The Virtues of Conservatism Part 9

The conservative perceives the need for prudent restraints upon power and upon human passions. Indeed conservatives believe, through personal experience, history, and observation that men, unrestrained, will take what they can, when they can, for no other reason but that they can. Conservatives understand that just because the "right" people are in charge, it doesn't guarantee right results. Nixon was elected into his second term by a landslide. Seemingly, he was the "right" man in charge. In the end, his own "conservative" party called for his resignation. Why? Because they held that the law of the land was for all men, not just most men. Contrast that with today, when party loyalty to the left tolerates injustice, violence, intimidation, lawlessness and blatant disregard for the rule of law.

Part of our cultural decay today is the direct result of Americans ignoring the principle of prudent restraint upon power and passions. The left is obsessed with advancing power to the elite and fostering unbridled passion. No, we're not talking about the virtuous passions; love, mercy, peace. We're talking about passions that destroy long standing institutions like marriage and family, and passions that demonize honorable and hard working citizens like Joe the plumber, and Sarah Palin. These are passions of avarice, self indulgence, jealousy, envy, and hate. (On a side note: I have yet to hear even one small-minded liberal tell me what Sarah Palin did to deserve so much vitriol. I want facts, figures, and substantive reasoning, but  all I get is "She's an idiot, and deserves it.")  The left is populated with self-serving, stage-one thinkers that want what they want when they want it ... and on top of that, they want someone else to pay for it. Talk about unbridled passion. 
This is 2012, and if you've been paying attention, we've been living with an Administration that has exercised more executive power than any president before him. Don't believe me ... look it up. Let me give you some help with key words: Number of Executive Orders, Number of Czars, Number of regulations, Number of recess appointments ... while congress was not in recess.  Are you starting to get the picture here? Let me give you some more help. I'll wait while you think of one Obama initiative that has, without argument, advanced the good of the nation. GM? Sorry that was a Bush initiative. Osama Bin Laden? Sorry, that was also a Bush initiative. Out of Iraq? Sorry again .. it was always the intent of the Bush administration to leave Iraq ... at the appropriate time. Obama care? Oh ...it's so good that half the states have filed suit to stop it.  Green jobs? Really? You want to talk about green jobs ... like Solyndra, et. al. Bottom line ... in spite of all the wielding of power exerted by this president ... nothing good has materialized.  Unemployment is still above 8%. Jobs are still going overseas. Racial tension is at a level unseen since the 60's. The man has not prudently exercised his power, and that my friends is why conservatives oppose him. 

The outline for this treatment is credited to Russell Kirk and the web site at: 
http://www.kirkcenter.org/index.php/detail/ten-conservative-principles/