The left has a long colorful history of hijacking words and turning them into something they don’t mean at all. The word “liberal” itself originally meant a person who demanded personal liberty over group rights. It was the Socialists who pinned the term on their their nationalists brethren early in the 20th century. Now liberal means quasi-socialist, a far cry from it’s original meaning. Even Conservatives are referred to as “Nazis” or “Fascists,” even though both these groups were Socialists in their origin.
The latest words to inspire fear into the hearts of peace-loving Americans is the use of “ultra,” “extreme,” or, my favorite, “uber.” What is most odd is, historically, it has been Conservatives who seek the common ground. A Conservative, according to Russell Kirk, relies on history, social norms, and tradition to guide his political philosophy. And a Conservative is always willing to compromise. The first of Kirk’s “Conservative Documents” is the U.S. Constitution.
Backing up a step, the Conservative movement really has no guiding document, because a set of rules is the foundation of an ideologue. Hitler had his Mein Kampf, Marx had his Communist Manufesto, and so on. Because a Conservative in America will differ from a Conservative in France or any other culture, to say a document is Conservative in nature simply means that it is the most practical set of principles–establishing the greatest individual liberty–obtainable given the time, traditions, and beliefs of the writers and those they represent.
For those who don’t believe Conservatives are always willing to compromise, they should entertain themselves with one of the many books that chronicle the drafting of the Constitution. Without a heroic level of compromise, the United States would never have seen her 20th anniversary.
So the term “uber” or “ultra” is simply the rambling of an ideologue hoping to scare a historically moderate people. In the truest sense of the word, Conservatives are moderates. In the vernacular of the mainstream media, however, “moderate” means willing to surrender liberty, property, or beliefs.
It is time Conservatives do a better job of explaining what we stand for, not the labels pinned on us by those who wish to vanquish all that made this nation wildly prosperous for two centuries.