Friends, Former Friends, Conservatives and Progressives

Today, I am saddened by the loss of a friend. Not a physical loss, because he's still among the living, but a loss nonetheless. I'll call him JW because I don't need to embarrass him by shouting his name all over the place and making him feel he's the object of ridicule and scorn. He is not. We just happen to have gone down wildly divergent paths in life, and he, rather than checking facts, just followed blindly what the Progressive (read left leftwing) was espousing. He took their every word and made it Gospel, and like so many others, now kneels at the foot of the Obamessiah and worships.

It all started innocently enough with a few political e-mails going back and forth between us and a few political jabs by both of us towards the others beliefs. When I challenged him to a good legitimate and logical debate, which is something I love to do, he accepted the challenge. The problem was that he never once offered a good legitimate argument. All he could do was spout the left-wing talking points that he learned at the feet of his main prophet, Ted Koppell (the Canadian-born Euro-Socialist mouthpiece for Nightline for way too many years).

Finally, in the end, all he could do was use the tried-too-often Progressive technique of name-calling. When I called him on that, and challenged him to come up with at least one reasoned argument for his positions, his responses turned into a jumble of non- and incomplete sentences that made absolutely no sense. He continued in this vein until I could no longer take it anymore and told him he was not only a fool but a damned-fool, and until he could learn the art of rational thought, I no longer wished to correspond. He didn't take no mas seriously, and continued with two more e-mails.

The kicker to this is that his parents and my parents lived across the street from each other. We grew up in a small town and went through school together. I say together, but JW is actually three years older than I. His parents and my parents were very good friends, and even when his mother was in a nursing facility in another small town, my mother would drive down at least three times a week to visit her. They shared the same Conservative political beliefs, the same Conservative Methodist-Episcopal upbringing and adulthood. It is my opinion (and it's only an opinion) that JW has betrayed his parents and everything they fought for to give him the good life he has and of which he has taken advantage. His year-younger sister has kept her core Conservative values and tenets that were instilled in us as children, yet still she questions with reason and does not follow blindly down the path.

She, like me, believes in the equality of Opportunity that America offers does not guarantee equality of Outcome. Those who do not take advantage of Opportunity will never know the joy of having the best Outcome afforded by those Opportunities. There will be many more blog sessions on the Constitution of the United States of America.

I firmly believe in the Constitution as written and amended. It is NOT a living, breathing document, but rather a guide to keep our Republic on a straight path. Our country was established as a Republic with the best of rules given over the years for the success of a Republic with tendencies towards Democracy. It was set up this way, because Democracies generally fail after short runs. Ours has endured for well over 230 years because of the way it was laid out in the governing documents. It will continue for another 230 years only if the Euro-socialistic fascists such as Obama, Pelosi, and Reid are not allowed to make wholesale changes without benefit of the amendment process. If you want to change the Constitution, author an amendment, get Congress to pass the amendment, and send it to the states for ratification. That is the only way that our government can be legally changed. That is the way spelled out in great detail in the Constitution itself.

To my now former friend JW -- good bye and good luck with the rest of your life.

This blog is called the Conservative Rambler for a reason, and I've rambled long enough. Until next time, I remain your humble host and hopefully friend.

Scott Hendrix