Thursday, September 24, 2009

Is Bill Cosby a Conservative?

A recent column entry by Matt Lewis in Politics Daily calls Bill Cosby a conservative because he has joined forces with the IWF, a forum organized by so-called conservative women. Their mission is as follows:
"Rebuild civil society by advancing economic liberty, personal responsibility, and political freedom." The site goes on to state that "IWF builds support for a greater respect for limited government, equality under the law, property rights, free markets, strong families, and a powerful and effective national defense and foreign policy."
As a flaming liberal, I have little issue with any of these values. In fact, I embrace them wholeheartedly.
I would love to have limited government if only the corporate giants would dismantle into human-scale entities so that we could afford limited government. As it is, the only voices congress seems to listen to are the voices of Big Business such as oil and coal, instead of the still small voices of natural gas, a much cleaner, earth-friendly, plentiful transition fuel that will bridge us into the age of renewable energy. If only the little guys and the Big Bullies had equality under the law.
If by property rights they mean surface owners as opposed to the Big Bullies who own subsurface rights that currently and historically have trumped the little surface owners, I am for property rights.
If by free markets they actually mean the preservation of real competition and the protection against the monopoly and oligarchy of Big Business, I am all for real free markets.
If by strong families they mean the kind of families my two sons are raising and committed to that foster good manners, rigorous education, respect for nature, and high achievement, then I am certainly in support of strong families.
And if by strong national defense and foreign policy they don’t mean a go-it-alone strategy without first asking the rest of the world to join us in positive endeavors, as The Little Red Hen did, as opposed to the Bush administration, then I support a strong national defense and foreign policy based on cooperation rather than isolation.
So, if Bill Cosby is about getting parents to take responsibility for their children, I am all for it. No government program will do it for them. However, access to good schools can help, and good government can provide incentives that will help good schools flourish in underserved areas.
And sometimes it is a matter of saving the kids FROM the parents.

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