Civility, Not Bipartisanship.

You know, it’s really funny to me that liberals in the media are insisting that in order for conservative Republicans to be relevant, they have to go along to get along with the Obama administration because the American people have a desire to see bipartisanship in Washington. Well, first of all I think that is, as my friends across the pond would say, “bollocks.” Even if it where true, what the Democrats have been touting as bipartisanship is not real bipartisanship. Bipartisanship requires real comprimise, it requires give and take because it requires shared responsibility. Why should the Republicans vote for something in which they had no input in and then share responsibility with the failed policies of the Democrats?

While the GOP’s whole hearted rejection of President Obama’s simulus package was encouraging, I would urge them not to pursue the supposedly desired “bipartisan era” the nation so desperately desired according to the media. That’s right, say no to bipartisanship. For starters, as we’ve discussed, the left doesn’t have an inkling of what true bipartisanship is. I could point to a number of supposedly “bipartisan” pieces of legislation that are indistinguishable from the Democratic Party’s platform. How do you think the Democratic Party was able to accomplish as much as they did in the 2000s? Look at “No Child Left Behind” or the prescription drug benefits bill or even the failed “comprehensive immigration reform” package. They’re all tinged with liberal ideas and verbage and give very little to no room for conservative ideas.

There’s a reason for this, and it’s the same reason President Obama’s inauguration speech while rhetorically phenomonal fell flat in the substance department. The fact of the matter is, free market capitalism can not coexsist with command economy socialism. It just does not work. There is a fine line and a choice that every American has to make: we’re either free and have a free market with limited oversight and enforced laws or we live in a soceity where the government determines the operations of our market. Simply put, true conservatives ideas cannot coexsist with liberal progressive ideas. If we try to merge them, we won’t end up with a utopia, we’ll end up in a society in constant schizophrenia, confusion, and frustration.

No, the American people do not want bipartisanship. Where I live in conservative Orange County, committed conservative Rep. John Campbell easily won re-election, but Barack Obama won his district by a signifcant margin, which means people who voted for President Obama also voted for Rep. Campbell. This is not an isolated case, across the country, conservative candidates easily win re-election while moderate and liberal Republicans go down in flames. The American people are looking for a choice. In 1964 Barry Goldwater’s campaign slogan was “A Choice, Not an Echo” and that slogan rings true today. The American people are crying out for a choice between bigger government and limited government, between true free-market capitalism and the wierd supposedly capitialism-socialism hybrid that really is just socialism.

That being said, I do think Americans desire some civility to be brought back to the politcal process. This is not something conservatives in Washington need to work though, this is something the left needs to work on. Flaunting one’s wins around like they’re some trophy rather than the daunting task of making America a better place is not very classy. Creating rules making it impossible for one’s opponents to mount a serious opposition is near draconian. It is civility, not bipartisanship that America is looking for. Quite frankly, the ball is in the Democrats court here and blaming a conservative talk radio host in Florida is not going to solve anything.

If Democrats need a lesson in civility, look at the relationship between the Bush family and the Clinton family. These are two families at the opposite sides of the political spectrum, but somehow they have managed to form a real friendship. For as much of a creep as President Clinton is, I can not help but admire the compliments he gives to Republicans and the respect he shows to both Presidents Bush.

It’s time the Republican Party embraces conservatism and a complete wholesale, total rejection of liberalism. It’s time we go back to the principles that made us great. There is no need to “reach across the isle,” Republicans have done that for too long and it hasn’t gotten us anywhere. The Republicans need to remember a full 47% of people rejected President Obama’s plans for America, there is no consensus and no need to listen to pundits who live in Manhattan and Washington DC, listen to the people who put you in those seats, and maybe, just maybe, we’ll go out and fight for you.

Cross-Posted at RedState