Welcome To The New American Consensus - The Revenge Of The Classic Liberal

" What will you do when the label comes off?" -Frank Zappa, `Who Are The Brain Police?"

We stand at the crossroads of a new era in American politics.I can almost smell it, and I'm surprised more of the people who's business it is to run the nuts and bolts of the political machines in the United States, let alone the candidates themselves have mostly failed to grab on to it like a pitbull onto a poodle.

Then again, maybe I'm not so surprised.The old line about being too close to the forest to see the trees comes to mind.

The majority of Americans are increasingly fed up with the destructive nature of politics today on both sides of the aisle and they're sick and tired of being lied to...except, of course, the ones who make a common practice of lying to themselves on a daily basis.

Both the `conservative' and `liberal' brand names make the average American want to hurl nowadays - the low approval ratings of President Bush, the even lower ratings for Congress and poll after poll that shows the vast majority of Americans seeing the country as being on the wrong track in spite of historically low inflation, interest rates and unemployment tell the story.

I have news for those of you who consider themselves `conservatives' - thanks to the antics of the current `conservative' occupant of the White House and his supporting cast in what was a GOP majority congress, that particular brand name has been poisoned almost beyond redemption.

The very term `conservative' conjures up sober fiscal responsibility, probity, limited government and traditional values. Instead,what we've seen is out of control spending, government metasizing like a cancer, an out of control border that resembles a sieve, globalization and outsourcing run amuck and attempts to turn our ports over to a foreign power and subject our sovereignty to the vagaries of the UN and the World Court...all being hawked by a so-called `conservative' administration.

The same thing could be said about the term `liberal', of course. It used to mean something very different before Bill and Hill came to town and George Soros and MoveOn assumed control of the Democrat party.The majority of actual, classic liberals left the Democrat party a long time ago..or were forced out, and Joe Lieberman is a good example of what happened to those who tried consciously to swim against the tide. That brand name has taken on a rank odor as well. Even the Left rarely uses it, preferring the term `progressive'.

The `conservative' Bush administration will be remembered for turning an historic mandate into a major electoral defeat and betraying and alienating the majority of its supporters. Bush got taxes right, did some very good work interdicting some of the financing of Islamic terrorism, ran the economy reasonably well, fought half of a war and managed to put a few good judges on the bench, but that's about it in terms of concrete accomplishments. And his major failures include an almost total inability to communicate policy or inspire the nation. Conservative talk show host Al Rantel had a point when he sarcastically thanked President Bush for ruining the Republican Party. Although I'm sure he would acknowledge that President Bush had lots of help along the way.

The Democrats are in no better shape, in spite of what you'll read in the dinosaur media. For all the fundraising and rhetoric going on, the Democrats are mostly owned by the Angry Left and George Soros, thanks to McCain-Feingold. While many rank and file democrats don't fit this mold, the leaders of the party, its movers and shakers are increasingly out of touch with basic American values. While many `progressives' have learned how to dissemble fairly well, it's obvious that they stand for multiculturalism, high taxes, and government control of almost every area of American life. It's also obvious that they are increasingly isolationist at a time when we can ill afford a vacation from history, ala' the Clinton era.

So where does that leave us?

I see a major new consensus in the process of forming, and it goes back to the basic American ethos of what I call classic liberalism; Americans who are socially liberal and tolerant, but favor a conservative stance on foreign policy, protecting America's culture and sovereignty and practicing fiscal responsibility and common sense.

For instance, most Americans seem to like the idea of capitalism, but understand instinctively that continuing to ship American jobs overseas and play by free trade rules that involve having American companies compete with companies who artificially devalue their currency and who use labor paid by Third World standards ultimately becomes a quality of life issue for Americans rather than simply an economic one.

And more than just an economic issue, ultimately. GOP Presidential candidate Duncan Hunter made the salient point in one of the debates that we might just need to become the arsenal of democracy once more. He was speaking from personal experience as head of the House Armed Services Committee, after needing to find a company here in the US capable of producing the special strengthened steel used in the armored HumVees and finding only one company here in America still capable of making it.

Some things are more important than a few extra ticks on the corporate bottom line, and even the majority of Americans who favor our free enterprise system are coming to realize it.

The vast majority of Americans respect immigrants who come to the country legally and want to become part of the American Dream. But they're also not blind to the cynical use of illegal aliens by both parties to potentially fatten the voter rolls and become another `protected' class on the one hand or to be used as a source of cheap labor to undercut American jobs and wreak havoc with America's social welfare system at the taxpayer's expense on the other. And they want the borders secure, our laws respected and the flow stopped.

Most of them are also sick and tired of paying exorbitant taxes to an ever increasing government for what seems like an increasingly small return.

They want to be able to choose where their children go to school, and to hold those schools accountable not only for teaching basic education at an acceptable level, but to carry out their original mandate - to teach America's children to be good citizens and to respect the country's core institutions.

They generally support of our military, and realize that a strong defense is imperative for America...but they're wary of `limited wars', rules of engagement that handcuff our military and war by UN resolution. In short, most Americans see no reason to send our troops in harm's way unless the objective is total victory and defeat of our enemy. They respect winners and have no tolerance for losers and defeatists. A case in point is the Iraq war, which US public opinion strongly favored in the beginning, soured on when the mismanagement and futility of the way the war was being waged became evident, and has started to turn around again since General Petraeus took over and we started focusing on implementing a strategy for victory.

Most Americans eschew racism, but expect others to understand that respect is a two way street.They're tolerant of different lifestyles, but instinctively understand that tolerance is one thing and encouragement and endorsement is something else.

They like the idea of health care and Social Security, but quite rightly take a jaundiced look at government attempts to manage them.

Americans have a habit of pitching in generously to those in need, but many of them understand the difference between a hand up and a handout.

What I'm talking about, of course is classic liberalism...and that's the new concensus in America.

The presidential candidate who is closest to embodying this ethos is none other than Rudy Giuliani, which is one reason why he continues to be the Republican front runner, in spite of constant sniping by `conservative' gate keepers.

While many of these people continue to hammer of Giuliani for not `taking more socially conservative positions' so far he's been cagey enough to sense that it's not the way to go. Whether it's conscious or unconscious on his part, so far he's continued to steer toward Classic Liberal ground...to his benefit.

More importantly, candidates like Giuliani and Mitt Romney radiate a classic American value- optimism, something that is almost entirely lacking on the Democrat side, with the possible exception of Barack Obama. Unfortunately Senator Obama lacks the resume, the strength of ideas or the practicality to back it up. Nor do the the ideas of optimism and classic liberalism appeal to the people in charge of the Democrats today. The Democrats, increasingly, are defining themselves as the party of limits.

Classic Liberalism is the new concensus in American politics, the center everyone keeps reaching for. And I expect that more and more politicians will reach for it as it becomes more evident.

As a nation, we've been artificially divided for some time now, and our last two presidents have played a part in that . But I expect the common sense of the average American to reassert itself, as it always has in our Republic in time of need.

America's best days are in front of it, as we remember who we are as a country and act on it.