My Pledges and Promises to the President

Now that President Obama is sworn in, how should conservatives act? I have posted about this previously. I obviously think that we need to be adult about it. By the same token, we should not roll over and die.

Someone named Andy Levy, who I admit I never heard of before, set forth a list of "Don'ts" for conservatives in the Age of Obama that should be required reading for all on the right.

And after looking at the celebrity pledge*, I decide I too would make a list of pledges to President Obama.

• I pledge I will be adult and principled. If you propose something I can agree with, I will support it. If you propose something I disagree with, I will oppose it but based on principles, not narrow partisanship.
  
  
• I pledge that I will ignore every silly conspiracy theory regarding you (including but not limited to, theories that you were born in Kenya, that Malcom X was your father (yes, someone is actually claiming that), that you are a secret Muslim, and any other crazy theory that ends up in my e-mail in box).
  
  
• I pledge that I will not engage in "assassination porn."
  
  
• When you prepare to send troops in harm's way,** I pledge I will look at the evidence with dispassion.
  
  
• If Congress approves sending troops into harms way based on "conventional wisdom", even if I opposed it, I pledge I will not accuse you of lying.
  
  
• If you send troops into harms way, even if I opposed it, I pledge I will support victory. I know that the quickest way to get the troops home is through winning. I also believe that once American arms have been engaged, places where we were successful*** are generally better off than places where we were not.****
  
  
• On the off chance that you and I ever meet, I pledge that I will be respectful, even though I may ask you a question that you find "hard." Please note that I am not being disrespectful, I just have a question.
  

In short, I promise not to act for the next 4-8 years like those on the unhinged left acted for the past 8. I also promise to chasten those on the right who act unhinged.

I also promise not to be your servant. You are mine. I promise not to make you forget that.

I also promise to pray for you.


* Some friends and my wife objected to my description of the video as creepy. If you watch it without feeling the same way, no matter your politics, you have a stronger stomach than I do.

** And you will. The last president not to send troops into harm's way was, I believe, Herbert Hoover, but even he inherited a few occupations.

*** For example, Western Europe, the Philippines, Japan, South Korea, Grenada, Panama, the Balkans.

**** For example, Vietnam, Cambodia, Lebanon.

The Chemerinsky Affair

Erwin Chemerinsky is a fairly liberal law professor who was hired by UC Irvine to be dean of their new law school. Then one week later, he was suddenly dehired. Apparently, UC Irvine feared that Chemerinsky was too liberal.

Interestingly, the right side of the blogsphere is rallying to Chemerinsky's defense.

The whole thing strikes me as weird. The law school obviously knew about Chemerinsky's beliefs when they hired him. And he is a well known and well respected quantity.

In any event, for me and most conservatives/libertarians, the really issue with academia is not its left bent, but rather the lack of diversity of any kind AND the lack of respect for opposing views. By all accounts, Chemerinsky is someone who values opposing viewpoints and is respectful of those who disagree with him. Libertarian law professor Glenn Reynolds notes that Chemerinsky is a "nice, fair guy" while conservative radio pundit/blogger Hugh Hewitt considers Chemerinsky his friend.

It seems to me that if people are serious about restoring civility to the academy, Professor Chemerinsky is the kind of person you want as dean.

It would not surprise me if there was something more to this, and I suppose we will find out more over the next few weeks.

The Incredible Smugness of Being . . . a Liberal

To think, Pat Schroeder once was considered a serious presidential candidate.

The funny thing is according to the survey she based her statements on, liberals read on average 9 books a year, conservatives 8 (and moderates 5). So basically, as president of the Publishers Association, she is trashing a large part of her association's customers.

This is further proof in my mind that a big part of the problem with political discourse in this country is incivility -- it seems as though pundits are more interested in making sarcastic points about their adversaries than really addressing issues. Liberals love to play the conservatives are dumb racist line while conservatives love to say that liberals are all baby aborting traitors.

Which is why "What's Your Problem" with New Republic's Peter Beinart & National Review's Jonah Goldberg is such a breath of fresh air. Two people, talking like adults, about the great issues of the day, rather than throwing insults back and forth. I think we need more of it.

Jet Blue and the Yearly Kos

The Daily Kos is a blog run by Markos Moulitsas Zúniga. It has become the premier site for the left wing side of the blogsphere. This site (and others like it) has been successful in influencing the Democratic Party to push leftward the last few years. Kos will be having its second annual convention in August.

Unlike the usual Internet gathering, which consists of some posters and readers showing up in a bar to drink beer, Yearly Kos will the held at Chicago's McCormack Center. The three day conference features an impressive schedule of seminars, working groups and general sessions. Speakers include Donna Brazile, Howard Dean, Wesley Clark, Senator Dick Durbin, and you have to believe some of the Democratic candidates will make an appearance. It will be a major gathering for the Internet left, possibly rivaling CPAC's annual meeting in importance to American politics. Not bad for a site only 5 years old.

Almost as impressive is the number of sponsors lined up for the conference.

So what is the problem?

Kos won a real coup by lining up an official airline, JetBlue. Then JetBlue pulled out. Why? Because Bill O'Reilly and a host of conservative bloggers started to raise a fuss. Roger Simon has a good run down here and a defense of JetBlue here. I really cannot add much to Simon's statements. This is bad for the blogsphere as a whole, bad for the conservative and libertarian blogsphere, and bad for public discourse.

It is bad for the blogsphere as a whole because now it will cause mainstream companies to be wary of "investing" in the blogsphere. The idea of the blogsphere is to help break the stranglehold the mainstream media has on the intellectual marketplace. Companies must be able to see the blogsphere as an inexpensive and cost effective alternative to network television as a way to reach their customer base. Companies will be reluctant to invest in this new medium if every time they do, they are threatened with boycotts.

It is bad for the right side of the blogsphere as for one it looks vindictive and two anything that hurts the blogsphere as a whole, is going to hurt the right side too.

Finally, Glenn Reynolds thinks this whole thing may be Fox's payback for the "netroots," lead by Daily Kos, forcing the Nevada Democrats to cancel a debate on Fox News Channel. I think there may be something to that.

I am a minor blogger in this great and wonderful blogsphere. So while unimportant, I have no vested interest in the snipping and infighting that have marked the blogsphere since its beginning.

So how about this for a proposal -- a truce. The left got one, the right got one. Let's call it even. From now one, let's try and be civil. The Daily Kos is not the website of the anti-Christ. Let's try to win with ideas, not with overheated rhetoric.

Let's make civility the word of the day, week, month, year and decade.