Conservative Principles?

“Meet the new boss. Same as the old boss.” — Pete Townsend

Life used to be really simple. Liberals believed in using government to make the lives of its citizens better. Conservatives believed people could better make their own lives better and government intervention only gets in the way. Somewhere along the way, conservatives abandoned that philosophy and adopted none at all.

We seem to be doing this a lot lately, so I thought I would try this from another angle. It seems the governor and others are determined to shove character education down our throats. Character education is only one way to put it. Another way to put it is white washing. Another way to put it is indoctrination. However, the most accurate way to put it is to call it what it really is: an empty gesture.

Of course, the governor couldn’t resist the urge to pump himself up.ss

So, we could take this from a few angles, but I decided to take a look at the source. If you take a look at the list of priorities you’ll see that we are currently teaching those things. Sure, you’ve added a few awards and what not, but I’m struggling to figure out what the point is. I’m sure the governor is already aware, but maybe he’s not. We teach Texas history to 7th graders. Maybe he’s suggesting we do more, but it doesn’t seem clear by the verbiage of the bill.

Like I said before, we could conceivably approach this from numerous angles. Sure, we could look at the likely desire to remove unsavory facts from the historical account. However, let’s assume the very best and only look at the letter of the law. They want to assure that we are doing something we’re already doing. What’s the purpose of that exactly?

When you abandon your ideology I’m not sure what you have left. Some people are dedicated to the idea of limited government. They don’t want the government involved unless absolutely necessary. It is a philosophy I’ve always respected. I’ve always disagreed but I’ve always respected it. When you abandon that philosophy and fill it with empty gestures you’ve abandoned that philosophy for good public relations. Congratulations.

Judas sold his soul for some pieces of silver. The governor appears to be selling his for a simple photo opp. He can’t even come up with an original name for this fiasco. His hero dubbed character education as the 1776 project. Just adopt the year we gained our independence and pass a quick law. Throw in a black guy into the picture to make it look good. The law really won’t change anything. It’s a great use of our time and money.