Conservatism Laid Bare

By Laurence M. Vance
Nov. 17, 2015

"Conservatism is the antidote to tyranny. It's the only one. It's based on thousands of years of human experience. There is nothing narrow about the conservative philosophy. It's a liberating philosophy. It is a magnificent philosophy. It is a philosophy for the ages, for all times." ~ Mark Levin

"I realized that conservatism was the philosophy that best suited me, with its emphasis on individual liberty, personal responsibility, and merit." ~ Mark Levin

"The Conservative does not despise government. He despises tyranny. This is precisely why the Conservative reveres the Constitution and insists on adherence to it." ~ Mark Levin

"I follow the Constitution, that's what I do." ~ Mark Levin

Antidote to tyranny? A liberating and magnificent philosophy? Emphasis on individual liberty and personal responsibility? Reverence for the Constitution? Follow the Constitution? Conservative radio talk show host Mark Levin is deluded about both conservatism and the Constitution. And Sean Hannity calls him "the great one"? And he calls himself one of "America's preeminent conservative commentators and constitutional lawyers"?

Conservatism is none of these things. If you really want to see the true nature of conservatism, don't listen to anything said by Mark Levin. If you really want to see conservatism laid bare, then just take a look at the attitude of conservatives to the government's war on drugs.

A few years ago, Levin had "a Ron Paul supporter" on his radio show to talk about the war on drugs, which Levin supports. The "debate" is here if you can stand to listen to it. Once was even too much for me. I would almost rather listen to Sean Hannity, as horrible as that is.

If it were just Levin that was such an ardent drug warrior, then we could all just dismiss his show as the ravings of a mad man and ignore him. But it's not just Levin. His conservative mindset on the drug war is duplicated in the heads of the millions of conservatives who listen to Levin--and Bill O'Reilly, and Sean Hannity, and Rush Limbaugh. Levin's conservative mindset is common to most if not all Republican members of Congress--and the more conservative they are the more they are in favor of the drug war. Levin's conservative mindset is shared by most if not all of the current crop of Republican presidential candidates--all of whom claim to be conservatives, and some of whom boast of how more conservative they are than the others. Candidates in previous years like Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney are no different.

I discussed the views on the drug war of some of the Republican presidential candidates earlier this year. Now we can also see what candidate Ben Carson thinks about the issue since he recently talked with Glenn Beck about it. Carson opposes the legalization of marijuana. He wants to intensify the drug war. He wants to spend more federal money and dedicate more law enforcement resources to enforcing drug laws and imprisoning offenders. He wants a police state to combat what he considers to be "hedonistic activity."

This is conservatism laid bare.

It is tyranny. There is nothing liberating or magnificent about it. It has no emphasis on individual liberty or personal responsibility. And rather than revering the Constitution, insisting on adherence to the Constitution, and following the Constitution, conservatism dishonors, ignores, and rejects the Constitution.

Nothing could be more tyrannical and unconstitutional than locking up men in cages to be raped, humiliated, abused, beaten, and suffer the loss of their job, their money, their family, and their dignity because they possess, consume, buy, sell, trade, manufacture, smoke, distribute, transport, cultivate, give away, or "traffic in" a substance the government doesn't approve of.

Women too, like Dana Bowerman. She was a first-time, nonviolent offender who was caged in a federal prison camp in Bryan, Texas, in 2001, at age 30, for taking part in "a conspiracy surrounding a methamphetamine ring." She was scheduled to be caged for 19 years and seven months, until 2018, but was one of about 6,000 federal inmates recently released early from prisons and halfway houses after the U.S. Sentencing Commission voted unanimously to retroactivity apply more lenient sentencing guidelines to drug offenders already behind bars.

It should be noted, however, that none of these prisoners were pardoned. They all still have a criminal record for the non-crime of a drug "offense." Thousands more were not released. And Bowerman must keep close track of the rules: no alcohol and no traveling for a time beyond the rural area outside Lubbock, Texas, where she will be staying.

Every American in prison for a drug "offense" should, of course, be pardoned and released--immediately. No one should ever be questioned, detained, arrested, tried, fined, or imprisoned for a drug "offense." There shouldn't even be any such thing as a drug "offense," "crime," "offender," "trafficker," or "dealer." The whole concept should be considered just as absurd as a banana "offense," "crime," "offender," "trafficker," or "dealer."

And as I have pointed out so many times, there is nothing in the Constitution that grants to the federal government the authority to identify different types of drugs, regulate the sale and usage of drugs, classify drugs on a schedule, have a drug czar, set up a Drug Enforcement Administration, ban certain drugs, pass any laws related to drugs, wage war on drugs, or have anything whatsoever to do with any drug that is used for any purpose.

Conservatism is antithetical to individual liberty, private property, personal responsibility, and the Constitution. As is any statist, authoritarian philosophy that thinks people should be caged for engaging in peaceful behavior the government doesn't approve of.
_
Laurence M. Vance [send him mail] writes from central Florida. He is the author of The Revolution that Wasn't, Rethinking the Good War, The War on Drugs Is a War on Freedom, and Social Insecurity. His latest book is War, Christianity, and the State: Essays on the Follies of Christian Militarism. Visit his website.