I got a letter from our governor the other day. She sent it to me because I am “someone who has steadfastly defended our conservative principles.” Thank you Governor Noem. Most people are too blindly partisan to understand my conservative values.
For instance, I do believe in freedom of speech and assembly. That’s why I’d like to see more town halls with our elected officials and regular press conferences with give and take. Conservative principles are why I disagreed with the rushed bills to limit and criminalize protests of the KXL pipeline, passed at the end of the legislative session this year with the intention of stifling freedom of speech and assembly. It’s why I agree that all manner of speakers, conservative and liberal, should be given a voice on college campuses.
Or take government budgets, spending and taxation. I’m a conservative. I would cut the Pentagon budget in half unless they could produce an audit of where their money is being spent. (It has never happened in our history.) I would see to it that corporations like Amazon paid taxes. Although they made $10.8 billion in taxes last year, Amazon paid no taxes and claimed a $129 million rebate. Amazon was one of 60 companies making such claims last year. I would suggest that all working class people withhold their taxes till there was fairness in the tax system. I would cut the salaries of our senators and representatives since they are in session so seldom, but provide them D.C. housing, in dormitories where they could eat together in a common cafeteria and consult and negotiate with each other into the evening hours.
And … thank you Governor Noem. My letter says at the bottom it was “Not printed at Taxpayer Expense,” but by “Kristi for Governor.” Taxes should not pay for partisan communications.
Another conservative principle I uphold is that there are lasting moral values. An essential one is honesty. How can we move forward as a people without truth telling? Which makes the letter from the governor a little hard for a conservative like me to understand. I know it’s become common for partisan politics to engage in labeling, but we conservatives need to avoid phrases like “Open Borders Socialism” and “Pelosi socialists and left wing media” and “the impeachment-crazed left-wing radicals in charge of Congress.” Honestly, are these phrases helpful in getting at the truth of our situation as a country and charting a pathway toward the future? Isn’t this an example of stereotyping? I’m not sure all democrats are for “open borders” just like all of us conservatives are not for “school shootings.”
A conservative principle I hold quite dearly is the notion of one person, one vote. It disturbs me to think that some, out of partisan concern, would try to keep some from voting, by limiting voting sites or removing others from the voting lists. Even more despicable is the idea of allowing foreign powers to intrude with blatant propaganda and cyber warfare. A tradition of democracy where the people rule is what has made this country great, a model of freedom and possibility for the whole world. Here is a conservative principle even liberals should be devoted to protecting.
To my pleasure, the letter from the governor addressed me correctly as one with conservative values. So did the Faith and Freedom Coalition address me correctly. In an earlier letter, they addressed me as a “Christian American Patriot.” But to my regret, both letters assumed I detested those of a different persuasion. I dare say they encouraged “hatred” of the other as a rational and appropriate response?
The Faith and Freedom Coalition letter was longer than the governors’ and more forceful. “The anti-Christian, anti-freedom, anti-America Left has a very different vision for America’s future than you and I have: They want to erase America’s borders so we no longer have a country; they want to eliminate Christianity as a moral force in American life; and they want America to be governed by the United Nations, not our own Constitution.”
Hatred and distortion is where we go in different directions. Sowing hate and division and fear is no way to support the governing of a country. Policy differences will be a problem. Conservative and liberal values may collide. But basic human values like respect for the other, courtesy and kindness make for a livable future. I’d like my conservative friends to drop the stereotypes and work at the dysfunction!
