Formatia trans sicere educatorum

Previously I have posted my comments on the forthcoming presidential election in the U.S. In my first post I made a case that America cannot afford to have any of the individuals who declared their candidacy for President. After sometime and many of the candidates dropped from the race I formally presented my argument for why I disagree with John McCain on many of his platforms. I must say this now that despite my ill feelings towards Senator McCain’s beliefs on key issues, I will nonetheless through my support behind him. However, I feel the need to lay out my beliefs on the election and on the current status of American politics.

As anyone can see I am a conservative, whether or not I am a Republican is up for debate. What does it mean to be a conservative exactly? In the proper sense to be a conservative is the conserve the status quo but in another sense (often times viewed as dangerous) to be conservative means to return to a previous time: I belong to the latter. To neglect this side of the conservative movement is to give up on hope. In today’s world we are called upon to accept how things are and just get use to it rather than wish for something better. This notion is what has caused a decay in the American political system for some time now. We have lost track of what this nation was founded to do. The issues that will be important for the election, as they have been for some time and will continue to be, are vital to America. Among these issues are Immigration, Abortion, Death Penalty, Homosexual Marriage and the like. It was commented on my blog that I should just accept abortion and move on; morally I cannot do that and as an American citizen I would fail to live up to my obligations just to accept things.

Politics is aimed at the good, as defined by Aristotle this good is happiness. Coupled with Politics is the Noble, or virtue. In America we still have some notion of what the good is but have completely forgotten about what politics and virtue are. Let me make this abundantly clear: there is such a thing as right and wrong and they are not subjective to the individual person. Our citizens in general have lost sight of this and thus we have our present circumstances. In the Democratic party we have a potential nominee who stands for nothing more than hope and change, so did Adolf Hitler. In the Republic party we have a presumptive nominee who appears to be a unifying force in the country as he has both liberal and conservative stances. Whether or not either of these is good for our country should be clear to us all, they are not. The danger of electing either Barack Obama or John McCain is not that they are bad men, but that their beliefs in the hands of the people will bring about the destruction of liberty. Morality is key to the preservation to the body politic; Locke argues that the purpose of the civil society is to enforce and uphold the Law of Nature. I do not see a person in politics today who wants to do this.

In today’s America the election of the President of the United States is the most important decision an American can or will ever make. The President yields far more power than he has in the history of the office. Can the President have an effect on issues? Of course he can there is something called Presidential veto. Within the next President’s term it is possible that Justice Stevens will be retiring: Justice Stevens is one of the most liberal members of the High Court and with Justice Kennedy siding mostly with the Conservatives the appointment of a strong conservative Justice would be a positive thing. Like the President, the Supreme Court has more authority now than it did ever in it’s history. Thus the President, on an issue like abortion, could choose to veto a law that extends abortion rights or appoint a conservative Justice to the bench who will help overturn abortion laws as they are brought to the court. When it comes to issues of immorality such as Abortion and Homosexuality I think it is clear from the past two elections that the American people are vastly against both. President Bush is ardently against both issues and the fact that he won the popular vote in 2004, and received the largest number of votes in history is key. The President does have sway over legislation in America even if he doesn’t have the authority to create law: the President as all branches of our government should do everything in their power to uphold the Law of Nature.

The fundamental right we possess as American citizens, nay as a citizen in general is to voice our opinion and gain support for our ideology. John Adams defines an aristocrat as a man who has two votes, his own and someone else’s. The first amendment, via the Free Speech clause, is a wholly political amendment calling on the citizens (those who are capable of ruling and being ruled according to Aristotle) to voice their opinions about political matters. With the exception of the Establishment and Free Exercise clauses the entire amendment deals with how the citizens are to conduct their political affairs. By submitting to the way things are simply because no one else wants to agree with you is cowardliness behavior. If I can get two people to agree that my way of thinking is right and that they will vote as I would vote then I have succeeded in my duty as a citizen. The fact that I do not want to conserve the status quo, that I want to return to what I believe is a better time in American history is exactly what makes me a conservative of the second degree. I will promote my beliefs for as long as I have the title of citizen and will defend to my death the right of any other citizen to do the same.

John McCain is dangerous to America, but Obama and Clinton are far worse. As we always have a choice, I will choose to vote for the lesser of evils. I recognize that we must prevent either Democrat from winning the November election, but that does not mean that I should stand idly by and accept wholly what the Republicans say when I view them to be wrong too. The job of our representatives is to listen to the voices of their constituency. I will never stop trying to reform this country because it will never be perfect, but it can be more perfect than it is. The youth of America are fundamentally apathetic towards politics even if they do engage in their civic duties. We shouldn’t just sit around and accept things thinking it doesn’t matter what one thinks because it will never change. Your individual vote and voice do matter and to think otherwise is to fall into the liberal trap. On election day go out and vote, vote for whomever you wish but don’t think that just because they are our options in 2008 that you can’t change how things are for 2012. If enough people want change it will happen.