Last month, I was on a panel discussing Governor DeSantis's first book, Dreams from Our Founding Fathers. I noted there were moments when DeSantis started down the path of a reasonable “small c” conservative argument based in history and policy, before making a connection that was nonsensical, at least in my opinion. For example, he wrote about Thomas Jefferson’s objection to the powerful executive and concerns about the Constitution before the ratification. He mentioned James Madison’s extensive study of political principles before the Constitutional Convention. He listed the arguments in favor of the federal government documented in the Federalist Papers. He then did silly things with that information, but the point is that there could have been a good faith, historically-based argument in favor of a conversative approach to government.
Well said. There are certainly valid points raised by small c conservatives. I personally would argue those identifying as conservative today are misusing the name as their platform doesn’t really conserve much of anything. They are woefully uninformed on actual American History. But this problem is spreading: because so called conservatives decided that America’s founders were just like them, people on the other side have decided the Founders have nothing important to say to us today. The amendment process itself shows us they knew their document wasn’t infallible and the final word for all time. The fact that people like Madison came to support constitutional amendments as a way to make things like national banks and federally funded infrastructure definitely constitutional suggests they were aware that it could even change drastically. I think the vital thing is a robust history and civics education. That’s my shameless plug for my own usefulness. :-) Always a pleasure to hear from you, Dr. Chervinsky. Can’t wait for the new book!
Right to check on the history of changing thought. The "Obama is a socialist meme" was so big in 2009. Everyone ate it up, except for the Socialist Party's in America who were like...are u kidding?
As u say not the Democrats job to fix Republicans. The job is to steal their members as their tent shrinks. And to be fair, to be aware of them also enlarging their tent by taking from blue collar voters and blue collar union retirees. 80 to 92, The Republicans won 3 Presidentials in a row and forced the first Democratic winner in 4 elections, Clinton, to act like them. That's a goal. Make gop feel like Dems did in the 80s. There will be a place for them as opposition. There will always be a conservative group in the US.
Well said. There are certainly valid points raised by small c conservatives. I personally would argue those identifying as conservative today are misusing the name as their platform doesn’t really conserve much of anything. They are woefully uninformed on actual American History. But this problem is spreading: because so called conservatives decided that America’s founders were just like them, people on the other side have decided the Founders have nothing important to say to us today. The amendment process itself shows us they knew their document wasn’t infallible and the final word for all time. The fact that people like Madison came to support constitutional amendments as a way to make things like national banks and federally funded infrastructure definitely constitutional suggests they were aware that it could even change drastically. I think the vital thing is a robust history and civics education. That’s my shameless plug for my own usefulness. :-) Always a pleasure to hear from you, Dr. Chervinsky. Can’t wait for the new book!
Right to check on the history of changing thought. The "Obama is a socialist meme" was so big in 2009. Everyone ate it up, except for the Socialist Party's in America who were like...are u kidding?
As u say not the Democrats job to fix Republicans. The job is to steal their members as their tent shrinks. And to be fair, to be aware of them also enlarging their tent by taking from blue collar voters and blue collar union retirees. 80 to 92, The Republicans won 3 Presidentials in a row and forced the first Democratic winner in 4 elections, Clinton, to act like them. That's a goal. Make gop feel like Dems did in the 80s. There will be a place for them as opposition. There will always be a conservative group in the US.