THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
An Online Journal of Political Commentary & Analysis
Volume X, Issue # 57, February 27, 2008
Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
Government Committed to & Acting in Accord with Conservative Principles
Ensures a Nation's Strength, Progress, & Prosperity
LAWRENCE EAGLEBURGER'S FAUX CONSERVATISM
WILL BACKFIRE
By Christopher G. Adamo
THE PSEUDO-CONSERVATISM OF JOHN MCCAIN CONTRASTED WITH THE ACTUALITIES OF HIS REAL POLITICAL
PHILOSOPHY: THE LIKELY IMPACT THAT REVELATION OF MCCAIN'S REAL POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY WILL HAVE ON
HIS POLITICAL FORTUNES IN THE 2008 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION CAMPAIGN -- MCCAIN'S COVERT LIBERALISM AS A SERIOUS
THREAT TO HIS VIABILITY AS THE REPUBLICAN CANDIDATE FOR PRESIDENT -- THE ENDEAVOR TO BRING INTO MCCAIN'S
FOLD GRASSROOTS CONSERVATIVES, THE VERY PEOPLE HE HAS BETRAYED OVER THE YEARS IN EFFORTS TO EXPLOIT
CLOSELY DIVIDED POLITICAL SITUTIONS FOR HIS OWN AGGRANDIZEMENT -- THE CURRENT ATTEMPTS TO SILENCE
CONSERVATIVE TALK RADIO & PRESSURE CONSERVATIVES INTO ABANDONING THEIR OWN CONVICTIONS & PRINCIPLES
FULL STORY:
Coming as absolutely no surprise to real Conservatives, the breaking New York Times story on Republican candidate
John McCain’s questionable relationship with lobbyist Vicki Iseman in 2000 is a telling harbinger of the nature of the
upcoming election cycle. Perhaps McCain is surprised to find himself in the crosshairs of his fickle former media allies. But,
if so, he is virtually alone in such a reaction.
Furthermore, it matters little that the story, thus far, appears to be absolutely baseless. John McCain, once considered by the
Liberal press to be their “darling” among Republicans, can be confident that, between now and November, he will be getting
more of the same, both real and contrived. It is reasonable to anticipate that the New York Times might eventually
invoke some version of a “stained blue dress,” whether authentic or concocted, to corroborate their allegations.
In any case, John McCain carries an enormous load of past baggage, from dubious political alliances to rash and provocative
declarations, which Liberals in the media fully intend to expose at the most strategically inopportune moments of his campaign.
This has been their plan all along, and, if their mudslinging bears elements of validity even only occasionally, the strategy will
be effective.
Yet, John McCain faces an even bigger threat to his political viability, and that is the actualities of his political philosophy,
when inconveniently revealed by those who consider themselves his friends and allies. The more they talk, the worse they
make it for their chosen candidate. Former “Bush 41” Secretary of State Lawrence Eagleburger, the latest of these, loudly
proved this point last week on MSNBC when attacking Conservative talk radio.
Eagleburger understands that, in order for McCain to win, it is essential to bring grassroots Conservatives into the fold. Yet,
these are the very people whom John McCain has most diligently betrayed over the years in his efforts to exploit closely
divided political situations for his own aggrandizement.
Having so thoroughly cast himself in the mold of turncoat, the only remaining intellectually honest case for choosing him
over Hillary Clinton or Barak Obama is that, as bad as a McCain presidency promises to be, either of the two Democrats
would be worse.
No doubt, behind closed doors, McCain campaign operatives realize that this approach will work no better for the Arizona
Senator than it did for the senior George Bush in 1992, or Bob Dole in 1996. But, aside from this insipid argument, which
hardly constitutes a political platform, Senator McCain has, by his own malicious actions and words thoroughly neutralized
any other basis on which to support his candidacy.
Since it is impossible at this late juncture to prove to Conservatives that McCain is really one of them, the only alternative
is to press them to abandon their own convictions and principles and concede the inherent superiority of those beliefs held
by McCain.
So, the task ahead for Lawrence Eagleburger and his political class is nothing less than the eradication of real Conservatism,
or at least the political marginalization of its most prominent advocates. Thus, the necessity to demean the likes of Rush
Limbaugh and his relationship to true Conservatism.
To be sure, Limbaugh has, on rare occasions, found himself at odds with many of his listeners. He tends to regard market
driven capitalism as the progenitor of a free and moral society, rather than being its inevitable byproduct. As a result, he
sometimes draws odd boundaries around the definition of “Conservatism.” For example, by his characterization of Rudy
Giuliani as a “Conservative,” he seems willing to ignore or at least minimize the symbiosis that exists between the
malignancies of moral/social collapse and bigger government.
Yet overall, he can rightfully claim deep loyalty from his vast audience, based not on his likeability or charisma (which are
both evident in abundance), but because his thinking and his words overwhelmingly validate real America’s recognition and
understanding of why the nation works, and which of its virtues require diligent guarding and protection.
Notwithstanding, in Eagleburger’s world, Rush does not represent real “Conservatism.” Or, perhaps, he has simply failed to
“evolve” with it as it has been reinvented by the Establishment Republicans. On this basis, Eagleburger contends that he is
no less a “Conservative” than Limbaugh or Sean Hannity, and, as such, counts himself among those on the Right who
adamantly support John McCain.
Hardly a bastion of Conservative principle, by attempting to impute such “flexibility” to the very definition of Conservatism,
Eagleburger is gravitating dangerously close to those who claim that right and wrong can be fundamentally altered by mere
consensus, that patriotism can mean virtually anything, including the overt support of terrorists, and that life exists only
whenever the U.S. Supreme Court says it does.
Eagleburger further offers the flimsy argument that his case is strengthened by concurrence from other principle-starved
pragmatists and open borders opportunists who have long been working like termites to erode the GOP from within and
ensure that it remains politically impotent as a force for real Conservatism.
Within this realm, no room for real debate or consideration exists. Total allegiance is an imperative, which requires that
McCain’s supporters drink the Kool-aid and accept “Conservatism” on whatever terms McCain offers it. Ultimately, this
desperate and ill-begotten effort holds the potential to do much more harm to him than any pointed questions from his
Conservative critics.
By their stridency, the Establishment Republicans focus attention like a laser on McCain’s Achilles’ heel, which is his
irrefutable affinity for the Liberal Leftist ideology of the Democratic Party and his visceral disdain for true Conservatism.
And, if it continues, this tack will backfire to an enormous degree.
The icons of Conservative talk radio connect with grassroots Conservatives, where Establishment Republicans, with all of
their money and pretense of status, only generate cynicism and disgust. And this means that, the more the Establishment
Republicans tout McCain as one of their own, the less popular he will be.
Hardly qualifying as rock-ribbed “purists,” Limbaugh, Hannity, and their cohorts have often made creditable efforts to
support candidates who are far less than absolutely Conservative. But it is simply not within their nature to go to the
extremes necessary to support McCain on such a basis. And, the more they are squeezed to do so, the more vocally they
will assert the reasons why McCain does not qualify.
Eagleburger and those of his political stripe are only rubbing salt in the wounds that McCain has created over the years.
They would do far better to simply revert to the “lesser of two evils” mantra. It may not be much, but it is all they have. Yet,
let them wrest control of the current debate and warp it into a referendum on their version of “Conservatism,” and
Republican defeat this November will be decisive.
Meanwhile, newly emboldened Republican “Moderates” and closet Liberals be warned. Your moment in this current
“spotlight” is fleeting. And Conservatives are taking names.
LINKS TO RELATED TOPICS:
American Politics & Political Competition:
Elections, PACs, & Political Parties
American Government & the U.S. Presidency:
Presidential Politics & National Leadership
The American Political System:
Politics & Government in the U.S.A.
The American Political & Cultural Left:
Liberals, Statists, Socialists, & Other Leftists
Liberalism Versus Conservatism in American Politics
-------------------------
POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY & POLITICAL IDEOLOGIES:
COMPETING SYSTEMS OF POLITICAL THOUGHT
Conservatism
Traditional Conservatism: Questions & Answers
Conservatism: Attitudes, Types, & Present Status
Constitutional Conservatism: American & British
Liberalism
Classical Liberalism: Intellectual Foundations
Classical Liberalism: Conservative Liberalism
Manchester Liberalism & Social Darwinism
Modern Social "Liberalism": Statist "Liberalism"
Radical & Totalitarian Ideologies
Radicalism, Utopianism, & Totalitarianism
Christopher G. Adamo is a freelance writer who lives in southeastern Wyoming and works in the field of industrial instrumentation.
He is actively involved in Wyoming's political process, serving as a delegate to successive Wyoming State Republican Conventions
and as a member of the Wyoming State Republican Central Committee. He has assisted Republican candidates for local and state
legislatures and for the United States Congress. His articles, which appear regularly in The Progressive Conservative, U.S.A.,
and on a number of other websites, reflect a major concern with the damage being done to Conservatism and Conservative causes by
the Liberal Leftist faction in the Republican Party as well as by the much larger and more powerful Liberal Leftist faction in the
Democratic Party. During the early and middle 1990s, Adamo was Editor of the Wyoming Christian Coalition's official news organ,
The Wyoming Christian.
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THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
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Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
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Conservative Government Ensures a Nation's Strength, Progress, & Prosperity