ARTHUR'S MAN OF THE MONTH
Barry Goldwater
This month's selection is an obvious choice. I have known about Barry Goldwater for years but only after doing some research did I find that he was more than worthy of induction into this exclusive club of manliness. Barry Goldwater was a pilot in the USAF serving in World War II and Korea before retiring as a Major General. He entered the US Senate in 1952 and served for 30 years, retiring in 1987. He was the Republican nominee for President in 1964 and lost in a landslide to notable communist bastard, Lyndon Johnson. His accomplishments are impressive but it was his ideology that made him arguably the most important politician in the past 50 years.
Unlike today's politicians, Senator Goldwater was not afraid to spew Viking wisdom to anyone who would listen. Rather than break down his political beliefs I think I will quote him and interject when necessary.
Goldwater on the United Nations
"I suggested on the floor of the Senate today that we stop all funds for the United Nations. Now, what that'll do to the United Nations, I don't know. I have a hunch it would cause them to fold up, which would make me very happy at this particular point. I think if this happens, they can well move their headquarters to Peking or Moscow and get 'em out of this country."
Anyone who hated the UN is a friend of mine. It is, without question, the worst organization on the planet.
On the role of the Federal Government
"Remember that a government big enough to give you everything you want is also big enough to take away everything you have."
"The income tax created more criminals than any other single act of government."
"I have little interest in streamlining government or in making it more efficient, for I mean to reduce its size. I do not undertake to promote welfare, for I propose to extend freedom. My aim is not to pass laws, but to repeal them. It is not to inaugurate new programs, but to cancel old ones that do violence to the Constitution or that have failed their purpose, or that impose on the people an unwarranted financial burden. I will not attempt to discover whether legislation is "needed" before I have first determined whether it is constitutionally permissible. And if I should later be attacked for neglecting my constituents "interests", I shall reply that I was informed that their main interest is liberty and that in that cause I am doing the very best I can."
Clearly Mr. Goldwater was anti-big government. His ideological purity could never be questioned. His 1960 book "The Conscience of a Conservative" established him as the preeminent American conservative ideologue. He felt that most of the actions of the Federal Government were unconstitutional and he was right. I am sure he was spinning in his grave when a "conservative" President Bush enacted the Patriot Act and a new cabinet level bureaucracy, The Department of Homeland Security. I can only imagine what he would have to say about President Zero's brute force attack on our democracy and looting of the US Treasury.
In 1964, Goldwater was the nominee for President from the Republican party and was trounced by Lyndon Johnson. Johnson, of course, was the sitting President after the assassination of John Kennedy. I believe that Goldwater knew (he did say "We would have lost even if Abraham Lincoln had come back and campaigned with us.") that he could not win the election in the headwind of JFK's martyrdom, so instead of moving to the center to give himself a chance, he instead remained steadfastly conservative. One of his most famous supporters in the 1964 election was Ronald Reagan. Reagan made his first and perhaps most famous political speech "Time for Choosing" at the RNC Convention in support of Barry Goldwater. As a result of the 1964 landslide many old guard Republicans were swept from office, later to be replaced by Goldwater-inspired conservatives, including Ronald Reagan.
Barry Goldwater was also a staunch anti-communist. Part of his dislike for FDR's New Deal was the rise of labor unions which he regarded as un-American and communist in nature. He was supportive of Joe McCarthy's campaign against Marxists in America... "Marxists in America" damn that should be a nickname for Zero's Democratic party! Ok, back on task. I think Goldwater's stance on communism and American military dominance is well summed up below.
"If I had inherited the mess that Johnson got into, I would have said to North Vietnam, by dropping leaflets out of B-52s, "You quit the war in three days or the next time these babies come over there going to drop some big bombs on you." And I'd make a swamp out of North Vietnam... I'd rather kill a hell of a lot of North Vietnamese than one American and we've lost enough of them."
"You've got to forget about this civilian. Whenever you drop bombs, you're going to hit civilians."
"To insist on strength is not war-mongering. It is peace-mongering."
After his defeat in 1964, he was reelected to the Senate in 1969. He was highly critical of Richard Nixon and was one of the first Republicans to call for Nixon's resignation. He had a deep mistrust of Nixon saying that "he was the most dishonest person" he had ever met. He remained the Senate until 1987 and became an elder statesman in the Republican party. Later in his career, he became increasingly disillusioned with the Republican party that he was so instrumental in remaking. He saw the rise of the religious right and Christian Coalition within the party as dangerous and suicidal. Goldwater reasoned that the Constitution and the separation of church and state was the primary reason why America had avoided the religious infighting that plagued the rest of the world. He thought that religion had no place in public life. His ideas were prescient, in many ways he predicted the destruction of the Republican party 25 years before it happened. His views on social issues and the role of Christianity in public policy are below.
"When you say "radical right" today (1994), I think of these moneymaking ventures by fellows like Pat Robertson and others who are trying to take the Republican party and make a religious organization out of it. If that ever happens, kiss politics goodbye."
"There is no position on which people are so immovable as their religious beliefs. There is no more powerful ally one can claim in a debate than Jesus Christ, or God, or Allah, or whatever one calls this supreme being. But like any powerful weapon, the use of God's name on one's behalf should be used sparingly. The religious factions that are growing throughout our land are not using their religious clout with wisdom. They are trying to force government leaders into following their position 100 percent. If you disagree with these religious groups on a particular moral issue, they complain, they threaten you with a loss of money or votes or both. I'm frankly sick and tired of the political preachers across this country telling me as a citizen that if I want to be a moral person, I must believe in 'A,' 'B,' 'C,' and 'D.' Just who do they think they are? And from where do they presume to claim the right to dictate their moral beliefs to me? And I am even more angry as a legislator who must endure the threats of every religious group who thinks it has some God-granted right to control my vote on every roll call in the Senate. I am warning them today: I will fight them every step of the way if they try to dictate their moral convictions to all Americans in the name of "conservatism.""
"It's wonderful that we have so many religious people in our party... They need to leave their theologies in their churches."
"The rights that we have under the Constitution covers anything we want to do, as long as its not harmful. I can't see any way in the world that being a gay can cause damage to somebody else."
"You don't have to be straight to be in the military; you just have to be able to shoot straight."
A personal favorite of mine-
"Everyone knows that gays have served honorably in the military since at least the time of Julius Caesar."
"I don't have any respect for the Religious Right. There is no place in this country for practicing religion in politics. That goes for Falwell, Robertson and all the rest of these political preachers. They are a detriment to the country."
Barry Goldwater was never afraid of saying what he wanted to say. In the early 90s he told a group of so-called conservatives "Do not associate my name with anything you do. You are extremists, and you've hurt the Republican party much more than the Democrats have." He also supported medical marijuana in Arizona late in his life. He was a lifelong supporter of abortion and thought that the government had no right to tell a woman what to do with her body.
Barry Goldwater should be the model for our party and movement as we look to rise from ashes of the last four years. It is a common refrain "Who is going to be the voice of the Republican party?". We have the voice, it is Barry Goldwater. We have a choice. We can be the party of Barry Goldwater and endorse freedom, liberty and the Constitution OR we can be the party of Sarah Palin and her idiot ilk who would gladly wipe their ass with the Constitution as long as "their" rights were protected.
Well, I've spent quite a number of years carrying the flag of the 'Old Conservatism.' And I can say with conviction that the religious issues of these groups have little or nothing to do with conservative or liberal politics. The uncompromising position of these groups is a divisive element that could tear apart the very spirit of our representative system, if they gain sufficient strength.
I could not agree more Barry. I have chosen to pick up the flag of "Old Conservatism" that you proudly carried. Conservatives need to stand up now for freedom, liberty and our Constitution. Its time to throw off the yoke of social conservatism once and for all. We have the model. When we start talking about government intervention, the destruction of our Constitution and freedoms, reckless spending, the loss of American economic and military dominance, the coming fall of our currency and personal responsibility we can fix this nation. It is the only way. I'll leave you with this...
"I know this freedom is not the fruit of every soil. I know that our own freedom was achieved through centuries, by unremitting efforts by brave and wise men. I know that the road to freedom is a long and a challenging road. I know also that some men may walk away from it, that some men resist challenge, accepting the false security of governmental paternalism." | 
