Why I’m Still a Republican
13 years ago

Over the weekend Missouri Representative Todd Akin made absolutely inexcusable remarks, which you’ve probably heard by now, about abortion and rape. It was just another case of a high-profile Republican talking out of his ass without considering the consequences. Of course this led to an all out thrashing of the right from the left, and probably slated Democrat Claire McCaskill to the US Senate for another term.

In my mind, the GOP is in its darkest days. I’ll be straight up – I’m a fiscal conservative and a social liberal. As such, I’m going to issue a challenge to all Republicans. Shut your goddamn mouths. You are not elected into public office to spew your idiotic morality speech to the mainstream. You are elected to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States of America. I couldn’t care less if you’re a Christian, Muslim, Jew, Buddhist or Martian. Our country is in a ten-foot deep, mile-wide shit hole. Praying, hating gay people, cursing the left, being pro-life, pro-family or pro-whateverthefuck isn’t going to fix the problems we have right now. Some politicians may argue that this country is where it is because we “lost our values.” I say bullshit. We are where we are because we started caring too much about our values. Our values are OUR values, no one else’s. Keep that shit to yourself.

Defend our country from financial obliteration. Stop turning everything into a right versus left debate. Sometimes there isn’t a right answer, which is why this country has been locked in an abortion debate ever since the Roe v. Wade decision. There’s not a right answer to everything. Abortion is not a political issue. It is a personal opinion. Most abortions are done by way of a pill taken in the weeks after conception, but fervent pro-life supporters would like you to think that the doctor sticks a clothes hanger up there, twists it around and pulls out a kicking fetus. Abortion is a dirty word, but it’s not what most politicians would like you to think it is.

But back to why I’m still a Republican… I’m still a Republican because I believe at the heart and soul of the GOP it is a party founded on the belief that all Americans are given the right to live their lives in the pursuit of happiness with minimal government intrusion. It is a party that believes in the Constitution of the United States, and a party that believes war is an act of desperation, not intimidation.

I assume roughly 95% of you who read this site align yourself with the Republican party, and I can guarantee at least half of you are doing it for all the wrong reasons. A political party is a political party because of politics. Not religious affiliation, personal beliefs, or where you were born.

This is not an endorsement or condemnation of Mitt Romney or any other Republican political candidates. It’s bigger than that. It is a call to action. To stand up for what the Grand Old Party used to stand for.

Everyone deserves a chance to succeed.

The government shouldn’t solve all of your problems.

Religion and personal preference should not influence our laws.

This is not the country I was born in and it is certainly not the country I want to die in.

So, to the politicians (and to everyone) that represent my party, think about everything I just said next time you open up your mouth in a political debate. You can call yourself conservative all you want without giving any reason as to why, but if that’s the case then in reality you’re no better than the hippie on the street corner obliviously banging on his bongos.

***

Follow me on Twitter @ChampsTourTFM

  3. Immortal Seventh

    Finally a politically-motivated column on this website that isn’t a bunch of try-hard, faux-conservative bullshit. True conservatism is about protecting the Constitution, keeping the size and scope of government within it’s limits, and protecting individual freedoms.

    Social issues WILL move in a generally liberal direction. There has not been a civilization on planet earth to ever have a society that gets more conservative over time, there is no reason to fight that now. Being a conservative does not mean assigning the government with the role of preserving the teachings of a religion that is thousands of years old.

    In politics today, the terms ‘conservative’ and ‘republican’ get very much misinterpreted. One is an actual set of political philosophies and the other is a gaudy, bastardized manifestation of small-minded idiots who cannot accept the fact that there is a world out there that exists past the shadow of their church spire.

    13 years ago at 12:19 pm
    1. I am drot nunk

      ^Bottom line, we were meant to preserve the Constitution, not alter another’s beliefs. Good statement.

      13 years ago at 12:27 pm
    2. rollinghills_bro

      very well said. i too am pretty sick of how anybody these days call themselves a ‘conservative’ and then go out and support some of the most idiotic things imaginable. bill buckley was a true conservative. barry goldwater was a true conservative. ronald reagan was a true conservative. i remember getting a chance to meet and talk to barry goldwater when i was young even – this was when he was one of the few bold enough to talk about his concerns that people solely with religious aims were trying to take over the republican party. they were not ‘conservatives’ – they sought radical changes – many which impinged upon the whole notion of what ‘individual liberty’ was. barry like myself am pro-life as well. but we can not see how imposing morality by government is supposed to lead to less government in everyones lives? in many ways – alot of the true conservatives who built the modern conservative movement saw it coming and weren’t happy about it.

      13 years ago at 1:10 pm
    3. RTR America

      Paul Ryan is the definition of a true conservative and actually makes me believe Romney is as well.

      13 years ago at 12:01 am
  5. rollinghills_bro

    the one thing i was taught to not talk about with friends since i was young (and with my brothers) – is politics and religion. everybody has their opinions and no amount of shit (or facts for that matter) – will change it. i am a bit the same – goddamn fiscal conservative and mostly socially liberal myself (except pro life and pro 2nd amendment). i grew up a young republican and YAF student leader and slowly moved to more an independent over the years. i give (alot) to both republicans and democrats and count both as friends and even family. i know alot of it is just trolling and humor, but in the real world, being stuck in neutral steadfast with only one set of beliefs is stupid. it is the surest road to failure because we live in a society that only rewards flexibility. profit only comes with change (the real kind) and being able to adapt is about as fraternity you can get. it’s all about winning and survival of the fittest.

    13 years ago at 12:54 pm
  6. Admiral Fratcher

    “conservative” and “republican” these days are just words. Just like “liberal” and “democrat” are. The majority of people, especially college students, don’t have the faintest clue about the values associated with either party, the most they do is choose one or the other and blindly support the candidate based on what their friends like or who they think would do a better job, usually based upon the beaten horse topics such as abortion, unemployment and so on.

    I, for one, refuse to support a candidate who wants to take my hard earned income and give it to people who refuse to support themselves. I should not be taxes to raise millions of NEETs and worthless individuals who refuse to get a job, bellyache in their occupy camps about the rich, and most certainly, live off the government. It’s disgusting and is the sole reason why other countries hold zero respect for the united states. My vote will be and always will be republican because I cannot support the nonsense the other candidate preaches.

    /rant

    13 years ago at 12:58 pm
  8. Keystone Cowboy

    Where have all you been in the last few political columns? I was raised Catholic and continue to go to church, but honestly if some whore wants to go kill a fetus, go for it. One less person I have to take care of.

    13 years ago at 1:03 pm
    1. rockytop1

      If we didn’t have programs that paid for that whore to have kids than they might think twice. I know we all rag about raw dogging and what not, but some people need to wear protection. Look at the black community, women use that single parent crap to get a check for her problems, not much contribution to society and laziness is killing us.

      13 years ago at 2:06 pm
  9. InHocTilSheChoke

    I agree with every single bit of this article, with the exception of the last “call to action.” I was born in this country, and I sure as shit am going to die in it. Otherwise, great article.

    13 years ago at 1:48 pm
  10. rollinghills_bro

    Barry Goldwater aka ‘Mr. Conservative’ – a modern conservative before anyone even knew what a ‘conservative’ was:

    “The religious factions will go on imposing their will on others, unless the decent people connected to them recognize that religion has no place in public policy. They must learn to make their views known without trying to make their views the only alternatives. We have succeeded for 205 years in keeping the affairs of state separate from the uncompromising idealism of religious groups and we mustn’t stop now. To retreat from that separation would violate the principles of conservatism and the values upon which the framers built this democratic republic.”

    word for muthafuckin word…

    13 years ago at 2:05 pm