But Some of These Guys Aren't REAL Conservatives!

 See, that's just what I was talking about.

Some folks didn't like my "firing squad".  Those of you who jump on me every time I suggest that Fred Thompson would be the best man to be the next president, you know who you are!  "No fire in the belly!" What balderdash!  As though I wanted a president who wanted to be president so badly that he'd prostitute himself to the media and the party bosses in order to get elected. Fred Thompson could NAP through the entire campaign and get my vote.  Just listen to the man talk. We haven't had a leader that articulate since Ronald Reagan.  And don't get me going on Sarah Palin.

Because the second I actually mention a possible candidate for 2012, the kook fringe of the conservative movement rises up out of the bushes where they've been hiding to watch for black helicopters, and start listing reasons why whoever it is isn't a real conservative (in other words, not Ron Paul).

So what if there are some neocons and country club Republicans in the ranks?  The thing you do though is you outnumber them. You DON'T spend all your time shooting at them. It only makes the rest of the troops nervous.

"Am I going to be next?"   "What if I fail the conservative purity test?" "Are they going to turn on me?"

I don't care cause I'm a crusty old East Texan with a hide the thickness of an elephant's butt, but a lot of folks do and they will back away if they feel like that's what the conservatives really are - a bunch of nattering old women who don't know what they want, but just want to complain about everything.

That's why we lose all the time.  Too many holier-than-thou types in the conservative ranks.  Kills churches.  Kills political parties too.

Look at the variety of disciples Christ recruited.  They represent virtually every political persuasion that existed in Palestine at the time. There were Pharisees, Saducees, zealots, theologians, tax collectors, hard living fishermen and certified public accountants. He united them around a single cause and changed the world with that ragtag collection of human beings.

If we don't figure out how to do that, we'll be as fractured and pointless and ineffective as the Sanhedrin was with its constant bickering and in-fighting.  Why do you think it was the Romans that actually ran everything in Palestine?  The Sanhedrin couldn't agree on what time of day it was, much less how to run a country.

Conservatives have the same problem.  Too many Scribes and Pharisees and not enough true believers.  And yes, Jesus criticized the corrupt leaders and yes, he kicked out the moneychangers and yes, we don't have a leader like that.  But do notice this - Jesus, Himself did that sort of stuff.  Jesus never sent his disciples out to flog moneychangers or condemn the Sanhedrin. He never said, "Go ye therefore and make sure everyone is a "real" Jew."  Instead, He taught them to do one thing - share the good word of salvation.


More importantly, he told them that if anyone didn't want to hear the word, you should simply smile and move along to someone who does want to hear it.  He never commanded his disciples to stand around and argue with people you were never going to convince anyway.

If we did that today with the message of conservatism, we would be a powerful force that would overwhelm the evil forces that threaten us.  Instead of fighting the foe, however, we fight among ourselves and as a result, we can't seem to accomplish anything. We have good leaders and I could mention two (again) that would be my dream team for president/vp in 2012, but, as I said, I would have 20 or 30 people descend on me telling me why they aren't "real" conservatives.

If we keep this up, we are going to lose again no matter how badly the Dems screw up the country between now and the election.  Better the devil you know (and who seems to be at least all on the same message) than some bickering collection of nattering old  do-nothings, politicos and conspiracy theorists.

I'm just tellin' ya what I see.

Tom