Comments Which Conservatives Block From Their Blogs For March 10, 2021

March 9

To Bradley Birzer and his article on Conservatism. This appeared in the Imaginative Conservative Blog

To define conservatism in idealistic terms, which is done at the beginning of the article above,  is to presume its correctness. But in reality, conservatism is relative to one's situation. And not all that conservatives wish to preserve is good.

In the Soviet Union,  liberals were aligned with the West while conservatism  supported "Communist" totalitarianism. The word "Communist" is in quotes because its closeness to Marxism is very questionable. In the pre Civil Rights Movement South, southern white Conservatives clung to and passionately defended segregation and discrimination.

In other words, what Conservatives wish to preserve is not always good. But we have one more idea to consider. That idea is that no ideology is omniscient. So in other words, Conservatism has contributions to make, so too do Liberalism and Leftist thinking. And in order to prevent changing what is perceived is "good," Conservatism sometimes claims to have a monopoly on knowing what is good and thus rejects everything from Liberalism and Leftist thinking. And, as with any group, Conservative, Liberal, or Leftist, because of that claim to have a monopoly on the truth or the representation of a given group of people, Conservatism has sometimes sought its own dictatorship over people.

As for those French Revolutionaries who attacked the Roman Church, they were both right and wrong. They were right in perceiving that the Church had  sided with the aristocracy. But because they believed that they had a monopoly on truth, they were wrong in how they overreacted to the Church and others whom they deemed were not just enemies, but had nothing to contribute.

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To Pat Buchanan and his article that contests the charges that the Insurrectionists of Jan 6 could be rightly called, ‘domestic terrorists.’ This appeared in the Imaginative Conservative blog.

Since the definition of terrorism is the use or threat of violence to achieve a political end, then the Jan 6 insurrection at the Capitol is the epitome of domestic terrorism.

Buchanan goes at great lengths to minimize the violence employed there such as focusing on what was known before the insurrection or possibly falsely claiming that Officer Sicknick died from a stroke or comparing more violent past insurrections with the one on Jan 6. Regarding the cause of Officer Nicknack’s death, the FBI has not released the cause of his death. But suppose he died of a stroke, does that imply that there was no significant violence at the Capitol? If Buchanan believes so, then he should explain how over 100 officers were injured during melee or why the officers there felt betrayed by their leadership. Or he could look at the damage done to the Capitol or account for efforts made by the some of the insurrectionists to find members of Congress, the building of a gallows,  or the chant of 'Hang Mike Pence.'

The motive of the insurrectionists was clear: to 'stop the steal.' And they were told by the President not to take it any more and that they must show strength. So they went there to stop a Constitutional process after Trump learned that Mike Pence was going to obey The Constitution rather than him. Trump had told the public beforehand that it would be a wild time on January 6.

Buchanan's article is an exercise in moral relativism driven by tribal loyalties to Trump, Trump’s Republican following, and Buchanan’s own conservative ideology. And given Buchanan's religious history, practicing moral relativism seems to be inconsistent. But then again, that is what tribal loyalty to other causes than one’s faith can do a person.

BTW, in addition, we should note how seven Republicans not only voted to convict him during Trump's 2nd Impeachment, some other Republicans voted to exonerate him even though they publicly stated that Trump was guilty of inciting an insurrection. Yes Pat, there was an insurrection and it was violent.