Texas governor Greg Abbott has released a plan calling for nine Constitutional amendments. This plan highlights so much of what's wrong with what passes for conservatism in America today.
Abbott's Plan to Change the Constitution: Restoring the Rule of Law
Let's go over three of the problems that are killing American conservatism: the denial, the radical vision, and the hypocrisy.
The Denial
American conservatism has become a movement driven by denial of reality. You see this in the introduction to Abbott's plan, where he claims that:
"The Texas Plan is not so much a vision to alter the Constitution as it is a call to restore the rule of our current one."
This is how today's self-styled conservatives too often think. Instead of admitting that proposing to change the Constitution is the most anti-conservative thing an American conservative can do, they simply deny that they want to change it. And no doubt a lot of conservatives will go along with the story.
It's happened before. Remember how John Boehner, back in 2014, accused Obama of being responsible for the impeachment talk that some Republicans were talking. The reality was that Republicans were talking impeachment. Boehner came up with a story that directly contradicted reality, the story that Obama himself was behind it all.
And the rank and file conservatives went along with it. The very next day, they began blaming Obama for spreading the impeachment rumors, even though they themselves were the ones calling for impeachment. That's denial of reality at a stunning level.
The same will probably happen with Abbott's plan. Even though he's proposing a radical restructuring of the American system, his supporters will go along with the story that they aren't proposing to change anything. They're just "restoring" it.
In other words, they'll go along with this anti-conservative bullshit with no regard for reality.
The Radical Vision
There have been conflicts between states and the federal government ever since America was created, and as time passed the federal government has gained more power in some respects. Is this a bad thing? I don't think so. During that time America accomplished a lot of other things, like becoming the world's leading superpower and improving life for a lot of people.
It's not hard to see why. As the world has developed and the population increased, things become less and less local. If one state allows power plants to emit high levels of pollution, that pollution doesn't stay in that state. That state might be proud of itself for exerting its rights, but it's still dumping its garbage on its neighbors' property, and that's uncivilized behavior by any modern, western moral code.
Furthermore, there's strength in numbers. It's because we have a strong federal government, and the taxes that support it, that we have a strong military that's kept America relatively safe from attack by foreign powers.
Obviously there have been some real problems associated with a strong federal government, like the war on drugs that Abbott still supports. But those aren't problems that require rewriting the Constitution. They're problems that require electing smart, principled politicians who will face reality instead of trying to talk their way around it like Abbott is doing.
Genuine conservatism is about preserving the good ideas of the past. It's about sticking with what works, and our Constitution has worked pretty well. The changes that Abbott proposes are dangerously radical. There's no telling what the unintended consequences of such a major reworking of American might be, but the chances that they'll be better than our current Constitution are slim.
We wouldn't let the left get away with proposing sweeping changes to the Constitution. Why in hell would we let a self-styled "conservative" like Abbott get away with it?
The Hypocrisy
Because of the denial of reality needed to justify its radical vision for America, today's conservative movement has become wildly hypocritical.
They'll support a criminal like Cliven Bundy when he threatens to kill government employees, but if a bunch of black people are protesting police mistreatment, today's conservatives are ready to open fire. In one case, the rule of law means absolutely nothing to them. In the other case they claim that the rule of law means everything to them.
They'll scream in rage at any hint of an infringement of the Second Amendment, but offer them an infringement of the Fourth, like the widespread drug testing they support, and their reverence for Constitutional rights vanishes.
They'll claim to oppose expensive, rights-crushing, big-government programs, but they still think it's proper to prohibit marijuana, to continue prosecuting a failed drug war that has made the land of the free one of the most prison-happy nations on the planet.
The problem is that today's conservative movement, just like its leaders, has no guiding principles. All they have is a set of positions on issues. Those positions are dictated from the top down, and the rank-and-file conservatives, or at least most of them, accept those positions, and the bullshit justifications, without question. These people love to thump their chest about what proud patriots they are, but in reality, they're nothing but a weak-minded mob that's easily led by anyone who tells them what they want to hear.
And they'll do it this time too. Instead of recognizing that Abbott's plan to rework America is more radical than anything the left has ever proposed, they'll go along with the story that they're "restoring" the Constitution rather than changing it. They'll fool themselves into thinking they're conservatives. They'll fool themselves into thinking they're patriots.
Prove me wrong, my conservative compadres. For once in your life, quit letting little men tell to what and how to think and take a stand for genuine conservative principles. Take a stand for our Constitution. Tell Abbott to shove his radical plan up his anti-conservative ass.
If you can't do that, then at least be honest enough to admit that you're not genuine conservatives.
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