I’m a conservative. But what is that? It is very common to have a true belief that is rooted deep in your core: like the fact that you know you’re a conservative.
The trick comes in knowing how to put that in words and express it in such a way that makes sense. How do you describe what you know you believe in a way you could say it off the cuff, at the drop of a hat, and have it make sense to others?
It’s not enough to just think or say “I’m a conservative” and shake our fists in the air. We have to be able to give an adequate explanation.
As a conservative I believe in limited government, and the strict construction of our US Constitution. I’m concerned with fiscal conservatism in the form of lower taxation and government spending.
But in light of the world of COVID and the vast response of government at all levels it is also necessary to address the question of freedom - real freedom - the very basis for who we are as a nation.
I carry a picture in my wallet. It is tattered and non-descript, a picture of a group of men sitting around a table; a group of men who put their lives on the line in the new Baghdad to serve as the first ever elected city council in anyone’s memory. One of those pictured was assassinated. Another, my friend Dr. Abdul Khadum, survived an assassination attempt that very nearly cost him his life. They were heroes who simply wanted freedom for their people - something they knew little about because they had never had it.
The concept or notion of freedom is what makes America unique in the history of the world. It is a part of the actual character of our nation and intended that way by the founders who embedded in our founding documents that “in order to form a more perfect union” we should “secure the blessings of liberty”.
I recently saw a clip of an MSNBC commentator who opined that Americans have a long history of being too “freedom obsessed.” He obviously missed the whole point, that we are a nation because of freedom, not a nation of individuals some of whom are obsessed with freedom. Freedom is both instinctual and intentional. It is not just who we are as a nation; it is why we are as a nation.
Any and all decisions made by government which have the potential to limit the daily activities of citizens of this great nation must be taken from the starting point of freedom first and measured against the guarantees of freedom enumerated in our Constitution.
To be sure, there are always restrictions on personal liberty that when measured against the constitution can withstand constitutional scrutiny.
But not every attempt to curtail personal liberty by government makes sense. Not every good idea by a local school board, a mayor’s office, a Governor, or a President can withstand constitutional scrutiny. Abraham Lincoln said, “We the people are the rightful masters of both Congress and the courts, not to overthrow the Constitution but to overthrow the men who pervert the Constitution.”
Lincoln also said: “America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves.”
I remember those men in Baghdad in 2004. Heroes, all of them. Ask the people who came to the US in the Mariel boat lift from Cuba to escape a dictatorship. Ask those who escaped the Khmer Rouge killing fields in Cambodia. Go read one of my favorite books, Escape from Camp 14, about life in North Korea.
I am a conservative; therefore I place value on freedom. I could leave this country any time I wanted to but I place value on the concepts that all men are created equal.
I am a conservative; therefore I believe that every neat idea had by government to cure some ill, force some issue, change some aspect of daily living, is not automatically a good idea, because of freedom.
I am a conservative; therefore I have the freedom to fail - to live and to try - to sweat and to toil - to dream and to forge those dreams - to expend every ounce of who I am and what I have, and to know what it means to fail and still know that it is not the end, because I have freedom.
If they stripped me of everything I own, I would still believe that the cause of freedom is worth it. It is what sets us apart.
I am a conservative; therefore I believe that if we give up a little bit of freedom without questioning why then we have in fact just allowed apathy to override our responsibility.
When I left Baghdad late in 2004, I met with that same group of local officials who chose to put their lives on the line to serve. I told them that one day years away their own children would study this time in their history books and they would know that their fathers were heroes.
Because of freedom.
Phil Williams is a former State Senator, retired Army Colonel and combat veteran, and a practicing Attorney. He has served with the leadership of the Alabama Policy Institute and currently hosts Rightside Radio M-F 2-5pm on WVNN. His column appears every Monday in 1819 News. To contact Phil or request him for a speaking engagement go to www.rightsideradio.org
The views and opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the policy or position of 1819 News. To comment, please send email with your name and contact information to Commentary@1819News.com.
