Simple Conservatism

Many of us have heard the phrase “Walk the walk”. I have heard and read about many influential personalities who talk the talk during their march towards their position of influence or authority but after they attain influence and power (or are about to) they fail to walk the walk at different points.

There were news reports recently that the Republican Party had spent more than a hundred thousand dollars for costumes and apparel for Sarah Palin and that her makeup artists are among the highest paid in the McCain-Palin campaign team. I have no particular interest in knowing about how much people spend on their clothes and I don’t think that news media should devote much time digging into matters such as this. However, I have to admit that this is a kind of news that one wouldn’t want to hear about someone who is running a campaign on the platform of reform, conservatism, and a promise to uplift the economically downtrodden – especially at such a time as this when the economy looks so gloomy. Power is a privilege and with it comes a lot of perks. However, a true leader who holds a public position of responsibility needs to learn to not indulge in personal benefits that come their way on account of their position. Of course Sarah Palin perhaps did not ask for these expensive apparel and they were just given to her, which the McCain-Palin team has every right to do. To her credit, she has declared that those apparel do not belong to her and that they will be given to charity after the campaign is over. However, I wish she had said “No” to it at the first place. I wish she had said, “ I have enough nice apparel for myself which I’ll use for this campaign”. I don’t mean to be tough on Palin and blow this matter out of proportion. I don’t know how much the Obama-Biden team has spent on their apparel and I doubt if the news media would even bother to report on it. My concern is this – when those who trumpet conservatism do things that go against the very grain of true conservatism, it only serves to weaken the conservative message. I hope that people who trumpet conservatism would actually embrace it in every aspect of their public lives and give no room for accusations such as what has been directed towards Palin. Liberal spending at the expense of citizens’ money goes against the very grain of true conservatism.

True conservatism goes beyond mere talking points on moral and social issues. Fiscal responsibility is as much a part of it as is social and moral rectitude. True and lasting hope for this country rests on the return of true conservatism in the Government and in the lives of public officials. May we not give room for the liberal forces to take advantage of incidents such as this and fool the citizens into believing that theirs is the way to go!

- Wes