A poster and I are having a grand time “discussing” principles. He “answered” my post in his blog and now, it’s my turn. (if the blogs will actually work…I find it highly suspicious that it has been allowing him to reply to me but I not to him…grin).

BR: They have always enjoyed their largest margins of victory when they have loudly stood by, in word and deed, conservative principles.

S102- Actually no, the largest margins came when Conservatives convinced the 60% that are NOT conservative or liberal to unite with them…against Carter’s dreadful economics…against Islamic terrorism. It wasn’t the message that gave either party victory…it was the ability to unite against a common cause.

It isn’t even logical to expect victory when only 20% at the very maximum adhere to your strict interpretation of conservatism.

BR: The net result is the Leftification of the Republican party, because as they move left so do the Democrats. It seems the Republicans are always trying to catch up by moving ever leftward.

S102- Again, BR, does that even make sense to you? If Democrats move more Left, they LEAVE the center where the rest of the American voter is. The GOP is moving to the center which means they move Left…in order for the Dems to reach the center, they have to move RIGHT.

BR: “You don't seem aware of your OWN absolutism.”

S102—As I rebutted in another post, I am very aware of my absolutism…fortunately for me, those absolutisms are shared by the majority of the voters…the war, the economy, and the courts…which means I stand a better chance of getting my issues dealt with. You and your absolutism get next to none precisely because your major concern…illegal immigration is not shared by the majority. And simple fact: you can’t win if you don’t play and you don’t play if you don’t make the team.

And your willingness to accept irrelevance won’t even get you a ticket to be a part of the event.

BR:This country is still an essentially conservative one.

S102—Really? Then why have we not overturned Roe vs. Wade? Why do we allow the ACLU to attack Christianity and give preferential treatment to people because of the color of their skin? Why are prayers still banned from schools and why do we allow laws that tell people where and when to smoke? Why are we in danger of losing those tax cuts that fueled our great economy? Why aren’t all the ivy league colleges Conservative? Why is the media and Hollywood predominantly Liberal?

BR: However, as the two parties become ever more indistinguishable from each other, ever fewer conservatives are showing up at the polls to vote for Republicans.

S102—Conservatives came in droves to vote for the GOP; there just wasn’t enough of them. The majority that put in Bush and the GOP in 2002 and 2004 (and the stats will bear this out) were Democrats, Independents, Hispanics, and even Gays…all who UNITED because of the war.

You and your RINO absolutist spent 2 years convincing these groups that the war was… “a distraction that no further attention is paid to our internal problems” and thus robbed the GOP of their ace.

No difference between the appeasement of the Dems and the stand and fight GOP? No difference between the find the right to gay marriages of the Dems and the marriage is between a man and a woman GOP? No difference between tax the rich of the Dems and give tax cuts to all of the GOP?

BR: It is the only hope for forcing the Republican party back onto the track of conservatism…

S102—Back to what? Where in our recent history has the Republican party ever closed the borders, kicked out 10% of its work force, balance the budget, cut pork spending, and the 100 and 1 things that REAL conservatives are supposed to do? I heard a lot of rhetoric during Reagan’s and Newt’s time, but they always had some excuse for not achieving that Conservative utopia.

Well, guess what? Bush has that same excuse now…no GOP congress. And if you are correct that we all we had was a bunch of RINOs in Congress…then Bush NEVER did have a GOP congress, so why are you blaming him?

***

Now let’s get to the nut here…PRINCIPLES.

BR, you wrote a sweet tale about your daughter; your love and pride for her was. evident in every word.

Let me ask you: if your daughter came to you and said that a beloved aunt of her fiancé was a flaming liberal and was very touchy about illegal immigration and to exercise her freedom to disagree and stand on her principles, she would anger the aunt and her future in-laws, not to mention hurt her relationship with her husband.

Would you tell her to be strong and hold dear her principles? And if she choose peace in her relationship with her future family, would you make her feel guilty? Would you lecture her about her husband’s lack of principles and for not being the kind of man that would throw family aside for his new bride?

If your daughter got a fabulous opportunity to work for a company where there was one a&&hole who was very vocal about gun control…would you insist that she stand up for her principles or make her feel as though she has disappointed her Daddy if she chose to let that boss’ gun control rant slide so she can someday be in the position to not have to take that?

Would your daughter’s happiness come before the idea of principles?

BR…how does one get to adulthood without understanding that life is filled with hills to die on. The above analogy actually came from a young boy whose mother had a thing about what it meant to be a friend. She was going on about the “betrayal” of her daughter’s friends and ended up demanding that the girl refuse to talk to the “friends” until each had begged for forgiveness. Of course, this wasn’t going to happen, the brother pointed out, and the sister would end up friendless. The mother had to decide right then and there…what was more important: her daughter’s happiness or the mother’s “principles.”

The mother chose her daughter’s happiness. I believe you would too.

Now ask yourself if you choose America’s survival over YOUR principles because BR, this is what it will come down to. You may not think it will make any difference now…and if the illegal issue is your sole concern, then you are right, Queen Hil, her courts and her Congress will not close the borders and kick out the relatives of voters that will keep Liberals in power for another 40 years.

But when another 9/11 hits and no one gives a rat’s butt about illegals or anything else, you can hug those principles and tell yourself that you did the right thing, even if it accomplished nothing.