Saturday, January 23, 2010

Big Tent Republicanism on the Attack

By Douglas V. Gibbs

Americans are so sick and tired of Republicans and Conservatives that decide because they disagree with other folks on The Right on a single issue, or the way they said something, that a posse must be organized to run them out of town. Folks that would otherwise be allies have gone for the throat over disagreements on if the Republican Party is worth saving, and have participated in vicious attacks that erupted over how big the opening to the Republican Tent ought to be.

Conservatives claim to believe in limited government on the federal level, while supporting a belief that the legal industry should be made to comply with federal tort reform standards, or that no child should be left behind with compassionate federal legislation. Republicans will claim to support our rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, while compromising life with wishy-washy abortion provisions, or sabotaging liberty with amendments to a health care bill that should be killed where it stands, or supporting regulations on businesses that make it more difficult to pursue the happiness of success in a free market that is constantly under assault by an unconstitutional flurry of federal restrictions.

Fiscal Conservatives with liberal social positions throw spears at those that don't support a change in the definitions of terms so that homosexuals can feel a little better about their behavior, and folks that support the wars lash out against those that claim we should protect America with a strong military, but should be careful on how we pick our battles.

Fact is, we will not agree on every issue. Commentary on Political Pistachio may piss you off, and vice-versa. Pro-lifers who normally agree across the board may get into a scuffle over whether or not the abortion pill is technically abortion. The can't-we-just-all-get-along Republicans may consider folks fighting to save the definition of marriage a bunch of narrow-minded homophobes, while not even considering how the gay agenda desires to take away the rights of free speech from Christians for daring to call homosexuality a sin.

In an effort to pull all of these battling right-siders together so that the Republicans can effectively fight the big battles, like stopping the march of socialism in the American form of government in its tracks, and keeping this nation safe from further attacks by the Islamic Jihad, the GOP has created a theory they call "Big Tent Republicanism."

Most conservatives cringe at the very mention of a big tent, or at least in the context that most members of the GOP mean it. I took a step back when Scott Brown, upon his victory in Massachusetts, proclaimed himself to be a "Big Tent Republican" (only to later change it to "Scott Brown Republican").

I am here to tell you right now that I am not a Big Tent Republican, but I also am not a small tent Republican. In fact, though I remain a registered Republican, I don't even consider myself to be a Republican at all. The label of Conservatism, sometimes, does not fully describe my position, either. I can't call myself a member of a group when so many people in the group are eager to kick out anyone that disagrees with them, or write off people because they don't like what they said or wrote.

The Founding Fathers, in fact, would be very disappointed that we have become a system of two parties. I understand that like minds flock together, and they can't help but create an organization with the loudest voices finding their way into leadership roles. I understand that third parties will always result in leftist victories, and I realize the importance of patriots banding together to vote with the GOP to keep a dark force like liberalism from driving our nation into the tank. But, I will never pledge my allegiance to a party, or a person. My allegiance is to God first, and country second. I am a Christian American, and I will vote based on what I believe is most in line with my faith, and my country's Constitution.

If you don't like that, fine. If you disagree, that's your prerogative. If my opinions fill you with rage, don't read what I write.

I believe what I believe, and my perspective belongs to me.

Don't try to drag me into a big tent. I would rather sit in a room full of Constitutionalists, and take this country back to what the Founding Fathers intended it to be. The tent should be big enough for everybody to be inside of, but the opening should be as narrow as the federal government should be constitutionally limited.

-- Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary

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