Well if you listen to the media and the political pundits the 2008 Presidential election was in part lost because the republican party has lost its way, that the GOP is incompetent or that conservatives are un-relatable to certain demographics and that we need to ‘re-tool’ and find a new face of the GOP.
And whereas I agree in part with those statements; because I do think we lost our way and tried to please everyone and we lost our message. But, I don’t think that it is solely the fault of the GOP; I believe this country has lost its way, has gotten off message and needs to ‘re-tool’.
America is the greatest country on Earth! How many times have you heard that? But what makes us great? Why are there thousands of people coming to this country every year; both legally and illegally at great risk to life and limb?
Because they want a better life, they want a place where they can work hard and get ahead, a place with protected freedoms, a place where there is a sense of community and togetherness; of family, where the sanctity of life is cheered and celebrated. It is on these points where I feel America has lost its way.
First and foremost we are a faith based nation; if you don’t believe me just read the Declaration of Independence and it is to that end where we have lost our way.
As a country we have slowly moved away from our faith being the anchor and center of our life as evident by some of the things we’ve allowed to be taken away; such as prayer in school, or 10 Commandment memorials being removed from federal courthouses; you know the place where you place your hand on the bible and swear to tell the truth! We have also built up a tolerance to things that we viewed as immoral and appalling a few decades ago, all of this has contributed to the break down of the American family; which in my opinion is the root of a lot of the issues facing our country today.
With the break down of the American family has come an increase in divorce, increase in crime rates and violent crime, increase in abortions, a change from a community that takes care of each other; to a ME based generation.
Now follow me on this, in the 50’s we had the age of the Cleavers, at the time a traditional family, crime rates were fairly low; we were a nation who took care of one another always; not just during times of tragedy. We used to leave our doors unlocked, we talked to strangers, and waved to them as we passed by. Then the 60’s came and things began to fall apart, drug use increased, liberal attitudes; such as pre-marital sex and rebellion became the norm, fueled in part by a very unpopular war and turmoil of the time.
The attitudes of the 60’s spilled over into the 70’s with Roe v. Wade, disposable marriages and again increased drug use and liberal attitudes took over in music, movies and TV. The 80’s saw this trend increase. Divorces increased as more and more families became dual income families, either out of necessity, out of a desire to ‘keep up with the Jones’s’, or dare I say out of the desire of some wives and mothers wanting to compete in the work force; instead of keeping to a traditional marriage. Whatever the reason the family began to pull apart and kids looked to influences outside of their family for guidance; such as gang’s, drugs, sports figures, etc. We started to become a nation of introverts, we didn’t venture outside the home as much, didn’t get to know our neighbors, locked our doors; all out of fear.
The 90’s saw this trend increase, in addition to the true beginning of the ME generation and the greed on Wall street and with the .com boom. The desire for the all mighty dollar took over and again, the family suffered and kids were left to fend for themselves. Government programs were further developed to give people a ‘hand out’ instead of a ‘hand up’; what did this teach the children of the time?
The children of the 70’s and 80’s who only knew a single parent home with no Christian upbringing began to have kids of their own. And what are they teaching their kids? Are they teaching them to keep God centered in their life? To protect the unborn? To keep to the tradition’s the country and our world was founded on? NO, no they didn’t.
And now the traditional definition of marriage is under attack; a marriage is meant to be between a man and a woman, period. Anything else leads all children astray and will continue to lead to the decline in the American family and destruction of the foundations of this country. And if the foundation crumbles…. So does the house.
So like I said I agree that the conservative party lost its message; the last 8 years has not been the best for our party, but like I have shown here America has really lost its way. What we need now is conservative leaders who have the moxy to stand up for true conservative values such as smaller government, sanctity of life, faith based decision making, fiscal conservatism, entrepreneurship, smaller government and a tax system that is fair and just.
That is the message we need to be selling; not being the end all to be all for every demographic and special interest group. And we need someone who can show ALL age groups how conservative values are a benefit to them; not a hindrance, how taking care of your neighbor and your kids is what we need to focus on first and then we can take care of places like Darfur and such. Mike Huckabee is the right person to do that.
So lets get America back on track; don’t retool the GOP to address all these liberal issues; I think we tried that….and it didn’t work.
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