Conservatives, Please Stop Calling Yourselves "Constitutionalists"

At first, I hoped it was a fluke.  Maybe a few rogue conservatives that started calling themselves "constitutionalists."  Maybe Sarah Palin loyalists?  Unfortunately, I keep hearing this absurd claim from conservatives.  They really think that they are constitutional loyalists! 

It drives me crazy to hear this, and it doesn't even take a lot to discredit them.  A few simple questions will dispel this ridiculous attempt to make them feel that they are no longer a party of backwards, anti-equality, anti-progress religious fanatics. 

• Do you support the implied right to privacy in our Constitution that has been recognized by our Supreme Court...including the right to choose abortion?
• Do you support the equal protection (14th Amendment) of all people within the boundaries of a state?  Including illegal immigrants?  Including homosexuals who choose to enter into the contract of marriage?
• Do you believe in the freedom of, and from religion, that is provided in the First Amendment?  Including not allowing the government to write any laws respecting the establishment of religion?  (This means no anti-abortion laws.)

There are more questions that I could ask to disqualify any conservative as a "constitutionalist."  However, I've never had to ask more than this.  If they can truthfully answer yes to the above questions, you should probably follow up with something like, "are you aware that you are actually a liberal?"

I do understand that conservatives recognize that there is a bad connotation with the term "conservative."  It tells people that you are against progress.  That you want to go back to the way things used to be and don't want our society to progress...at least not at a reasonable rate.  Don't be mad, conservatives...you've done this to yourselves.  This makes them want to find a new term for themselves that sounds a little more positive.  Unfortunately, the closest term I could find for conservative ideology is "constitutionalists of convenience."  I use this term to mean that they passionately believe in the Constitution when it fits neatly into their ideology.  However, they believe that anything that falls outside of those ideals, like gay marriage and abortion, should not be protected by the Constitution because it offends their religious and moral beliefs.  This means they are willing to ignore the Constitution when it is not convenient for them.

Conservatives, whatever you choose to call yourselves...and I can think of a few more terms if you would like.  Please...I beg you...stop calling yourselves "constitutionalists."  You're just making yourselves look worse.

Republicans Start the Year Off with Typical Stupidity

I guess Republicans didn't get the message in the election.  Losing the Presidential election and losing seats in both houses of Congress didn't drive it home.  So they just keep pushing their tired, ridiculous agenda.  Within the first few days of the new year, I've read about two extremely stupid bills being proposed by Republicans (gives me a good idea of what to expect for the next two years). 

First, while the Violence Against Women Act and the Hurricane Sandy Relief Bill go unapproved in Congress, Republican Michelle Bachman announced that she introduced the first bill of the 113th Congress to repeal the Affordable Care Act.  Despite passing similar bills 33 times in the last useless congressional session that didn't go anywhere, Republicans apparently don't mind wasting millions more passing the repeal (the first 33 times cost an estimated $50 million to taxpayers). 

This morning, I read news of another Republican that has decided to waste taxpayer money by introducing a bill that would allow public schools to require the recitation of the Lord's Prayer.  Indiana state senator Dennis Kruse, who attempted and failed to get creationism taught in schools last year, filed a bill that would allow Indiana schools to force children to recite the Lord's Prayer, although the bill allows for individual students to opt out.  In this case, the Republican in charge of the Indiana state senate was intelligent enough to recognize that this bill is an unconstitutional waste of time.  He assigned it to the rules and legislative procedures committee and said that it was a clear violation of the first amendment. 

That leads to the question of why these legislators are introducing bills that they know will fail.  The answer is that they want to make a statement.  They believe that their agenda should be forced upon the rest of us, regardless of whether we want it or not.  They choose to make a statement that costs us millions of dollars.  Meanwhile, they complain about frivolous government spending. 

This just illustrates the hypocrisy of the Republican agenda.  They say they want to stop spending, but waste millions on bills they know won't pass.  They say they want smaller government, but want to write more laws restricting the freedoms of specific groups.  Ask them why, and they'll tell you that there's a difference between conservative fiscal policy and conservative social policy.  Of course there is, that difference is called hypocrisy. 

I can respect a true libertarian.  They don't want government intrusion at all.  They want very little government in either fiscal or social policy.  While I may not agree with much of their agenda, I can respect them for having a solid belief and applying it to all aspects of government. On the other hand, today's conservatives are simply hypocrites who only push their ideology as far as it benefits their agenda.  They are perfectly willing to compromise their ideology to make a statement about their beliefs (which is ironic because they refuse to compromise with anyone who believes differently in order to get things accomplished).  Maybe this is why their party is imploding...no one, not even their own party members, can really a group that doesn't live up to its ideals and proves itself full of hypocrites over and over.  Hopefully all of this silliness and waste ends after the 2014 election when many of these people are removed from office.