The Moose observes an ideology that has run its course.
What ever happened to the ownership society? You remember that, don't you? It was to be a conservative utopia where even the lowliest worker would have his politics dictated by his stock portfolio. Yet, the President didn't even mention it in his State of the Union Address. Where did it go?
The ownership society crashed upon the shoals of social security reform and we never heard from it again. Even the President's distinctly non-conservative Medicare drug bill disappeared from the President's lips. Instead, conservative thought was replaced by a Jimmy Carter-like mini-industrial plan for energy independence and a vow to stop the epidemic of animal-human hybrids.
Of course, there is always the permanent elimination of the estate tax for the conservative masses to get excited about. Other than that, conservative governance is over, kuput, gone sleepy-sleepy.
Suddenly, in the aftermath of Katrina, the right wing worthies discovered that a conservative Executive Branch and Congress went on a spending spree over the past few years. So, they have set out to slash programs for the vulnerable. Oh, and they might eliminate an earmark here and there - but for the most part there is more pork in this Congress than in a Jimmy Dean sausage factory.
But there is good news - a lot of former right wing revolutionaries did make save a lot of money from selling their access to power.
Meet Jack Abramoff conservatism. Unlimited greed in the pursuit of power is no vice. Principled conservatism in pursuit of small government is no virtue.
The fact is that there is no longer a conservative domestic agenda except in one vital area - the courts. And the left has no coherent philosophy or strategy to defeat conservative jurists. In fact, the lefties has successfully made the nominees sympathetic figures.
Now that the right has run out of ideas, will progressives fill the vacuum? Democrats should strike at the heart of Republican vulnerability. They should go kosher - that is reject all earmarks. That would be very difficult for many Democrats (impossible for a certain Senator from West Virginia) who are addicted to pork to promote their incumbency. But by abstaining from earmarks, Democrats would substantially bolster their fiscal credibility and attract moderate Republican and independent voters.
Dare to be bold - try kosher. -- | 
Email
this post
