The moderates have a new angle

I've been churning my brain attempting to understand the current rash of posts by moderates ( I guess they are moderates, centrists, something like that) who are ranting about Palin-like conservatives, whatever that is -- I'm still trying to figure it all out, and the centrists aren't very clear exactly who they are addressing with these posts.

In a previous post I addressed Conor Friedersdorf and Julian Sanchez as two of the bloggers who are using this angle of denigration. I just read a post by Rod Dreher which follows the same line of attack, and then one my Mark Thompson at The League of Ordinary Gentlemen, plus another one at the same site by E.D. Kain.

You would think these bloggers got together, developed the angle, then attacked in unison. David Frum, of course, threw in his two cents worth, if it can valued that high. What's up with this new offensive?

Social conservatives are a dying breed, so why the sudden hand-wringing over this irrelevant and dwindling political faction? Perhaps it's the new polls showing the popularity of the Tea Party over Republicans or Democrats, and the Tea Party is not even a political party. This has to be disturbing to people who view the Tea Party as southern, conservatives hicks. The moderates are dying of embarrassment. They don't want to be associated with this movement so they are pulling out every cliche and stereotype they can dust off and use as a weapon.

Now, the angle is that the Tea Party crowd in envious of the moderates' superior intellect and have to make monsters out of these intellectual giants in order to muster to courage to even approach this superior class of people. The hicks in the TP movement are insecure and frightened by ideas they don't understand, so they hold on to their simplistic culture and religious ideas, clinging to their guns and religion.

Expect more cliches and more stereotypes to pop up -- book burning, racism, mandatory praying in schools, inquisitiions and the rest. It seems like the moderates are whining about being shut out and are the ones applying PC tactics. They have stolen the progressive/statist handbook. It seems to me that the moderates have a big problem.

The ones who have been active on their blogs are very smart people. They might call themselves something different than moderates but they all have centrist viewpoints -- a few with libertarian leanings -- a few more liberal than others -- a few more conservative than others, but one thing they have in common is that they are all smart -- very smart. They are so smart that they understand the danger of socialism. These centrist thinkers know that socialistic policies will bankrupt the country and destroy the market. However, they are still infected with the statist bug. Their infection is not yet life-threatening, just a tad fever-producing. These centrists still believe in enlightened government -- that the right administration, with the right representatives, can work in this system and produce fair and responsible governance. The centrists don't have faith that the average American can live well under a limted government, or that the system of capitalism will work as advertised. The centrist view of government is less radical than the full-blown statists, but it is statist just the same, with the belief that a certain amount of government intervention is necessary -- not only necessary, but good for the country.

The fact that most of them voted for Obama, under the impression he was the One to lead an enlightened government, has become a problem for them. The fact that the Tea Party movement is becoming more and more popular, presents a bigger problem. So far, it appears the "hyperbolic" claims of the Tea Party are on target, so the centrists have to regroup and reevaluate. It would be good if they could admit their mistakes and move forward, but they seem to be on offense to marginalize the Tea Party movement. Within the Tea Party movement there are libertarians who want a limited government. Limited government is becoming the goal for many in the movement, and with many individuals who don't associate themselves formally with any movement. The centrists are insulting a lot of smart peope by trying to frame the TP movement as a social conservative, rube-like takeover of the Republican Party. If the centrists continue this angle of attack, it will only lead to deeper divisions and anger.

The real problem is being ignored -- a statist government out of control. It appears to me that centrists need to set priorities. The Tea Party movement is not the problem. It's made up of ordinary Americans who recognize the country in in danger. The Tea Party movement is becoming more diverse and widespread as minorities are recognizing that a flat and broken economy is good for no one. The power-grab by government is a problem for the whole nation, regardless of cultural differences -- this is not about cultural differences -- it's about liberty, opportunity and economic growth.

I, for one, will not be distracted from the real battle, which is to limit government power. I may write about this issue again, but I won't give it a lot of attention -- I'll simply write off those who continue to make a big deal of the wrong issues. If the centrists think the current administration is going in the right direction, then hobble along after them, but don't expect me to believe your dire warning about those dangerous conservatives at Tea Parties -- that angle was tried with the Big Statists -- it didn't work.

Comments

[Steven]

I'm pretty sure the "angle" you cite is that intellectuals aligned with the Tea Party movement are insecure about how their ideas are perceived, not insecure as a result of any kind of intellectual or social failing. I've read complaints about how Tea Party supporters use immature attacks on their opponents that suggest insecurity, but these complaints never accuse the supporters of actually being immature or envious people. Rather, the subtext (if not the explicit argument) is that these attacks are being made in bad faith. If I'm missing something, perhaps you could cite examples?

[ChopSui]

"Social conservatives are a dying breed"
Really? Care to present any evidence? This strange selective myopia among libertarians is why they'll never amount to anything as a driving force in American politics.

Note to libertarians: Social Conservatives are not your friends!

[Mike Farmer]

I never said social convervatives were the friends of libertarians. The evidence of social conservative dwindling is their lack of influence and the fact that the Republican Party is moving away from social conservativism.