The True Defeatists

If you are still having trouble understanding the angst of true conservatives over the Harriet Miers pick, I urge you to read Amy Ridenour's post from yesterday, "Defeatism in Defense of the Constitution is No Virtue."

It comes from one who's fought in the trenches on the Bork and Thomas nominations, and has poured out a lot of sweat on Capitol Hill over the past two decades trying to get conservative, originalist judges onto the bench who would be worth nominating when this time came.

Says Amy:

I say to the GOP-Uber-Alles crowd: It is not those of us who think we can do better than a stealth candidate who are the defeatists.

It is those of you who are afraid to fight for the Constitution.

In his clarion call of conservatism, Barry Goldwater declared that moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue. Could defeatism in defense of the Constitution be any different?

Most of today's accomodationist, expedient Republicans would probably look at that and say "Well, Goldwater got creamed in '64, so what good was it? He should have toned it down and gotten elected." And in their historical ignorance, they'd be missing the fact that Goldwater's speech almost single-handedly spawned the modern conservative movement, inspiring thousands of young future leaders of the Reagan Revolution.

Hugh Hewitt keeps claiming that true conservatives don't understand that President Bush is governing for the "long-haul." No. It's Hewitt who doesn't understand conservatism. Fighting these battles and setting a vision, even against difficult odds, is governing for the long-haul. Expedience always reaps only a short-term benefit.