Why I am a Republican

I have been a Republican for as long as I can remember, as at the core, I believe their values represent me best. The GOP supports conservatism, that which has endured through the years to represent our collective experience. Conservatism is more than a mere political ideology, it is a philosophy that applies to all ways of life.

Gilbert Chesterton, an English author and theologian, called tradition "the democracy of the dead." We are the heirs of a great legacy, one which has been building since before the signing of the Declaration of Independence in 1776. We cannot be so arrogant as to disregard the institutions that preceded us, that made us.

Some call Republicans callous, others call us authoritarian – beholden to an age long gone, and best forgotten. We are neither. We are those who learn from our mistakes, and refuse to change simply for the sake of change. We are not intellectually incurious, for we are not close-minded. We simply believe, as most do, that one cannot throw away tradition on a whim. We believe in free enterprise and our country’s strong moral legacy. Ultimately, we believe in a world that will be better if we don’t forget where we came from.

Gun Control Hypocrisy

Guns for me, but not for thee

Glenn Reynolds links to an article from Newsmax that describes how gun control fanatic Senator Charles Schumer trods around with an armed bodyguard. The obvious implication is that Schumer cares a great deal about his own protection, and feels that having a trained marksman around is valuable, but he wants to make it far more difficult for the rest of us schmoes to have a similar level of protection. Consider me disgusted.

This seems to be a widespread attitude, as well. So long as a person feels safe, they don't want to own a firearm, and they don't want it to be easy for anybody else to own one either. Yet the person who actually might need a gun for protection is left with having these kinds of folks determine his access to a tool for personal protection. Surely the Second Amendment shouldn't be allowing this, but the Supreme Court has refused to address the issue since 1936, and then only in a vague way.

I rail on against the courts often, and this is one reason. Here we have an amendment that plainly guarantees a personal right to bear arms, and yet the Supreme Court has never managed to recognize this right. A non-existant right to abortion? They found that. But the words "shall not be infringed" in reference to gun rights somehow have eluded them. Sheesh.

Women in Combat

I've generally been fairly indifferent to the notion of women in combat. After all, I knew a few girls during my brief stint in ROTC that seemed more than capable of handing themselves professionally in a combat situation. However, this information gives me pause:

[Elaine] Donnelly has written to Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld warning that the military is becoming a haven for single moms. She said fiscal 2002 statistics show that the Navy reassigned to shore duty 2,159 pregnant women, or 12.3 percent of 17,543 enlisted women on ships.

"Overly generous incentives for single parents and large families attract even more unstable, low-income families that depend on the [Defense Department's] extensive social welfare system," Mrs. Donnelly wrote. "Some feminists have described the military, approvingly, as a 'Mecca' for single moms."

Perhaps a slight change in government policy would eliminate this problem, but it may just be more systemic. There's a good argument to be made for a male-only combat force, and the opposing argument seems to be based more upon anecdotes like mine than solid reasoning. That's something to consider.