Standing Athwart Hope and Change yelling Stop-Stomping the Liberals, Goldwater style with a brand spanking new, shiny, Contract

The last time I wrote this diary I got mostly comments about my decision to withhold support from John McCain out of his many, many breaks from conservative principles. I do not want this diary to focus on John McCain, rather I would like to take this diary to focus on conservative principles and the New Contract with America that I have drawn up in order to move the Conservative Movement forward. There is no sense in arguing about our nominee any longer ladies and gentlemen. We will go in, vote against Obama, take a good clean shower afterwards, and continue to move forward with our lives. However, there is something that we can have some effect on-which is to borrow from Howie Dean, the Republican wing of the Republican party. As we know, Gingrich was able to resurrect the conservative wing by coming up with non-controversial topics that were nonetheless conservative where we had the backing of the majority of the American people. While some of the topics I list do not have the full support of the American people, I believe that they are sellable and winnable items to an extent. As a Goldwater Conservative, some of my priorities are different than some of the other members of the conservative wing, as I put much of my emphasis on spending and national defense, while also embracing some of my own socially conservative positions (yes, shockingly to all of you, I'm sure in my seemingly constant war with the SoCon wing, I do hold some of their positions :-p). I believe that we must fight as conservatives as a solid bloc for these priorities, and in addition we must start going on offense against these so called Blue Dogs who ought to change their names to Lap Dogs as all they've done seen getting into Congress is shill for the Pelosi-Reid San Fransisco agenda. As you know, I'm a streetfighter, and without further ado, here's our brass knuckles for 2008, 2010 and beyond.

1. Drill-With gas prices going up, this is a winning issue for us as a Party. If the GOP can take control of this issue, we can win this election and seats in Congress. The Party that is seen as unsympathetic and unwilling to do everything in their power to lower gas prices is going to pay a very heavy price in the election. We can turn this into a winning issue, especially since even Al Gore worshipers Gingrich and McCain are on board with this in their first major break with the environazis. Nice to see Gingrich remembering he's a Republican once in a while, and seeing how drilling, rather than killing all the pretty aminals is going to help boost the US economy and work on crippling the Middle East and Venezuela, especially based on the fact that the less imports from American hating dictators, the better.

2. Go Nuclear-this is the second part of the first point, which is concentrating mostly on energy. America should not be stuck in the 20th century, where we stand back in fear as countries in Europe move into using 21st century technology. Nuclear energy is the new way to go, and it can be done and has been done in a safe manner. The known nuclear tragedy is Chernobyl, where not surprisingly the Soviets screwed it up. Using alternative energy is not just a matter of economics, but a matter of national security.

3. Win the Iraq War, and expand General Patraeus success to the greater War on Terror in Afghanistan and in other parts of the Middle East-There is no greater difference in the two nominees than on their position on the Iraq War. This is a war where there must be no unnecessary withdrawals, no retreat, no surrender. It is clear that the Democrats other than Lieberman do not understand the threat and willpower of radical Islam. The willpower of America and the Bush administration to insist on victory in Iraq has led to the slow eradication of Al Qaeda in Iraq, and the diminishing of Al Qaeda and radical Islam as a dominant ideology in Iraq. We must continue this push; as the shining city on a Hill, America has an obligation to continue to provide freedom and liberation against the presence of evil and tyranny in the world. American exceptionalism must not be defeated in exchange for a seat at Europe's table; as the providers of freedom, justice and liberty to the world, Europe and the world should be looking for a seat at our table, and we must never apologize for the United States of America, which I am always proud to proclaim is the greatest country in the world.

4. End corruption, through pork, earmarks, and other ethical reform-One of the best examples of this is what Bobby Jindal is attempting to do in Louisiana. On the national level, we need to end the politics of pork and earmarks, as they show a desire to kowtow to special interests rather than the will of the people. Each incoming Republican Congressman and Senator should take a pledge that he will not take earmarks for the duration that he is in Congress. However, earmarks are a drop in the bucket in terms of spending, and a more radical conservative agenda must be adopted in terms of fiscal policy.

5. End Entitlement programs-in order to actually push these items through Congress, we must have Congressman and Senators who are elected on the basis of pushing thee sorts of reforms through. Ending both Medicare Part D as well as privatizing Social Security are not immediate winners, especially based on the fact that many old people fear these very sorts of reforms. But this is something that McCain would be great to sell, as he himself is 72 years old and could uniquely speak to the older population, selling them on privatizing Social Security as a necessary plan for their children and grandchildren, while not effecting anyone who is currently receiving benefits up to 2020. Anyone who would be eligible after that would have the option to privatize their Social Security fund into a private account.

6. Educational policy-Ending No Child Left Behind is only the beginning of where the GOP needs to begin in terms of comprehensive educational reform. The federal government cannot possibly come up with an educational plan to fit each state from the top down. The federal Department of Education should be abolished, and the Party pushing vouchers through at a state level. Another NewTone bill where we got all of the Kennedy and none of the Bush.

7. Secure the border-this is what we need to run on. Not immigration reform, not legalization or Z visas. Plain and simple, we will build the G-D fence. They won't-this is without a doubt one of the biggest election winners we have in our pockets if we push it correctly.

8. SCOTUS-we will push for strict constructionist judges, another issue where the American people are strongly on our side. McCain's reputation as a reasonable moderate would let him push someone like Miguel Estrada through the Court, if McCain had the cajones for it, which is doubtful. Either way, the conservatives must reject any Miers, Kennedy, O'Conner clones that McCain will inevitably try to push through the Court to preserve his precious McCain-Feingold, which brings me to my next point.

9. End McCain-Feingold and the Fairness Doctrine, over the objection of the President if necessary. We all agree that both are gross violations of the 1st amendment, and seek to outlaw free speech. Not to mention a solid constructionist Supreme Court would reject both of these documents as unconstitutional. As conservatives, we seek to preserve all documents of the Constitution, seeking to preserve the 1st amendment with the zeal that we seek to protect the 2nd.

10. Finally, we will fight tooth and nail to defeat the Pelosi-Reid San Fransisco item. We will not NewTone, we will not accept urine from the liberals when we bring orange juice to the table. We will call out the so called Blue Dogs to defend their country by calling them to bills that protect the sanctity of life, and let them vote with us or suffer in their district. We must make them vote against burning the Flag, or let their district see who their allegiances are really for. We must fight their agenda until we have victory and returned a conservative agenda to Washington.

I believe that we do not lose the movement until we give up on it. I think that we must continue to craft a conservative agenda even without a conservative president. While we may not get a seat at the table of the administration, we must carve out a voice in Congress and in the Senate. We must fight for conservative in governors mansions across the stage and run ruby red candidates in ruby red states, while running pink candidates in blue states. We must always move the state or district to the right of when we arrive, and remember that conservatism sells when we bother to sell it. It's time to revive the movement, and fight for what we believe in as conservatives; even as the Party tries to move to the Left, we must continue to pull it back towards the Right. As we move into this year's election, we remember the words of Reagan as he spoke for conservatism at Goldwater's nomination.

"You and I are told we must choose between a left or right, but I suggest there is no such thing as a left or right. There is only an up or down. Up to man's age-old dream--the maximum of individual freedom consistent with order -- or down to the ant heap of totalitarianism. Regardless of their sincerity, their humanitarian motives, those who would sacrifice freedom for security have embarked on this downward path. Plutarch warned, "The real destroyer of the liberties of the people is he who spreads among them bounties, donations and benefits.""

Amen, and we know that Reagan, Goldwater, and Buckley would want us to stand athwart Obamania yelling stop. And we will not stop until we have defeated Obama and all of the minions of liberalism as we continue to fight for the city on a hill, shining our light to the rest of the world, rather than a country swirled in darkness.