BuckeyeBlog

Frank S. Meyer is a somewhat forgotten figure in the conservative movement today (compared to, say, William F. Buckley or Barry Goldwater). But he was an important conservative philosopher who did his best to unite the libertarian and traditionalist wings of the conservative movement by showing how a belief in God and a respect for human liberty come from the same source and cannot be separated.

I’m reading his book The Conservative Mainstream right now. There are nuggets of wisdom on every page and I’d urge everyone to find a copy and read it closely. In lieu of that, I feel obliged to share these two quotes with readers of this blog because they seem especially relevant to the present political debate, although they were written decades ago. The first, written in 1965, seems a perfect prediction of what has happened to the GOP under the Bush Administration and the recent leadership in Congress:

If the [conservative movement] allows fascination with methods and techniques to become primary in its thinking, it will inevitably succumb to the temptation of gaining power for the sake of gaining power. If it wins, those who achieve power will be the prisoners of their methods, little different in essentials from the men who hold power today. Concentration on method without the greater emphasis on transforming popular consciousness can only lead to rivaly with the Liberals in appealing to the baser instincts of the people. The conservative movement has a more difficult task: to appeal to the higher instincts and beliefs that survive, half smothered, in the American people. This is the only foundation for a victory worth winning.

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It’s always fun to attend a political convention or a central committee meeting of a party. Most of the time, the believers berate the pragmatists. And why not? Power versus principle, it’s a great debate. Power without principle is contemptible; principle without power is pretty, but pointless, except as art.

Ohio Democrats are probably reasonably happy, if they can avoid thinking about Marc Dann, and they can, can Dann, that is. But if you care about principle, maybe they shouldn’t be.

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The AP reports that the central government of the People’s Republic of China is requiring its agencies cut spending by 5% in response to the recent earthquake. Compare that to the $1.5 billion spending increase Ohio’s politicians are currently pursuing in the name of “stimulating” our state’s economy.

A country raised on Mao’s Little Red Book shames Ohio’s political class through its vigorous embrace of limited government.

In following the debate about payday lending before the Senate Finance Committee this week, particularly the effort of Sen. Jeff Jacobson (R., Dayton) to impugn the motives of our scholar witness through innuendo and insinuation, I am reminded of what our friend Larry Reed of the Mackinac Center wrote in Seven Principles of Sound Public Policy:

Too often today, policymakers give no thought whatsoever to the general state of liberty when they craft new policies. If it feels good or sounds good or gets them elected, they just do it. Anyone along the way who might raise liberty-based objections is ridiculed or ignored.