Nimrod On The Trail Of The Neo-Con.

Yesterday I was referred to as a Nimrod in an e-mail read on The Bob Cudmore Show on WVTL for having the audacity to say many conservatives today have stepped aside from traditional conservatism.

First, I accept as a compliment what the conservative writer of this e-mail intended to be an insult. The only reference I know of to Nimrod is in The Bible, where Nimrod is described as “a mighty one in the earth“ and “a mighty hunter before the Lord.”

Secondly, I stand by my conviction that conservatives are aping liberals by expanding government at an unprecedented rate. Conservatives, including myself, were very upset when President Carter created The Department Of Education. But no one complained when President Bush created The Department Of Homeland Security. Isn’t The Department Of Defense already our Department of Homeland Security?

On the state level we have a donkey in elephant’s clothing sitting in the governor’s chair. In fact, it is very difficult to tell the Republican Party from the Democratic Party in New York State. Governor Pataki signed a death penalty bill (which I support) when he came into office, but that was the last conservative gesture he made. Since then it’s been tax, borrow, spend and increase the size, power and role of the government. A new word has been coined for Republicans like Govenor Pataki--Rino-an acronym for Republican in name only.

Following are some thoughts that Ronald Reagan had on the size and role of government.

• Concentrated power has always been the enemy of liberty.
• Government is like a baby. An alimentary canal with a big appetite at one end and no sense of responsibility at the other.
• No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. Government programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we'll ever see on this earth!
• Protecting the rights of even the least individual among us is basically the only excuse the government has for even existing.
• Today, if you invent a better mousetrap, the government comes along with a better mouse.