It should be obvious to every rational person that the Republican Party has totally lost whatever conservative moorings it had. Since seizing control of the federal government and many state governments, Republicans have consistently promoted bigger and bigger government, have betrayed virtually every conservative cause, and have broken virtually every conservative promise. Even columnist George Will observed that under President Bush, conservatism has developed "an identity crisis." However, the greater crisis is the willingness of grassroots conservatives to continue to support such a party.
Since becoming President, G.W. Bush has exploded the size and growth of the federal government. Furthermore, he has betrayed gun owners with his support of the Clinton gun ban and has done nothing but give lip service to pro-life voters. Now we learn that Bush has decided to defend Bill Clinton's national monuments proclamation.
When Bill Clinton restricted millions of acres of prime western land, then candidate Bush called the policy "willy-nilly" and promised to nullify it when elected President. Instead, he has sent Justice Department officials to the U.S. Supreme Court to lobby in favor of Clinton's land grab.
Not only is the Clinton/Bush policy to seize millions of acres "willy-nilly," it is blatantly unconstitutional! If this policy is allowed to stand, it means any president may, with the stroke of a pen, convert any property in the United States to a national monument. Such an act is void of any interpretation of law previously understood.
The thing that should concern us is the increasing propensity of the executive branch to deliberately assume powers either not assigned to it or assigned to other branches of government, and Republicans are proving themselves as adept at such unlawful activity as Democrats!
Constitutional lawyer William J. Olson, a Republican who lobbied Congress "to restrict a president's ability to legislate by executive order or proclamation," said, "You'd hope presidents would view power in their own hands with the same suspicion they view it in the hands of people they distrust." But, that's the problem: they don't.
Instead, Republicans, like Democrats, only criticize the misuse of power when the other party is to blame. When one of their own is the culprit, they seem willing to tolerate virtually any abuse or abridgement.
It is past time for grassroots conservatives to begin standing courageously and uncompromisingly for the principles they profess to believe. How one can do that and still support the Republican Party is beyond my comprehension.
© Chuck Baldwin
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