That said, how much “infighting” would you have engaged in, Doughboy, if your chosen candidate, McCain, had won and pushed for — wait for it — Cap and Trade, one of the issues for which he campaigned most vigorously? Or would you have towed the line because he was right on the real issue, NatSec? Because, after all, arguing against him would have been counterproductive, right?

Okay, I suppose the one thing that matters is the party of the person who we wish to take to task.

For instance, one might (rightly) take Obama to task for his evil scheme to impoverish America through Cap and Trade. That bill’s clearly evil impact on Americans both now and in the future is unquestionable and likely to be far-reaching. Indeed, we will be able to label the subsequent global depression which results as Obama’s Depression.

On the other hand, if John McCain had won, after campaigning strongly in support of Cap and Trade, we would then embrace Cap and Trade as the enlightened path to energy independence and clean energy. We would simply chalk up the economic pain as the price of securing America’s future.

After all, there is no point in attacking one’s own when there are far more dangerous bugbears out there sporting D’s after their names. Is that about right?

Semantics. It’s far more conservative than the Democrats, so there it is for now, ok?

It’s good to look back. I’m a historian after all. But I am not interested in attacking my own party and ignoring true evil out there here and abroad. We’re wasting time and not influencing anything anyway.

A war on this particular direct object might very well spill over into a war on another convenient direct object without anyone noticing the difference, especially if the direct object is nebulous enough.

Plus, I could not disagree more about the general comment. There is something intrinsically conservative about looking back and assessing where one comes from, peering into the future and trying to make sure that one is still on the same track which has served one so well over the years. It is when we forage out into new untested territory that we deserve the label progressive. Conservatives conserve. One way they do that is by looking at the track they are laying to ensure that it is still headed in the same direction it was originally pointed. By that token, self-assessment, self-discipline, and self-correction are trademarks of conservatism. It is the single most glaring difference between the undisciplined, anything goes, “if it feels good do it” attitudes so prevalent with liberal progressives and conservatives. It is also when we adopt similar attitudes that we know that we have ceased to act conservatively. But, we will never know if we are developing those modes of thinking if we are constantly focused on our supposed foes. Introspection is not necessarily bad…especially when it is apparent that we have run off the tracks.