Super Tuesday

Well kids, tomorrow is the big day. He or she who has momentum at the end of the day tomorrow will really have something. In the past week or so, there has been some weeping and gnashing of teeth in the popular media over a couple of the candidates, but surprisingly, (to me anyway), this time, (much of) the babbling seems to have come from the party on the (far) right.





On the other hand, it really shouldn't be a surprise. News has become entertainment in some segments of our society, and entertainment has become news. Take a look at the headlines, we look for blood, suicide bombings, wars, rumors of wars and Britney Spears. Last week, Max Baer, Jr, who made his mark on the world playing Jethro on The Beverley Hillbillies in the 60's, suffered the loss of his (much) younger girlfriend, and the headline was right there next to Ben Bernake.





But that is not what this is about.





Last week, such noteworthy's as Rush Limbaugh and Ann Coulter publically bemoaned the lack of a Conservative leading the republican pack in the race for the White House. ms Coulter even went so far as to say she would support Hillary Clinton over John McCain, because McCain isn't a Conservative.





(Note the capitalization, making the 'C' word a noun, rather than an adjective).





Methinks that Rush and Ms Coulter, along with other noteworthy's such as Bill O'reilly, are merely feathering thier own media nest for the next four years, just so they have something to attack in the event the party on the right becomes dominant again. (Nothing could be worse for the news/entertainment industry than to first get what they want in terms of electoral results and then have things go south anyway...)



So, this makes me ask, what is a Conservative, (again, note capitalization)?



A Conservative seems to be a person whose political bent adheres to a philosophy under any and all circumstances, regardless of the apparent need in any given situation. The philosophy is not rigid, it is, what a somewhat nebulous "they" says it is. In economics, the Conservative creed holds that fiscal resposibility and minimalism in government spending is the path to true prosperity, but in the face of record spending deficits, the true Conservative plans to cut taxes and spend even more as a path to the balanced budget. An explanation of how one leads to the other need not be presented. Ron Paul may be considered a Conservative, but that apparently is not the case.



The true Conservative recognizes that threats to our cherished way of life and our liberties must be defended at all costs, even if it means having a Conservative taking our freedoms, in order to prevent a Radical from taking them. The fact that we lose our freedom is secondary, apparently, to who takes them. It can be assumed that the true Conservatives will retain their freedoms.

The thing about the use of the term Conservative as opposed to conservative in the broadcasr media is that the listener/viewer cannot readily determine which part of speech that he or she is dealing with, the noun, denoting something of an exclusive group of pretty smart people who seem to be, collectively anyway, always right, and if they aren't they will modify the record later so it appears that they were; or the adjective, which can be taken to mean "marked by moderation, tradition, or caution". I sometimes translate that to mean common sense, with a knack for not reinventing the wheel when the situation does not require it. That is sometimes confusing to the listener, and in some, but by no means all, circumstances, it can lead one to believe that one might be in accord with the beliefs and objectives of another, when in fact one might very well be the polar opposite, simply because of the use of a word.

Garrison Keillor made a good point about Liberals and Conservatives in his column this past week, (he was actually aiming at Liberals, using education as an example). The Capitalized folks seem to be tied to dogma, even if an idea is getting good results at a practical cost. They are tied to the idea that the other side is never, ever right, and results be damned.

So, as you get the recorded messages this evening, and listen to the commercials, and hear the speeches and endorsements and commentaries, ask yourself, what sense of the many words that you may hear is that person using?

This year, I think that the top two candidates will be the two that least fit the mold, just because most people who case enough to vote are the ones most fed up with molds. Who do think that will be?

Stay focused. This is no time for idle assumptions.