I am afraid I have to join the thousands, maybe even millions, of writers who have started a column with a Bob Dylan lyric.
But first I have to tell you that the sole purpose of this column is to the throw the editorial weight of this column behind Rick Santorum in his bid to be the Republican 2012 presidential candidate, but more on that later. First to set the stage, which requires the use of the aforementioned Dylan lyric. And unfortunately I am not even going to pick one of the lesser known ones. No, I am about to launch this column with the very familiar line, the times they are a’changin’. I humbly beg your apology for falling back on this much used truism, but the fact is that is true and how. The world we live in looks nothing like the one I grew up in and promises to look nothing like the one my children are growing up in. It feels like history is either going to bring one of its cycles full circle or shoot off into a whole different path. We are either going to return to our roots or grow into something completely different. Part of this feeling is caused by the presidential campaign of course. Since 1992 every election has been touted as the most important in a generation and for the most part they all have been. This is because America has to choose between liberalism and conservatism. The two can no longer coexist. One of these ideologies must defeat the other and the main field this battle is being fought on is in the government, mostly because it has already been decided in the arts and academia. And this is why every election is so critical as of late, the stakes really are very high and will be until one idea beats the other. Obviously the philosophical girders of The Revolting Man are extremely conservative, to the point of liberalism in some cases, and most conservative elites are claiming that is vital to deny President Obama a second term. To this end they are urging conservatives to coalesce behind a consensus candidate that they have deemed to have the best chance to defeat Obama in the general election, Mitt Romney. I reject that line of reasoning from its premise onward. The first priority is to defeat liberalism, the ideology of death. While Obama is certainly the most pure liberal to ever take the White House, he is not liberalism itself or even its most dangerous purveyor. I want to make myself very clear, I do not believe Mitt Romney when he claims to be a conservative. He was a “moderate Republican” his entire life before seeking national office when he quickly and conveniently converted on social issues. He was raised in Washington power circles, he lived in Washington power circles and he will be unable to resist the pull of those power circles on him if he is elected. The White House under Mitt Romney will not sound or act substantially differently under Mitt Romney than it has under Obama. A vote for Mitt Romney is a vote for conservatism to get blamed when liberalism fails. And liberalism is headed for a gigantic failure. In fact I almost despair that it can be prevented at this point. But if it is to be prevented then it must be done so by the unabashed, unapologetic trumpeting of conservative ideals. I believe two candidates, three before the Perry withdrawal, are capable of that right now. Newt is a strong candidate and his passion and eloquence are very persuasive. I could easily support him. Rick Santorum however brings with his consistency and sense of decorum a gravitas that I think a president needs. His conservative credentials are impeccable on social issues and while he may have brought some bacon home to Pennsylvania while he was in the Senate, he was by no means a serious offender. So I urge voters in South Carolina to get behind Rick Santorum. He has run a clean campaign on a shoe string budget and I believe he would make a good president.
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AuthorThe Revolting Man lives at the end of a dirt road at the bottom of a hill at the top of a valley in the foothills of the Appalachians. Archives
December 2016
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