Conservative Hypocrisy

Conservative thought contains several annoying hypocrisies. When we use the word "hypocrisy", we mean that conservatives espouse basic principles and ignore them when it seems prudent. In some cases, the issues that get far more attention than their importance warrants. In other, they lead to actions that are destructive of the liberties that our armed forces have, at great cost, secured for us. Voters need to, not only know what these issues are, they need to be alert for glaring hypocrisies such as the ones on this page.

Strict Interpretation of the US Constitution - While insisting on the appointment of judges who are "strict constitutionalists", conservatives are more than happy to ignore the constitution any time they find it expedient. The prime example of this is the so-called "Patriot Act", which claims to allow the government to search and seize pretty much what they want, in the name of national defense, and to do so without accountability of any sort.

In light of this, consider the following text: The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

That's the Fourth Amendment to the US Constitution. In any "strict interpretation" the Patriot Act clearly violates the Fourth Amendment in that it authorizes unreasonable searches and seizures without the Constitutionally mandated warrant and with no description or even any limitation on the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

To be sure, Constitutional safeguards of our rights have been violated many times in our history. Perhaps the most egregious examples of Presidents violating the Constitution are certain actions taken by, among others, Andrew Jackson and Abraham Lincoln. Those indiscretions notwithstanding, it is clear that the elected officials in the Executive and Legislative branches who have supported the Patriot Act have dishonored their oath of office. For example, part of the oath of office for President of the United States reads, "...and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States." An act that violates the Fourth Amendment does not preserve, does not protect and does not defend the Constitution of the United States, quite the opposite.

How is this hypocrisy? Well, you may recall some years ago when conservatives decided that the President told a lie. Imagine that, a politician telling a lie... The substance of the lie was inconsequential to anyone other than the three or four people directly involved, however the conservatives concluded that this lie qualified as "high Crimes and Misdemeanors" and impeached him. Today, we have a president and a congress who have openly and flagrantly violated the Fourth Amendment and nothing is even said, much less done. Clearly, the conservatives have become very good at straining at a gnat while swallowing a camel.

By its inaction, it is clear that the voters will have to enforce the Constitution, if they have the wit to do it. Glenn is recommending that no one, for any reason, vote for any incumbent who voted for or supported the Patriot Act. The constitutional safeguards of our freedom, bought and paid for by our servicemen and women over the years, are seriously threatened by things like the Patriot Act and need to be defended again against encroachment by our own government.

Same sex marriage - Even before the days of Ronald Reagan, one of the main tenants of conservative thought is that less government is good government. However, if the conservatives don't happen to approve of someone else's choice for a spouse, they are very eager to use the power of the government to prohibit the marriage. If the people involved want to get married and are adult enough to understand and accept the responsibility, why should anyone else, least of all a right winger who doesn't even know the people involved, care?

One friend with a conservative bend of mind complained that gays were pushing the idea of same sex marriage down everybody else's throat. Huh? It is the conservatives who are pushing their view, via government regulation, of who should or should not marry down the throats of other people, not the other way around. This should be a simple case of the right of the individual to do as he or she pleases, a principle that conservatives claim to espouse.

Glenn's view is that the only person who has any business telling someone else who they will or will not marry is the person they are proposing to marry. Marriage is an agreement between two people. As long as they both honor their agreement and if no one else is harmed, the government and the church have no standing to interfere.

Flag Burning - This is an issue that anyone with a brother or sister can understand. Siblings often do things for no other reason other than to be annoying. So it is with flag burners, they do it simply because it will annoy the knee-jerk conservative crowd. If the conservative crowd were able to control themselves well enough to at least not show their annoyance with flag burners, the flag burning would stop. However, the amount of heat and smoke generated for so small a fire is amazing.

It's sad that the knee-jerk conservative crowd doesn't see this. They might at least try to act annoyed at acts of self immolation instead of flag immolation. That would at least be self-limiting, but no such luck. It's annoying and sad that the knee-jerk conservative crowd doesn't seem to be able to discriminate between a symbol and what the symbol stands for.