Show Some Backbone

Many conservatives are decent people with an honestly-held set of values which differs significantly from my own. This is fine. Many others, however, display a spinelessness that boggles the mind.


A case in point is the recent trend of those on the right trying to project themselves as populist agitators against the "elitist Democrats", by claiming that the Dems are all in bed with Wall St. corporate interests and do not care about regular people on "Main St." The evidence presented to support this distortion of fact is, of course, the Wall St. bailouts.


Let's be clear. The policies which favor Wall St. bankers (deregulation, low corporate income and capital gains taxes, lowering of trade barriers, etc) are CONSERVATIVE POLICIES! The foremost political advocates of these types of policies are REPUBLICANS! The application of these policies by the Bush Administration led to the current recession. Those conservative fiscal policies also led to the increasing income inequality that was witnessed during the Bush Administration, largely as a result of the rich-orientated tax cuts.


I can accept conservatives who genuinely believe that these policies are somehow "right", or at least, "best". What I have a harder time accepting, are the former advocates of those policies, denying ownership of their obvious consequences. If you believe in deregulation and low taxes then stand by that belief. But don't advocate policies which primarily benefit the wealthy and then accuse your opponants of being elitist when things go tits up.