Steve Farrell
Tuesday, Nov. 9, 2004

Story Continues Below

  They are relentless. The battle is far from over.

After all, this strange and arrogant attempt to hijack a victory comes from a media and academia owned by the left, by a party with nearly 50 percent of America on its side, and from an ideology which has its handprints all over the oligarchs of the federal court system.

And let’s not put on blinders regarding our own weaknesses. The Grand Old Party is not so universally grand anymore.

Witness compassionate conservatism, witness the Keynesian deficit spending spree, witness the push to consolidate the Americas under an EU model, open borders, FTAA, and witness the vast expansion of federal involvement in state and local education via “No Child Left Behind,” despite traditional party hostility to the federal Department of Education.

For those of us who were jolted out of our lethargy to fight for moral and wartime issues that really mattered, it’s time to finish the celebrating, see the forest for the trees, and get back to work.

Here are a few suggestions:

1. If it’s not a habit already, pull out a copy of the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, the Federalist Papers, other founding-era documents, and The Holy Bible, and read them to yourself and your family, regularly. Then take an honest look at your conservative party of choice. See how far it has strayed from its true political mandate of God, family and country under the U.S. Constitution, and then help steer it back to its roots.

2. Embrace and promote Bush administration tax cuts, Social Security reform and marriage initiatives, but insist that the size and cost of government be cut, as well.

3. Rekindle a love for American independence. Persistently ask your congressman and senators, ‘Why is the hate-America U.N. still in business?’ Join hands with such groups as getusout.org to rid America of this Trojan horse and its regional offshoots, so that we might return to friendly and fair foreign relations on OUR terms.

4. Stand by school choice – but insure that in promoting school choice, direct subsidies to private and Christian schools are avoided. The short-term benefits may seem huge; but the long-term result is the subversion of the private and Christian alternative to the state. Strings follow every subsidy, and the writing is already on the wall.

Tax credits are better, as are vouchers paid directly to parents. Decentralizing the public school system, with curriculum decisions made by each school’s principals, teachers and parents (who pay their salaries), is yet another ‘old school’ option.

5. Press the U.S. Senate to pass the groundbreaking, constitutionally legitimate Republican initiatives to limit the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court on marriage and the Pledge of Allegiance. Expand the effort to include education, abortion and other issues where the court has overreached.

6. Further, reign in judicial activism in general.

7. Come back. Independent and Christian conservatives who have withdrawn from the party because they feel disenfranchised need to be a bit more gutsy, creative, persistent and enduring in their efforts. There’s no good excuse to withdraw from meaningful civic duty.

8. Shut down the old media and turn up the new. Encourage friends and family to do the same. And tell the old media why, with letters, and protests, and boycotts, and a little praise when they actually do something good.

9. Prove your support. Do business with new-media sponsors and advertisers. Subscribe to our print publications. Purchase our books, videos, software and gift items.

These and other things we can and ought to be up and doing. And one more: We must convince our state governments to get off the federal dole, or much of the above is meaningless.

And so, after so sweet a victory, in the midst of so hot a war, it behooves each of us not to slip into another four-year coma. Too much is riding on the line.

NewsMax pundit Steve Farrell is associate professor of political economy at George Wythe College, press agent for Defend Marriage (a project of United Families International), and the author of the highly praised, inspirational novel “Dark Rose” (available at amazon.com).

Contact Steve

Editor's note: