1994. Unfortunately, the advancement of conservatism was stopped in the U.S. Senate. Unlike the House, Senate Republicans invariably are about compromise no matter how awful — forget the conservative agenda they made sure it was never going to happen because their power came before principle.

Along with the Republicans in the US Senate whatever good conservatives accomplished over the decades was almost totally undone when George W. Bush came to power. National security was his issue. Nonetheless he left the southern border open as millions of Third World poor and others invaded with no real effort to stop them.

Any thinking American understands George W. Bush, like his predecessor, was more into living up to state sponsored charity than national security. Worse, he sent American troops thousands of miles away to fight a war on terror while buckling to the desires of a corrupt Mexican establishment and unthinking business interests.

The appalling “big tent” Republican Party is a nod to the leftwing fantasy favoring mediocrity, compromise above principle, and national suicide. For the ‘powers-that-be’ compromise is only to be practiced by conservatives giving up principle to advance the big government agenda of the left and the Rockefeller/Bush/McCain establishment. Conservatives have spent years watching as members of the Rockefeller establishment ‘compromise’ principle.

This wing of the party in cahoots with the left grew government faster than LBJ. The conservative media only paid modest attention rationalizing it as ‘taking an issue away from democrats. That is over now.

Finally, it is time to end conservatism’s deification of Ronald Reagan. The establishment captured his name imposing their agenda and goals using it to fool good people. Party before principle is not acceptable if conservatives want to keep conservatism relevant and the United States strong and secure.

Conservatives, therefore, must ask whether or not Ronald Reagan would remain a prisoner of the Republican Party in this era or be a real maverick and put conservatism and America first.

My belief is that if he were alive today he would tell conservatives to move on. He might even tell them to become revolutionaries and retake the United States and protect it from the destructive instincts of his own party. Above all I think he would tell us in our own era — be American first, last, and always.

Stiff Right Jab contributor Diane Alden is a pundit with America’s News Page, NewsMax.com

Technorati Tags: diane alden, newsmax.com, stiff right jab, politics, republican party, republicans, rinos, establishment, john mccain, ronald reagan, mitt romney, ron paul, rockefeller, bob dole, gerald ford, george w. bush, george h.w. bush, pragmatism, fabianism, third way, bipartisanship

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