GOP PREMORTEM

It is interesting to see how the GOP is struggling to keep the seats in the forthcoming elections. Rush Limbaugh is angry about a GOP pre-mortem comment. The main problem with today's conservatives is that they are not able to defend capitalism in a principled way. It could be the case that they hesitate to support capitalism due to their "pork" addiction... Here is a quote from Gary Shapiro's article, Clemson University Establishes a Think Tank Devoted to Studying the Moral Basis of Capitalism:

The Clemson institute, Mr. Thompson said, faces what he calls an "anti-capitalist bias" among most of the intellectual elite in America. "It began in the last the quarter of the 19th century and picked up steam," he said. "For well over 100 years, the cultural elite in universities have been opposed to capitalism and have set the terms of this debate, which is why the Republican Party in general and conservative intellectuals in particular have not been able to defend capitalism on moral grounds." (NYSun.com, 09/25/06.)

For more on GOP and the problems with conservatism, read C. Bradley Thompson's article, The Decline and Fall of American Conservatism. Here is an excerpt from the article:

Like the aging hippies of the New Left, compassionate conservatives reject the idea of basing morality on reason and instead embrace a morality grounded in feelings. They reject the possibility of a morality of self-interest and individual rights, and instead embrace a morality of self-sacrifice and governmental coercion. Despite all their loose rhetoric about applying “free-market” solutions to the plight of the poor, compassionate conservatives accept the moral premise of liberal-socialism: that you have a moral duty—a moral duty that will be enforced by the state—to love and support those who have needs greater than your own. (TheObjectiveStandard.com, Fall 206, Vol. 1, No. 3.)

Big Spenders


Related: My post, THE RELIGIOUS RIGHT IS DEBATED IN WALL STREET JOURNAL.