What's Wrong With The Right
By Patrick Rooney (05/19/03)
I enjoy reading virulent right wing views. - Left wing response to my column defending Bill Bennett
Because you are part of the so-called “conservative movement” does not qualify you as a conservative, as much as you’d like to think you are. It probably qualifies you as an opportunist. - Right wing response to my column defending Bill Bennett
My last column, in which I exposed William J. Bennett’s accusers (“Despising Virtue”) as cheap, partisan hatchet men and privacy thieves, has drawn predictable response from the Left, and some surprisingly vitriolic response from the Right. In the piece, I demonstrated how the Left revealed its hand. Now the Right has thrown down, so it’s time I played my hand.
So what’s the problem with defending Bill Bennett?
Simple: To the Left, he’s too conservative, as he’s fought the NEA and the legalization of drugs, exposed the life shortening “deathstyle” of homosexuality, spoke out against our ex-Perjurer in Chief, championed the Republican Party, and gasp—dared to break out some good ole common sense in his enlightened argument for our war on Saddam. “Boo…hiss!”
To many on the Right, Bennett is too liberal. He’s a “Neo-Con”, grew the education department too much, accused Pat Buchanan of “flirting with fascism”, and supported the unconstitutional GATT and NAFTA trade agreements, among other unpardonables. “Double boo… triple hiss!”
Funny thing is, I am in complete agreement with the Right about this. I strongly disagreed with Bennett on all these points. But that doesn’t seem to matter to some of the Right’s foot soldiers.
What was my unpardonable sin? I had the audacity to call Bennett a good man.
Is it possible for someone to be a “good man” and yet be to the left of me politically, to have made statements I don’t agree with, and to have an apparent problem with gambling? Yes, I believe that is possible. For Bill Bennett has been a solid, consistent, and courageous voice of reason in the ongoing culture war (the most important war we fight), and I appreciate and admire him for that. He’s also stuck his neck out a lot further than most of his detractors will ever dare.
Over time I have noticed a serious flaw in too many on the Right. It’s an anger and hardness that turns people off, even people who could be allies if approached in a reasonable fashion. The anger may be understandable, but it is not justifiable.
As an example, one member of the Right who challenged me about Bennett went ballistic when I in turn challenged some of his points. He informed me that he took our private email correspondence and forwarded it to a “Constitutional” forum he belongs to, without my permission of course. He had already displayed a lack of concern regarding Bill Bennett’s privacy, so considering mine obviously wasn’t high up on his list of “conservative” values.
He said the “Neo-Con Intelligentsia [of which in his mind Bennett would probably qualify for membership] will no more support the Constitution and those who truly defend it than they would slit their throats (a [sic] entertaining thought)…” How’d you like to have this guy for a neighbor?!
After I responded, informing the man he “had no idea of the true meaning of the principles you claim to understand so well”, he went off, calling me a “spineless coward, saying nothing and trying to save face in utter defeat. And you claim to love your country. What a farce!”
The far Right has its strengths. First and foremost, they at least preach a strong adherence to the Constitution. This is no small virtue. But we have a higher calling than to simply squat on a document and declare our superiority over those who may be straddling it. For as a Christian, my first allegiance is to my Creator, who inspires all great documents. And my goal should not be to castigate potential allies, but to win them if possible through not only what I believe, but how I carry myself, and how I treat others.
Many far right “Constitutionalists” are no different than “Christians” who worship the Bible rather than the God who inspired it, or “Environmentalists” who worship trees instead of the God who created foliage. It’s all idolatry, only the forms are different.
Much has been made by the Left of the “angry white male” syndrome. Unfortunately, there’s a kernel of truth in the charge. The Right has fallen victim to conspiracy theories just like the Left has. Before any more of you start revving up your keyboards, of course I understand that some of these conspiracies are true. But not all of them. Some of these theories are just plain crazy, not unlike angry black leftists who claim that “the Man” is sterilizing them via the local fast food chicken joint; or who rant that the CIA is responsible for the crack cocaine epidemic in the ‘hood.
The difference between a true conservative and a right-wing extremist is the difference between noon and midnight. One operates out of the love of good, and one operates out of the hatred of evil. At times the two may appear to be operating on a parallel track but they really aren’t. Motivation is everything, and the motivation of hate never brings about a positive outcome.
America will not change for the better until we change. Yes, it is important to stand for the Constitution and against all enemies, foreign and domestic. But when we hate we become the enemy we hate, and we now become part of the problem. Now we are blind as to who the real enemies are.
The angry right winger feels forever marginalized, and they are. For without the power of love, they will never possess the power needed to forge change. They do not have the vision and wisdom to work with others who may not be able to “correctly” answer every question on their litmus test. Everybody’s a sellout, apparently, except the anointed few. But if you look closely you will see the damage they are doing to themselves, their families, and to the great country they claim to love.
I have often pointed out in this column the need to separate “the sheep from the goats”, and it’s time we presented the truth about the failures of the Right with the same vigor we use to expose the utter amorality of the Left. For our goal should never to be simply a “Neo Con”, or a “Paleo Con”, or even a “Constitutionalist” or a “Conservative”. No, our true aim should be that we are worthy of being called… an American.
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