More cracks in the Republican Monolith
I ran into this essay by David Franke, who is a founder of the conservative movement from the late fifties. I've never heard of him, but I'm no student of conservative theory and it's origens. It appeared in LewRockwell.com, which is, I gather, a Libertarian blog. The guy loves Dean, and Judy, too, and is eloquent in his advocacy in this epistle to the Libertarians.
So eloquent that I was moved to write him thusly:
Mr. Franke:
I want to commend you for your support of Dr. Dean, and for your clear perception of his qualities. I share your views on him and the same appreciation for his wife and their modest ways, and am likewise supporting him.
What makes this simple communication noteworthy is that you and I, a year ago, wouldn't have imagined that we might have anything in common, seeing as how we each would identify ourselves as in being opposition; You, a "conservative", I, a "liberal". It seems we share something that the current cabal in power does not: respect for the truth, and for common decency.
If we can all come to our senses and depose the threat to our democracy that the (if I may be so bold) "Bush Dynasty" and it's cronies represent, without doubt you and I will immediately find things to disagree on thereafter, but we can return to those disagreements within the context of respected adversaries in the long struggle to find an acceptable balance between respect for individual liberty and iniative, and respect for the common good. This striving for balance is a work-in-progress commenced by the Founding Fathers and continued by all of us Americans to this very day. Finding this balance and learning to live with it are key to the very survival of our noble and glorious American experiment, if not all of mankind.
Sincerely,
Claude Hayward