Tag Archives: conservative

The Quotable Ronald Reagan

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Ronald Reagan was a conservative president who lowered taxes but increased revenue, never backed down yet avoided war, and was not afraid to call it as he saw it.A coworker sent these to me today among the myriad of political forwards that circulate within my consortium of conservative colleagues.  Many say that another Jimmy Carter can only lead to another Ronald Reagan.  This saying is really just a desperate attempt to cope with the fact that we have three and a half more years of “change” to live through.

In the meantime, fellow conservatives. enjoy this compilation of The Ronald’s best word-smithing:

“Here’s my strategy on the Cold War:
We win, they lose.”

“The most terrifying words in the English language are: I’m from the government and I’m here to help.”

“The trouble with our liberal friends is not that they’re ignorant; it’s just that they know so much that isn’t so.”

“Of the four wars in my lifetime, none came about because the U.S. was too strong.”

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“I have wondered at times about what the Ten Commandments would have looked like if Moses had run them through the U.S. Congress.”

“The taxpayer: That’s someone who works for the federal government but doesn’t have to take the civil service examination.”

“Government is like a baby: An alimentary canal with a big appetite at one end and no sense of responsibility at the other.”

“The nearest thing to eternal life we will ever see on this earth is a government program.”

“It has been said that politics is the second oldest profession. I have learned that it bears a striking resemblance to the first.”

“Government’s view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it.”

“Politics is not a bad profession. If you succeed, there are many rewards; if you disgrace yourself, you can always write a book.”

“No arsenal, or no weapon in the arsenals of the world, is as formidable as the will and moral courage of free men and women.”

“If we ever forget that we’re one nation under GOD, then we will be a nation gone under.”

~Man Overboard, humbly filling in for Ronald Reagan

Image used in this Post

Ronald Reagan image courtesy of flickr Spacedustdesign user published under the CC license.

Tax Day Tea Party

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A Tea Party protester holds a sign that reads "pay your own mortgage."With Democrats passing bills that Republicans are not even allowed to read let alone contribute to, some in America feel like the left is out of control.  President Obama’s social engineering project disguised as a “stimulus” was the last straw for many.  Since then, a budget with a $1,000,000,000,000.00 deficit, bailouts for the automakers, another AIG bailout, 9,000 earmarks, and now Hillary-care.

Conservatives have had enough. After two straight elections of rout in both houses of Congress and now the White House, many conservatives feel their interests are no longer represented in the federal government. Then came Rick Santelli. In a widely publicized rant on the floor of the Chicago Exchange, he jokingly suggested that a “Chicago Tea Party” was in order to protest the inevitable tax increases that will follow President Obama’s careless spending.

The classic painting of the Boston Tea Party. Colonists angry over English taxes, dump a precious cargo of imported tea into the harbor.The idea quickly took hold. Shortly thereafter, many conservatives began organizing on the internet, a media outlet that has historically been dominated by liberals. Using social sites like Twitter, Facebook, Michelle Malkin, and countless other blogs, they have organized what many claim will be a massive nationwide protest on April 15th.

Let’s look at what some of my friends are saying about the Tea Party on Twitter (#teaparty).

A group of tweets about the Tax day Tea Party. #teaparty. People are angry over government spending and taxes.

The Tea Parties are a staunch reminder to liberals that despite a rash of election day victories, Conservative ideals are still alive and are not going anywhere.  There is a silent majority in this country that does not want to pay for his neighbors mortgage, health care, car loan, groceries, education, electric bill or anything else for that matter.  Many still believe that along with the pursuit of happiness, the right to be a failure in life is also protected under the Constitution.  It should not be the burden of the intelligent to compensate for the mistakes of the foolhardy.

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Tea Party-goers  also believe that borrowing trillions(with a T) from hostile countries like China is not a wise decision.  Somehow, Liberals are under the impression that insurmountable debt is the way to get out of an economic crisis caused by insurmountable debt.  Tea Party-goers do not want future generation to foot the bill for the pet projects and social agenda that Obama, Pelosi, Reid, Dodd, and Frank have forced down the American throat.

A group of angry tax payers gather at one of the many Tea Parties to protest President Obama's economic policy.Many Tea Parties have already been held in several cities across the country. Up until now, they have been utterly ignored by mainstream media with the exception of Fox News (of course). Organizers claim that this time it will be too big to ignore. Just in case they try, Conservatives have rallied hundreds of independent media outlets, blogs, and community organizations to promote and report on the events.

~ Man Overboard

Images Used in this Post

Boston Tea Party image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons published under the CC license.

Pay Your Own Mortgage and Tea Party images courtesy of Flickr user Brooksbayne published under the CC license.

Word Power: Conservative

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Crumpled piece of paper that reads Word Power

Today’s lesson in Word Power is to understand the etymology and history behind the word conservative.

Conservative: [con-ser-va-tive]

(Adj.)

  1. Favoring traditional views and values; tending to oppose change
  2. Moderate; cautious

(Noun)

  1. One favoring traditional views and values
  2. A supporter of political conservatism (American Heritage Dictionary)

Etymology

A portrait of Ronald ReaganIn order to understand the etymology of the word conservative, we must first, get to the root of the matter.  In this word, there is both a prefix, con-, and a suffix, -ive.  After we have chopped both the prefix and suffix off, we are left with the root servat. Now we are getting somewhere . . .

Servo, servare, servavi, servatus

Servare is a Latin verb that means to make safe, save, preserve, guard, protect, etc.  There are four main principle parts to pretty much every verb in the Latin language, with the exception of a few.  However, for the sake of simplicity we will only look at the main principle part, servatus.  Servatus, is the perfect passive participle form of the verb and this form has served as a foundation for which the words we use today were created.  Some words that we use today with a derivative of the root servatus in them are observe (to not protect) and preserve (to make safe in advance).

Con-

Now that you understand the root, -servat-, we can begin reconstructing our original word, conservative.  First, let’s add on the prefix con-.  The prefix con- is derived from the Latin word cum, which meant “with” or “together”.  Most people use this word when graduating cum laude (with honors) or magna cum laude (with high honors).  Nevertheless, this word was commonly used in the Latin language and in text.  The idea of a prefix is not a new development for many Latin words already used con- as a prefix, such as consere, which meant to join together, as well as conservare, which of course meant to keep safe altogether.  Some of words that we use the prefix con- in are congregate (to come together) and converge (to meet up with).

-ive

Now that we have the word conservat, we need to add the suffix -ive.  The suffix -ive is an adjectival suffix meaning “relating to or belonging to”.  The suffix -ive is actually derived from the Latin suffix, -ivus. This suffix usually followed the perfect passive participle, which we learned above is how our language got the root conservat.  Some commonly used words that we see the suffix -ive in are representative (belonging to act for others) and quantitative (relating to measure quantity).

Summary

You can see that over the years that followed from the demise of Latin culture, not much has changed in terms of the language we use today.  The Romans actually had the word, conservare, which we typically hear and use everyday.  Sure, we don’t conjugate verbs like the Romans did, but the roots are all still here.  We use the word conserve as a verb meaning to save or prevent injury.  We use conservation as a noun meaning the act of keeping safe.  And of course, we use conservative as an adjective meaning cautious, traditional, moderate, etc. Literally speaking, conservative is an adjective that means belonging to keep safe altogether.

Extra Credit

You might find yourself asking: How is it that I hear conservative used as a noun everyday, if it is truly an adjective?  This is because adjectives can take on the meaning of a noun when the noun is dropped off. When the noun drops off, the adjective becomes a substantive adjective. Substantive adjectives are used in multiple languages, such as English, Latin, Spanish, etc.  Therefore, when you hear the word conservative used as a noun it is really being used as a substantive adjective because you are expected to understand that the noun the adjective is modifying is a person, place, thing, etc. An example of this is “The Spanish have more fun”.  It is assumed that you are referring to people and thusly the adjective “Spanish” is a substantive adjective.

Tune in next Thursday for a breakdown of the word Liberal.

Image Used in this Post

Portrait of Ronald Reagan image courtesy of Flickr user Cliff 1066 published under the CC license.

I AM A REPUBLICAN, A CONSERVATIVE, A NEOCON, AND I…

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  • Pay my medical bills in full every time (that which is not covered by my insurance which I pay extra for)
  • Generate clean, safe, reliable, CARBON FREE, energy for a living
  • Vote
  • Recycle paper, plastic bottles, tin cans, plastic bags, organic waste (in my dare I say wicked tomato garden), glass bottles, and lousy jokes.
  • Donated more than 2% of my income to recognized charities last year and am on pace to pass that this year.
  • Donated even more to unrecognized charities and that’s about all I’m going to say about that.
  • Pay my taxes
  • Only heat my house to 60 degrees in the winter, do not turn on my AC until it hits 90 degrees in the summer, and made energy saving modifications to my house in order to reduce my energy foot print (and save on my bills of course).
  • Proudly display the American Flag
  • Was named Clean Communities Person of the Year for the State of New Jersey at the age of 8.
  • Worked 3 years in the deadliest, most physically exhausting profession on the planet to finance my education.
  • Sacrifice my own standard of living which is by all accounts modest in order to ensure that upon retirement I will not be dependent on the generosity of others for survival.
  • Was eligible to collect unemployment benefits at more than one point in my life but refused on principle despite the circumstances.

So if that makes me a Neocon – guilty.  The way I look at it, we Neocons, as liberals call us as if we might be insulted by such a label, are people of values, determination, and most of all we are people of action who do more than talk about how to make the world a better place – we get off our asses and do it.

~Man Overboard

The Great Divide

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I am certainly not alone in thinking that the past decade has seen a heightened sense of awareness around whether your fellow Americans are political conservatives or liberals. There are entire “news networks” (it pains me to even call them that, the label alone lends some credence to organizations that I wish had none) dedicated to only one political spin on the news. Fox News, CNN, MSNBC, The New York Times, the list goes on and on of news networks that no longer will report the news at face value, but instead force upon their audiences stories discolored by the generic bias that particular network embodies.In the media you hear about “the liberals” and “the conservatives” as though they were analogous to the Civil War era “North” and “South”. One would be led to believe that these two groups of people are radical political activists who thirst for each other’s blood. The question I pose is: Is the political divide between conservatives and liberals actual or perceived?

The answer (from my personal observation and no other expert opinion at all): it depends on whether or not you strongly identify yourself with one of these two groups. If you strongly associate yourself with either being a liberal or a conservative, then this divide is more than likely very real to you; and you are, in fact, fighting a “politcal war” against the opposing ideology. Should you be an individual that does not necessarily associate yourself with either ideology with any real gusto or spirit, but may share opinions or views similarly to either group, then the divide may not be real to you.For those individuals who do strongly subscribe to one ideology or the other, then the divide is very real and very important.

It is important at all costs to do the following to those people who “belong” to the opposing camp:

  • Tell everyone you know that (insert “Conservatives” or “Liberals” here, depending on which group you DO NOT belong to) are evil and will precipitate the demise of this great nation
  • Use gross generalizations and misperceptions to describe the most basic characteristics of the opposing view while ensuring that they are cast in the least flattering light possible (this is a fine art form only seasoned fanatics can achieve with any cohesion)
  • Never allow yourself to slip and actually research and ponder the opposition’s stance on an issue lest you be led astray from your brainwashing
  • Espouse your unwavering support for all things, places and people that are (insert your affiliation of “Conservative” or “Liberal” here)
  • Never deviate the from the views personified by the label under which you categorize yourself no matter how illogical, impractical or unintelligent those views may be, or else how could you ever obtain any street credit from your peeps?

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The divide that exists in the schizo-paranoid minds of political radicals who allow their senses of logic, duty and patriotism to be over ridden by dogmatic views of a political ideology are a cancer to the principles of free will and thought upon which this country was founded. The moment you allow a personified political party to dictate your opinions and actions, you have done your country a great disservice. Perhaps a greater understanding of the opposing view point would, at the very least, promote a deeper knowledge and a more eloquent rebuttal to their positions rather than falling back on name-calling derived from the individual’s perceived political affiliation.

Yes, this was a rant-based blog based on the frustrations of being inundated with Conservative and Liberal bashing alike, by people who seem normal at first glance. One thing is for sure, if you hear (or are) a person who walks around talking about how either Conservatives or Liberals are the problem with this country, or something of the like, you should promptly place a mirror in this person’s face and kindly state, “Actually, what you see here is the problem.” Then smugly walk away, confident in the fact that the less evolved brethren you just had this little chat with will never quite grasp the underlying irony, but will probably ponder it for at least the amount of time they spend at a traffic light.