Mt. Vernon and the Tea Parties
David Frum isn’t impressed with the Mt. Vernon Statement:
The document seems an end in itself, an exercise in coalition management that offers a little something to everybody. It nods to neoconservatives who see a “national interest in advancing freedom and opposing tyranny in the world.” It extends a hand to Tea Party activists convinced that Barack Obama is leading the country toward socialism and fascism. But what does it add up to? To what question is this statement an answer? To what future does it point?
Conservatives conserve by demonstrating the enduring relevance of old ideas to contemporary problems. Of course those old ideas command permanent respect. But the contemporary problems deserve attention, too. A conservatism that has only generalities and slogans to offer will find itself useless and discarded in this emergency. To endure, we conservatives must deliver better answers to the questions America is actually asking.
Meanwhile, Mark Thompson thinks the Tea Parties are beginning to eclipse the old guard:
Compare this Mount Vernon statement, drafted by the old lions of movement conservatism, with the Tea Partiers’ proposed “Contract From America,” which doesn’t attempt to reconcile the irreconcilable but instead tries to keep a tight focus on fiscal and economic issues, and you get the feeling that the old school movement conservative leaders have ceased to be relevant in any meaningful way.
I’m less certain. Reading through the issues up for a vote in the Contract From America, it’s hard to take most of them terribly seriously, and while Mark is right that they are tightly focused on fiscal and economic issues, it’s hard to ascertain any coherent economic or political philosophy from the list. The only consistent thread is reflexive anti-taxation which is neither new or unique. And while some of the ideas are good ones, it’s hard to take the entire batch seriously. Sooner or later, as certain groups develop more mature policy prescriptions the larger movement will splinter. Some elements will be absorbed into the Mt. Vernon establishment which will gain some new faces but little else. The remaining elements will be outsiders, and perhaps even morph into a third party. But that group will be more extreme, more ideologically “pure” and thus even less relevant than the mainstream elites.
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It reads like establishment conservatives are asking the fiscal conservatives and libertarian-minded to come back into the fold… however, there doesn’t seem to be a single word acknowledging why the fiscal conservatives and libertarian-minded stayed home or voted Third-Party or, heaven forbid!, voted Democratic last time.
Without hitting that particular note, the song sounds less like Player’s “Baby Come Back” and more like Human League’s “Don’t You Want Me?”
Which makes me, at least, feel like singing “I Will Survive”.
So Edwin Meese led the pack in signing the “Mt. Verson declaration”?
Hasn’t he been indicted yet for conspiracy to commit murder of James Rector?
It’s time to lock him up. He’s gotten away with it for too too long.
We’re preparing a story on the Tea Party – which we don’t like! – and will publish it shortly. In the meantime, your Readers might consider joining our new Centrists Group at Linked In and might like to look at our new blog for and about Centrists, The Rest of U.S.
Extremists have become so loud, they’re deafening. And because they shout in perfect sound bites, the media birddog their every rant, however irresponsible or outrageous.
But we believe the political tide’s about to turn with a vengeance. No matter their party affiliation or lack thereof, Americans are disgusted with those who harass to harass, obstruct to obstruct, tear down to tear down. Compromise, consensus, bridge-building, and respect for differing viewpoints have been the hallmarks of American life as long as there’s been an America. We’re certain they will be again.
Please read: The Rest of U.S. – Who We Are and What We Stand For
http://newcentristera.wordpress.com/2010/01/06/the-rest-of-u-s-who-we-are-and-what-we-stand-for/
If you like it, please circulate to your family, friends, and colleagues. Or perhaps to your favorite extremist!
[...] the other day, I wrote in response to Mark, Reading through the issues up for a vote in the Contract From America, it’s [...]
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