Conservatism Has Always Catered To The Fringe
Conservatives have always bristled when liberals or the media label them as the “Radical Right”. They feel that the term radical should only be applied to those who want to transform society. According to them, groups that advocate for the expansion of civil rights, homosexual rights, women’s rights and health care reform are what they call the true radicals. The conservative ideology, according to them, is only interested in protecting our society from these “dangerous” ideas. By using incendiary words like radical, dangerous and un-American, however, they necessarily promote division and unrest among the electorate. This constant litany of fear has always been an important part of their strategy. The unseen consequence of this fear mongering, has been that those individuals and groups that are paranoid and hateful about issues that don’t really have anything to do with conservative ideology have now attached themselves to the Republican Party.
The conservatives have never been shy about embracing these fringe elements. Going all the way back to the 50’s and 60’s when the issues of civil rights were forcing southern racist Democrats to abandon their party, the Republicans gladly welcomed them with open arms. The party of Lincoln became the party of Strom Thurmond and for decades unapologetic racists have been continually elected to congress as Republicans. Nixon saw the advantage of catering to the politics of paranoia by devising what he called the “southern strategy”. He covertly used racism as a wedge issue in the south to dominate the Presidential elections. Remember, racism is not part of the conservative ideology. It has now become, however, forever linked to the Republican Party. No matter how much the conservative intellectuals and candidates insist that African Americans have no reason to fear conservatives, they know that they have never truly been welcome.
Radicalized Religious groups have become another major supporter of the Republican Party. Beginning with Ronald Reagan’s firm stand against abortion rights and irrational homophobia, these religious fundamentalists now view anything that hints at liberalism as traitorous to god and country. Religion is a mighty motivator and has always been prone to attract extremists that see no difference in protesting a cause and being willing to kill or die for a cause. Ask any Mideast terrorist or violent abortion protester what he is fighting for and God will always be the answer.
The third leg of conservative movement politics is the anti government groups. It is not true that classic conservatism has always been fearful of the government. They were simply opposed to the rapid growth of social programs and government regulations. In other words, it has always been a fierce defender of the status quo and opposed to “radical” change. Conservatism as it stands today, however, is now fixated on the government and the “liberals who run it” as the ultimate enemy of freedom and liberty. They are going to take away your guns. They are going to take away your freedom of speech. They are going to abandon the constitution and transform this country into a socialist state. They are setting up FEMA concentration camps. They are out to get you. Mainstream media conservatives like Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity actively promote these ideas on their combined 55 hours of radio and TV airtime. They always follow up these warnings with one central theme. If you are as frightened of these evil forces as we are, then only conservatism and the Republican Party can save you. The mainstream conservative media is actively recruiting a paranoid, angry, gun toting mob that is always ready and sometimes willing to use force and violence to “protect” their way of life.
The conservatives have always found these fringe groups useful in their fight against the Democrats. They have populated the voting booths and swelled the Republican coffers. Until now, they have always been able to keep them somewhat under control. Today, however, the radical, fringe voices of talk radio and the internet have drowned out the more reasoned voices of intellectuals and statesmen. What the conservatives need is their own “Sista Soldier” moment or another great conservative thinker like William Buckley to lead them back away from the brink. Otherwise, if they continue to embrace the fringe they will become nothing but a fringe party.
