Gyroscope

A provocative, extreme title. But I have come to wonder if in fact a fundamental shift hasn’t happened in American Conservatism over the past 30 years. I grew up in a fairly conservative state, but it was a different sort of Conservatism. My memory is that Conservative vs. Liberal was about interpreting the facts, or choosing which facts to focus on. So, should people in trouble be helped? How much should they be helped? The conservative said less, the best society results from one that fosters individual responsibility and initiative. Liberals said more, ignoring unfortunates leads to cruelty and the best society is one of teamwork and connection. But nobody said their weren’t poor people, or handicapped, or mentally ill, or homeless and that those people suffered.

But now, the conservative would dispute the existence of deserving poor at all, they are shiftless, illegal immigrants, terrorists or simply not on the radar screen. Listen to the arguments about how the economy is booming – it’s not based on examining the actual well-being of the majority of Americans, it’s based on the stock market and interest rates and low inflation. Or listen to one ranter on the Asylum site discussing Iraq:

People still point to the arguments made by the moonbats regarding Iraq (no WMDs, Saddam was contained, we're in a quagmire now, etc.) and yet they refuse to look at the documents released from the regime that not only justifies our invasion, but has now exonerated the president and his decision for invasion. The same will pan out for Iran. As a matter of fact, after the first election in Iraq, France and Germany both issued statements that we were right for our invasion. So, I fail to see where America's position in the world could be harmed by striking Iran. The Middle Eastern nations over there, according to the Saddam documents, no longer fear, respect, or look to Iran. Their ally is the United States.

Or in another example:

But I doubt that the troops would see little difference in the enemy in Iran as they did in Iraq, as they did in Afghanistan. These people are cowards, and act as such. But, the crucible we faced in Iraq may have been what was needed to prepare our forces for the inevitable showdown with Iran.

And one could site a thousand comments by Rice, Rumsfeld and Bush. Comments that are not putting a different spin on the facts, arguing that the facts can change over time, or pointing to other facts but are (in fact) simply fiction writing.

For all that liberating us from objectivity is laid to the feet of the liberals, it is the conservatives who have embraced it the most completely. Those who defend Bush live in a land where we’re winning in Iraq, the world loves our strength, the world wants our democracy, the budget is in surplus, the world isn’t warming up, and New Orleans is just fine. How is that different from a delusional mental illness?