2016 Postmortem
In reply to the discussion: Obama Campus Fervor Losing to Apathy as Students Sour on 2012 [View all]Iceberg Louie
(190 posts)I think a lot of people on both sides have blurred the two entities gradually ever since Nixon's Southern Strategy, and it has been a thorn in my side for some time. The biggest downside with this is that the positive, constructive tenets of true conservatism (such as a realist approach to fiscal responsibility and limitations of government, both of which I am heavily in favor of) have been pushed aside by the GOP establishment in favor of pandering outwardly to modern-day John Birchers and to "special interest" groups (banking/oil industry) behind closed doors. As someone who considers himself somewhat "conservative-classic" fiscally and fairly center-left socially, I have no voice or place in the GOP. This is the party that has prioritized winning over being of service to constituents to any measurable extent. In their desperation to court what has today manifested as the Tea Party, they have edged out classic conservatism in favor of shameless right-wing posturing, and in the process, yielded control of their public facade to the "cars-on-the-lawn" crowd.
A very legitimate conservative argument could be made for legalization of marijuana. William F. Buckley Jr. eloquently made this point years ago. Our federal government is squandering an absurd amount of money on an unwinnable "War On Drugs". Instead of all the money spent on enforcement, incarceration, propaganda, etc., and ultimately doing nothing to curtail use but instead ruining countless lives of victimless criminals with felony records, we could be legalizing, regulating, and TAXING pot. Unlike personal tax, of course, this is a sales tax, and therefore, an elective tax that anyone opposed to it on principal doesn't necessarily have to pay. As with the current regulation of alcohol and tobacco (the world's two deadliest drugs), the taxation of the relatively nonlethal drug marijuana would reap remarkable revenue, as well as reducing residual deficits caused by burdens on law enforcement (domestic abuse, drunk driving, public intoxication) and healthcare (treating the aforementioned, as well as lung/throat/oral cancers, emphysema, etc.).
It's just one small example of many where our politicians are putting pander-posturing ahead of public service. And in this age of the 24-hour news cycle and digital media where people prefer everything watered down to sound bytes, it is unfortunately a trend that will continue to make civil, rational discussion of complex political issues increasingly rare.
Welcome to DU, GOPrefugee. It's a relief to hear from someone not necessarily bound to toe their party lines.