Kevin Drum: Conservatives are stuck in 1980.

[BurtWorm]

Now would be a great time to marginalize them if we really wanted to, because they're not just off the page, they're not even in the book. They insist we're talking about the world as it was 30 years ago. It's no wonder they lost the Congress and the presidency. They really deserve to lose the media entirely too, unless and until they wake up to the world we're in now.



http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2008/11/admitting_the_problem.html


Admitting the Problem

ADMITTING THE PROBLEM....James Joyner bemoans the lack of substance in the conservative blogosphere:

Part of the reason I’m drawn to the center-left blogs <...> while finding it increasingly difficult to find center-right blogs worth my time is that the former are much more likely to get beyond the debates of the 1980 election. There’s almost no serious analysis of health care reform, urban planning, education, and many other issues that regularly crop up on the best lefty blogs on their conservative counterparts. If we read about those issues at all, they’re framed as if Ronald Reagan were still aspiring to high office: Say No to socialism! Abolish the Department of Education! Government IS the problem!

Right. The world has changed in the past 20 years but conservatism doesn't really seem willing to accept it. Take global warming. Here's the rough conservative reaction to it starting in the early 90s:

1. It doesn't exist.
2. It exists but it isn't manmade.
3. It's manmade, but it's too expensive to do anything about.

Even this is a generous assessment. A lot of conservatives are still stuck at #2, and sizeable chunk at #1. What this means is that they're basically shut out of the conversation entirely. Which is too bad, because I'd actually be sort of interested to hear a conservative take on how to address global warming that accepts both its reality and the necessity of doing something about it. If we really are facing a global environmental catastrophe, what shape would a conservative solution take? I don't think anyone knows. Likewise, conservative reaction to wage stagnation and growing income inequality has gone down a similar road...

[Uncle Joe]

1. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, BurtWorm.

[BurtWorm]

2. De nada, Uncle Joe.

:patriot:

[mulsh]

3. look up the word "conservative" before intiating any discussion.

Is it really much a revelation that "conservatives" are stuck in 1980?

 conservative/kənˈsɜrvətɪv/
–adjective
1. disposed to preserve existing conditions, institutions, etc., or to restore traditional ones, and to limit change.
2. cautiously moderate or purposefully low: a conservative estimate.
3. traditional in style or manner; avoiding novelty or showiness: conservative suit.
4. (often initial capital letter) of or pertaining to the Conservative party.
5. (initial capital letter) of, pertaining to, or characteristic of Conservative Jews or Conservative Judaism.
6. having the power or tendency to conserve; preservative.
7. Mathematics. (of a vector or vector function) having curl equal to zero; irrotational; lamellar.
–noun
8. a person who is conservative in principles, actions, habits, etc.
9. a supporter of conservative political policies.
10. (initial capital letter) a member of a conservative political party, esp. the Conservative party in Great Britain.
11. a preservative.
Origin:
1350–1400; < LL conservātīvus, equiv. to L conservāt(us) (see conservation ) + -īvus -ive; r. ME conservatif < MF < L, as above
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)

[pscot]

4. They've dealt themselves out of the game

The issues are too urgent to waste time trying to change the ground of their beliefs. Their absolutism precludes any possibility of discussion. Their only contribution is obstruction. Fortunately, the last two elections have changed things. What was an impenetrable wall of stupidity, has been reduced to a speed bump. They just haven't gotten the news.