Aaron Gardner's blog

Bumped. Because I'll be damned if I'm going to let Erick promote something on RedState without us promoting it too. Just kidding. Great work Aaron. - Brian

Cross posted at RedState

Lately there seems to be a lot of confusion as to what a Conservative is and is not. Some seem to think it has to do with abortion or taxes or national security. Well the truth is that conservatism is not about any given issue, rather conservatism is about principles.

Before we go any further I believe it would behoove us to go over a bit of terminology that is thrown about too often without people understanding their meanings. the terms I am refering to are Issues, Policies, and Principles.

First let's deal with Issues.

An Issue, for the purpose of Politics, is something that is a cause of dispute. Issues come and go, some last longer than others, but all issues are fleeting in the long term. Some issues we deal with today are abortion, international terrorism and slowing or failing markets.

Next we have Policies.

Policies are the constructs that we create to deal with any given issue. Policies of today include the ESCR Ban, GWOT, and TARP.

Last but not least we have Principles.

Principles are what guide us in the formation of Policy on any given Issue. All political groups have their set of principles that guide them, but not all principles are equal.

So I sat down today after work and saw the Sunday comics still lying around, I usually pay no attention to the comics, just not my cup of tea. But today something caught my eye. Doonesbury. Now I have heard many times that Doonesbury creator, Gary Trudeau, is a Democrat. I had never really paid enough attention to the comics to really care though. But this isn't an attack on some politician, it is an attack on a common man. This could have been any of us. Anyhow here is the strip, let me know what you think.

Promoted by Steven-

Ok I am going for another one...be careful what you ask for David...;^)

Recently I wrote about Self Governance and the Moral Standard here and here. Today I would like to continue in the theme of Self Governance and how Economic Policy can either move our Nation toward or away from that goal.

First I need to define some terms for the purpose of this discussion. In my view there are only three basic views on economic policy, the first is the Free Market, the second is Keynesian Free Market, and the third is the Socialist Market. I am sure that many will call me naive or uneducated in the realm of economics, and I am fine with that. I don't have a degree in economics and to be honest my knowledge of economics is limited, but, as will become apparent, that does not make what I say any less relevant.

Promoted by Steven-

What did John Adams mean by this statement? To me it is obviuos. For a people to be capable of self governance as described in the Constitution they must first have their foundation set firmly in a moral code accepted by those to be governed. Many question how this can square with the idea that there be a "wall of separation between the Church and the Government"(paraphrased Thomas Jefferson). Again to me the answer is obvious. Indeed it is not the place of the Government to set or enforce a specific moral code but rather the responsibility of those who wish to employ self governance, to adhere and promote a moral life despite the government.

Cross posted at RedState

Ok, so this isn't really an important diary, it doesn't expose some vicious lie from the Obama team. Nor does it bring to light any new information wrt William Ayers or Tony Rezko. No this is purely anecdotal evidence of the absolute stupidity of those who have made the leap to become Obama supporters based upon his "coolness" factor.