July 7, 2011

Moderates? We Don't Need No Stinking Moderates!

By Stuart Schwartz
"Badges?  We don't need no stinking badges!" From Humphrey Bogart in The Treasure of the Sierra Madres to the television comedy classic The Monkees and through the iconic Blazing Saddles, those words have signified the defiance of individuals firm of belief and with a philosophical approach more akin to Larry the Cable Guy ("Git'r done!") than the self-absorbed pontificating of President "smartest person in the room."  And that is exactly what the Republican Party needs: the spine and steel and conviction of candidates with "immoderate" beliefs rather than the pant-pant-pant of the please-love-me wing of the party celebrated by elites both left and right.  And so it is time for conservative primary voters to deliver a message: "Moderates? We don't need no stinking moderates!" Conservatives would do well to remember the lessons of Ronald Reagan.  His success, Lady Margaret Thatcher tells us, was powered by "clear principles," great "purpose," and "strength and...(Read Full Article)