Huckabee Trashes CPAC
On a personal note Rational Nation USA must go on record and state I like Mike Huckabee. He is the kind of gentleman I could have an enjoyable dinner and a few drinks with. He is personable, and judging by his Sunday interview with First Lady Michelle Obama very magnanimous. And I might add a fair bass guitar player.
His politics are, however a slightly different matter. Huckabee was very specific in his criticism of CPAC 2010. It seems to this very interested party his problem with this years gathering is primarily the result of a positive change within the conservative/libertarian movement that threatens the established old guard within the Republican party. Following are a few excerpts taken from Politico that this writer believes clearly supports my argument:
Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee blasted the Conservative Political Action Conference Saturday as outdated, nearly corrupt and unrepresentative of the conservative movement.
Huckabee, a 2008 Republican presidential contender and potential 2012 candidate who had spoken at the conference for years, said the reason he blew it off this year was that the meeting has become dominated by libertarian activists.
“CPAC has becoming increasingly more libertarian and less Republican over the last years, one of the reasons I didn’t go this year,” Huckabee said in an interview with Fox News, where he is a paid analyst and has his own show.
I could be wrong of course, however, I perceive his statements are meant to diminish the grass roots activism that has taken root in the conservative movement. By this I mean the Jeffersonian principals that guide such Libertarians as Ron Paul and other true liberty minded individuals in the Republican party.
As the Republican party stands today it is bankrupt of any true conservative ideals as represented by our Founding Fathers. George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and Thomas Paine to name just a few of the most recognizable.
For those conservative that take issue with the status quo of Republican ideology you know what I am saying. For those who don't... please forgive me... but you are part of the problem.
And for those on the left that may believe they have won an ideological victory based on my statements today please do not delude yourselves. There is much I find wrong with your ideology and will so comment at a later time.
My primary concern at present is the desire to be a part of the movement to adjust conservative thinking to a thoughtful, and philosophical level. It is my belief that a true independent conservatism is the only way back to fiscal responsibility, reasonable governance with respect to social concerns, a rational understanding of national defense, and a recognition that special influence only serves to benefit the entrenched power base. Whether that base be Republican or Democratic.
We need a strong independent third party. One whose platform is based on the principals of our Constitution and the enlightened intellect of our Founding Fathers.
Please indulge and read the entire Politico article and view the Huckabee video here.
Via: Memeorandum
His politics are, however a slightly different matter. Huckabee was very specific in his criticism of CPAC 2010. It seems to this very interested party his problem with this years gathering is primarily the result of a positive change within the conservative/libertarian movement that threatens the established old guard within the Republican party. Following are a few excerpts taken from Politico that this writer believes clearly supports my argument:
Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee blasted the Conservative Political Action Conference Saturday as outdated, nearly corrupt and unrepresentative of the conservative movement.
Huckabee, a 2008 Republican presidential contender and potential 2012 candidate who had spoken at the conference for years, said the reason he blew it off this year was that the meeting has become dominated by libertarian activists.
“CPAC has becoming increasingly more libertarian and less Republican over the last years, one of the reasons I didn’t go this year,” Huckabee said in an interview with Fox News, where he is a paid analyst and has his own show.
I could be wrong of course, however, I perceive his statements are meant to diminish the grass roots activism that has taken root in the conservative movement. By this I mean the Jeffersonian principals that guide such Libertarians as Ron Paul and other true liberty minded individuals in the Republican party.
As the Republican party stands today it is bankrupt of any true conservative ideals as represented by our Founding Fathers. George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and Thomas Paine to name just a few of the most recognizable.
For those conservative that take issue with the status quo of Republican ideology you know what I am saying. For those who don't... please forgive me... but you are part of the problem.
And for those on the left that may believe they have won an ideological victory based on my statements today please do not delude yourselves. There is much I find wrong with your ideology and will so comment at a later time.
My primary concern at present is the desire to be a part of the movement to adjust conservative thinking to a thoughtful, and philosophical level. It is my belief that a true independent conservatism is the only way back to fiscal responsibility, reasonable governance with respect to social concerns, a rational understanding of national defense, and a recognition that special influence only serves to benefit the entrenched power base. Whether that base be Republican or Democratic.
We need a strong independent third party. One whose platform is based on the principals of our Constitution and the enlightened intellect of our Founding Fathers.
Please indulge and read the entire Politico article and view the Huckabee video here.
Via: Memeorandum
I like you RN. So please don't consider this snark or just old T101 being a wise guy when I say that not only have the republican party ben hijacked by neocons like Cheney. The word "conservative" has become as vile to the public as the word "liberal" was made.
ReplyDeleteNow my friend, the neocons are starting to poison the word "libertarian."
Ron Paul is the worst enemy they have because he could split the republican base ensuring democratic victory should he or his endorsed candidate run for anything.
The dirty work of making the word "libertarian" will continue.
I admit my party has been taken over by corporatists. Maybe we can get rid of them. But the battle for liberals and conservatives both is to run the corporatists that use government for their own purposes and those of their donators out of both parties.
I read about this someplace else, but thanks for posting it. He just didn't trash CPAC - but libertarians and how CPAC is moving in that direction. ERGO - Ron Paul winning the straw vote.
ReplyDeleteThe thing with me is, CPAC is going more toward liberty and freedom, and not big tent, big government,and big spending progressive republicans. Which by the way, got us to where we are now.
Truth, you are right that the poisoning of the word "libertarian" has begun. When I see it around the blogosphere, I actually get a little chuckle. I usually see libertarianism get trashed while Reagan is extolled. I laugh because Reagan has a famous quote that "libertarianism is the very heart and soul of conservatism."
ReplyDeleteBut the neocons have to do this campaign of hate against libertarians and independent-minded conservatives. They have to do this because it exposes the fraud of contemporary conservatism. We hear all this talk of cutting the size of government but still think we can have a warfare state.
See the below article that quotes a young William F. Buckley acknowledging that the only way to win a long war like the Cold War was with a totalitarian bureaucracy.
http://mises.org/daily/2793
It is inevitable. If you want a small government at home you must extricate yourself from the affairs of the world. But if you want to be involved in the affairs of the world, you must accept that there will be big government at home.
Politics makes strange bedfellows....
ReplyDeleteYou can't go to bed with neo conservatives, social conservatives, and the like and wake up in the morning still a libertarian...
Carl has eloquently explained the contradiction that is libertarian to those of us who want to believe in libertarian but cannot because of those who claim to be libertarians but sell out...
CPAC is a sellout....start a third party...
A third party is the road to hell, guaranteeing permanent domination by progressive overlords.
ReplyDeleteI do, however, agree with your political philosophy.
Progressivism has been on a 100+ year march. Constitutional libertarianism/constitutional conservatism must do the same.
It is an intellectual battle that will not be won with one election. Whole generations have been indoctrinated to believe it is normal to suckle at big government's rapidly depleting teats.
Truth - I agree in part. In my shallow pool it would make sense for real conservatives and libertarians to unite under the Republican banner and beat the democrats handily.
ReplyDeleteBut as noted it isn't about principal really.It's about keeping the entrenched in power.
Irrespective of public opinion with respect to the vile nature the public (in your opinion) views the word conservative... well... Frankly I don't give a damn and thus wear the label proudly as I know what it means. I can't help that some have perverted it.
Oops, almost forgot.I didn't take it as snarky from you Truth.
ReplyDeleteConservative Scalawag - Agreed. Huckabee's problem with CPAC this tear is because it is moving away from the old guard to some degree.
ReplyDeleteCarl - Excellent points and well made. You are, of course completely correct.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the link. Buckley was a large of the heart and soul of the conservative movement in the sixties and seventies.
Silverfiddle - Your points are well taken, and as you(and Truth) both point out a third party that splits the republican party will insure a progressive win.Which I obviously do not want.
ReplyDeleteHowever, the Republican party has become increasingly more corrupt and statist. We all have witnessed it and its stinks. In fact they have increasingly become a party of huge deficit spenders.
So while I share your concern the real question to be asked and ultimately answered is... how do we change a party that is so entrenched in its ways it can't get out of its own corrupt way?
And the other major party is, in my opinion, a by far worse alternative.
TAO - The lesser of two evils dichotomy once again.
ReplyDeleteIf only independent conservatives and libertarians could see the value of uniting under the banner of liberty (real liberty) and kicking the proverbial as**s of the progressive, class warfare socialists and statists I would die a happy man.
Unfortunately I fear I won't live to see that day. But I will nevertheless continue to fight the onslaught.
I'd like to have a nice dinner with Huckabee but I'd be afraid he'd pardon a murderer who would then gun me down because I'm a police officer. But, it's okay because Huckabee says god all the time so he can pardon murderers to murder again...
ReplyDeleteGene - Nice Try.
ReplyDelete