Right, Left, Conservative, Liberal

By Douglas V. Gibbs

Whether the politician is a Republican, Democrat, Whig, Independent, Greenie, Weenie, or Communist, the ultimate test is the person's belief regarding the size of the federal government, the validity of the U.S. Constitution, and the original intention of the founding fathers. The label that currently describes such an individual is "Conservative," regardless of if that word meant the same two hundred years, or not. In fact, to be perfectly honest, the terms "liberal" and "Conservative" have flipped flopped. The framers were considered liberal in their day because they rejected the monarchy, and rejected the idea of a state-sponsored religion as was the case in many countries of Europe.

As the generations passed in America, the memories of what constituted the political right and left, or what was meant by conservative or liberal, dimmed. A new spectrum arose out of America's political atmosphere, eventually placing conservatism on the right and liberalism on the left. The spectrum itself, since the United States never had a monarchy or state religion, altered to reflect the right meaning less government, and the left meaning a more intrusive government. At the extreme ends of the current political spectrum, anarchy sits at the far right, and totalitarianism resides on the far left. The U.S. Constitution, and the original ideas of the founding fathers, places itself to the right of the center, just short of the midway point between the exact middle, and anarchy.

A less intrusive government means more choice, and with more choice comes more freedom.

So why would anyone accept the intrusion of a strong centralized federal government like the Democrats are proposing?

True idiocy.

-- Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary