Conservatism: Not TBTF

The fact is that we have been ruled by conservatives for the past 40 years, Clinton included. Conservatism was proven a failed government philosophy when the Founding Fathers formed this country and chose a liberal form of government known as Democracy. And conservatism as defined in the context of these times has also proven to be a dismal failure. Unfettered capitalism is a return to the rule of natural law. Under such law, even if we all started from the same position with the same abilities, at the end of each leg of the competition, a settling-up and adjustment would occur that would improve the conditions and abilities of the winners and reduce that of the losers so that the next leg of competition would have the winners starting from a favored position. If you play this game over thousands of legs and scores of generations, you get what we've got right now. Unfettered capitalism is designed to eliminate the middle class by continuing to concentrate wealth and power for the strongest. Human beings created the rule of law to help level the playing field. The conservatives gained and maintained power because they successfully define the discussion so that an argument against a candidate could simply be a label such as "liberal" (simple words for simple minds). Nothing more need be said just as in days past the use of the word "communist" had the same impact, ending the discussion. The fact is that democratic socialism is a better blend of government and economy for the benefit of the most people (exception the uber-rich). As erudite as George Will and others of his ilk can sound, they are just plain wrong. Liberalism has never been proven a failure. Its flaws are a myth: strong on social issues, weak on financial and national security. The best of times have always been during Democratic administrations (not a coincidence as Will implies) especially under FDR and JFK/LBJ. With the exception of Lincoln's presidency, most of the real progress made in our history occurred during these administrations. Liberals have been at a disadvantage because we are not willing to ???swiftboat??? the truth so freely. There has never been a choice so clear as the one between McCain and Obama, not since, uh, Bush and Kerry. It is tragic that after these past 40 years and especially the past 8, that this election is even close. If we could have 40 years of a liberal government and economy, today's times would be something our grandchildren would find difficult to comprehend.

holyroller stop smoking crack. nobody takes that as a fact, anyone with a brain doesn't actually believe mr. obama is a space alien muslim

Conservatives, republicans are seeming like a bunch of liars. They never admit when Mccain is wrong. They don't realize how damaging it is to continue the same negative attacks and spin while the leader of their party is George W. Bush. When conservatives defends Mccain no matter if he's right or wrong instead of admitting the truth or just focusing on half truths it's harder to vote for another republican President. If the conservatives were more honest with the failures of President Bush it would be easier to believe another republican president will be different than Bush. So far in this election its been the same old republican play book to win an election and the American people can't take that chance.

It's not the first time a "conservative", "laizzez faire", "free-market", republican president used socialist-style bail out of a dying manufacturer...remember when ronald Reagan threw the life-line to Harley-Davidson?
The problem with reactionaries in govenrnment is that they want to play by whatever rules they think are good at the time.

By the way, Mr. Will, privatizing profits while externalizing losses and liabilities isn'y any kind of socialism. It is the essence of Robber Barron capitalism. In what bizarro universe is "privatizing profits" part of socialism? I am not arguing the strengths of weaknesses of either system, I am simply calling you out on your feeble attempt to take one of the worst attributes of your pet system and hang it around the neck of the system you hate. Let's be a bit more intellectually honest than that, shall we?

"doctorfixit" should change his name to "doctorspinit." Sorry Doctor, but the Republicans didn't fail because of poor execution of power. They failed because of their excellent execution of power. They effectively enacted the polices they wanted to, and now the policies have failed. The source of many of the banking, mortgage, credit, and debt problems we are now suffering can be traced back to banking deregulation and consolidation. Whether it was Republicans or Democrats supporting these policies doesn't detract from the fact that they are CONSERVATIVE policies. They failed. This extends also to George W. Bush, whom Republicans want you to think failed because he wasn't conservative enough. Quite the contrary; he embodies the perverse contradictions that ARE modern day conservatism. The notion that the scorched-earth, party-before-country Republicans don't fight hard enough is a joke. Their problem is simply that we all now see them for what they are.

The TBTF theory explians the conservative embrace of government solutions for private problems because the Republican party is now the entity that is too big to fail. Conservatives have always favored staying in power over political principles, and have always favored preservation of their own capital over preservation of political doctrine. The conservatives who bemoan interference in the markets dislike helping others but consider govenment assistance for themselves as good business and sound policy. Capitalism is not a code, but guidelines which are adjusted when those with the most to lose choose to adjust them. The Republican party is too scared now to allow ideology to prevent goverment bailouts for the money store on Wall Street. What is good for Wall Street is good for the Republican Party; explaining it as an effort to save the economy from collapse is good politics.

The fact that the conservatives were unable to stop McCain, despite his suicidal amnesty proposal, is testimony to their lack of power. Both Bush presidencies had a great deal to do with the unraveling of what Newt Gingrich started. Remember, even Gingrich was bamboozled by Clinton's psychopathic abilities to hoodwink people. Conservatives have to learn guerrilla warfare. They simply cannot fight liberalism with conventional weapons.

Suggest you stick to baseball, Mr. Will. And you may have Obama, Pelosi, and Reid on your team; I don't want those losers on mine.

Suggest you stick to baseball, Mr. Will. And you may have Obama, Pelosi, and Reid on your team; don't want those losers on mine!

The difference between both the American presidential candidates is that while Barack Obama is trying to be a genuine leader, John McCain is only trying to be the president !

"Romance", what an appropriate term: delusional, short lived and often self destructive. Mr. Will has a way with words and they generaly inspire pasionate responses. I'm not sure there are any solutions in this muck, but the raking is interesting. Whose fault is it? The egoism projected by pundits pointing lasers at the powerpoint slide show only dream of such individual power. The ability to "will" policy into being, effect consumer preferences and global markets, just by having an opinion... "if only they would listen to ME!"
Economics, like meterology is a discipline for the masses: we can all be "right" sometime. And the good men said, "Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.... nodding their heads... ever more secure in their version of blah, blah, blah, than ever before... Farce may be the lowest form of comedy, but it never fails to to amuse.

"keeping profits private, but socializing losses."
Isn't that the logical extension of business' mandate to maximize profits and externalize losses? And in response to Jim's critique of Clinton, I might mention that it was the Republicans under Bush who perfected the art of naming legislation to reflect the opposite of the end it achieved, i.e. "The Clear Skies Act." Frequently, the text of the bill was witheld until the last minute, as in Phil Gramm's "Enron Exception."
"Clinton's shifting, dishonesty and lack of principle distorted and confused our entire political system "?
Clinton is a rank amateru compared to W.

I'm going in and take a nap. I yield to the weekend drunk bloggers. Have a good time.