August 18, 2004

Letters to the editor (from the Medford Mail Tribune)
A Republican for Kerry

I’ve been a Republican all my life. My dad was a Republican all his life. As far as I know, his dad was, too. And I’ve been a conservative Republican since Goldwater in ’64. But in November, I’m going to vote for Kerry! I can hardly believe I just said that.

I believe the Bush administration is the worst thing to happen to this country in many, many decades.

I considered not voting, but that simply wastes my vote. The only way to defeat Bush is to vote for Kerry, which is scary because, frankly, his liberal record frightens me to death.

They say ("they" — ha) he is trying to move to the center like Clinton. Let’s hope so, because I’m going to vote for him and if enough of us do the same, he’ll be our next president.

Scary, yes, but I now chant the mantra, "Anybody but Bush."

— W.M. S. (We do not have permission to publish the name of the writer)

The rift in the rank & file of Republican voters is widening. For every single letter-writer like this, there are 100 who feel the same way, but are either not published or just don't bother to write.

The new breed of Bush-loving "conservative" Republicans are often referred to as "Neocons", or the "New Conservatives". This new breed is largely alien to what the Republican Party once stood for, and their present control of the Republican Party is the specific reason why many old-school Republicans are feeling the way they do, and writing letters to the editors of newspapers like the one above.

Conservatives of Conscience pretty much describes these disenfranchised voters who all voted for Bush last election. Unlike the Neocons, these voters adhere to a solid sense of right and wrong, black and white. Unlike the Neocons, these individuals of solid integrity absolutely reject situation ethics in all its evil forms. The Conservatives of Conscience completely reject the notion that it's acceptable to violate the most sacred of our civil rights in return for the illusion of safety and security.

Here's a typical exchange between a Conservative of Conscience and a Neocon:

An Old School Republican insists, "There are no constitutional circumstances whatsoever that allow a sitting president to order the arrest of an American citizen, deny his right to legal counsel, hold him indefinitely without charges, trial or to face his accusers and force them to reveal the evidence they have against him."

The Neocon responds, "Yes, but...".

An Old School Republican insists, "The president is required to defend the borders of the United States against invasion by the Constitution, yet Bush is intentionally leaving our borders wide open because he favors illegal immigration more than the safety of United States citizens."

The Neocon responds, "Yes but...".

It doesn't matter what glaring constitutional violation Bush commits, the consistent argument the Neocon uses to defend Bush always starts with, "Yes, but...".

The Conservatives of Conscience can fully understand and even accept the typical Liberal attitude towards excusing Bill Clinton's lies about sex with his intern. Liberals are known to be largely amoral people who make up their own rules for life as they go, and they consistently rely upon moral equivocation when they violate them. The craven Liberal is rarely an adherent to external laws for life like the Ten Commandments, which leave no wiggle room for violations under any circumstances.

For example, the Conservative of Conscience recognizes that there are no circumstances whatsoever that allow for committing adultery, while the typical Liberal will give it lip service publicly, and then justify violating it if the situation seems to warrant it. The Conservatives of Conscience expect moral equivocation from the typical Liberal, but it came as a complete shock for them to realize their own ranks as well as their president had come to embrace the same form of immorality. For the Conservative of Conscience, there are no circumstances which excuse violations of a presidential oath: Not a terrorist attack, not a threat of more terrorist attacks, not any. The typical Neocon simply disagrees, and therewith lies the rub between these errant Republicans and the traditional Conservatives of Conscience.

So this November election actually comes down to a three party race: The Old School Republican Party, the Neocon Republican Party and the Democratic Party. The problem facing the typical Conservative of Conscience is pretty clear, as evidenced by the letter to the editor above.

Whereas Kerry is most definitely not a good choice for president, his presidency still presents a wild-card; an unknown. But for the typical Conservative of Conscience, they all know what Bush and his Neocon disciples have done in the first four years to this nation and its Constitution. They all know that nearly 1,000 American soldiers would still be alive today if George W. Bush hadn't attacked Iraq until he knew for a certainty that Saddam had WMD and intended to use them imminently against Western interests. They all know that many thousands more American soldiers would still have the use of their arms and legs, and they are also a group of Americans whose conscience dictates that they bear some responsibility for the thousands of Iraqi citizens who lost their lives in what is now widely known to be an unnecessary war and occupation. The typical Neocon will rarely openly admit it, but the semantics they use often betray a cavalier attitude toward the deaths and maiming of Iraqi citizens, as if they are some kind of sub-humans instead of people with hopes and dreams just like the rest of us. Nazi comes to mind.

So this upcoming November election isn't just about politics for the typical Conservative of Conscience. No, this time it's about right and wrong, black and white, evil against good. Whereas the typical Neocon bears the attitude of, "My president, right or wrong.", the typical Conservative of Conscience sees this president, his administration and the Neocon Republican Party inherently as evil, and perhaps more-so, than any rabid Liberal party candidate that ever existed. This administration has unnecessarily killed and maimed thousands of people, and to the Conservative of Conscience, that woefully evil act in itself trumps any sexual shenanigans former President Bill Clinton ever dreamed of committing.

For the typical Conservative of Conscience, getting Bush out of office is far more important than who might be getting in, and they will be joining the Democrats in electing John Kerry as president in November.

Carl F. Worden

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