Conservatives Without Conscience

When the banter is all stripped away, it’s not difficult to confess that both major political parties have been taken over by extreme factions within their own ranks. Howard Dean is certainly NOT a valid representative of my own small-d democratic-leaning views.

Tonight at 5pm CST, C-SPAN 1 airs Conservatives Without Conscience, “John Dean [famous for his role in the Nixon dirty tricks club] talked about his book Conservatives Without Conscience, published by Viking. In his book Mr. Dean argued that conservative politics in the U.S. had moved perilously close to authoritarianism. Former White House counsel John Dean, who was a prominent figure in the Watergate scandal that brought down his former boss, then-President Richard Nixon, further distanced himself from his Republican roots with criticisms of the current Republican leadership, claiming it had sullied the principles of conservatism with radical right-wing policies and Machiavellian tactics. Following his remarks he answered questions from the audience.”

If JOHN DEAN, arguably a master of dirty tricks on his own account, is calling the current radicals MACHIAVELLIAN, that’s saying quite a lot. Another Hero of Progressive Conservatism, Barry Goldwater, would surely be rolling in his grave to witness the events of the past eight years.

Probably, in an increasingly polarized world, rather increasingly demonizing any and all opposing perspectives, what should be most expected from rational thinking Conservatives and Liberals is to stand up and insist that THESE Republicans are not representing MY republican views; and THESE Democrats are not representing MY democratic views.