We Must Fight Like We Mean It

Michael Walsh has an article today at Pajamas Media that every conservative, libertarian, or Constitutional conservative must read entitled First Principles. I skimmed through a book by Walsh, writing under his pen name, David Kahane entitled Rules for Radical Conservatives.  He mentions the book in this article. First principles are those are those truths that underlay all the rest of what we do in a given area of study or endeavor. First priciples, once enunciated as here, become powerful tools in carrying out your own strategies or tactics. So, what are a conservatives "first principles?" Let's let Walsh tell it:

Now we are engaged in a great Cold Civil War. But the decision American voters will make in November is far more than merely an ideological clash about what the Constitution meant or means. For that supposes that both sides are playing by the same rules, and have a shared interest in the outcome. That presumes that both sides accept the foundational idea of the American experiment, and that the argument is over how best to adhere to it.

That is false.

For some, this is a difficult notion to grasp. To them, politics is politics, the same game being played by the same rules that go back a couple of centuries. The idea that one party — and you know which one I mean — is actively working against its own country as it was founded seems unbelievable.

But that is true.

As I said yesterday, you can not appease these guys, or compromise with them, or even concede a that they might have a point. You can not be distracted by cat calls that you are a racist, or are mean, or lack compassion, or any of the other things that the Left reverts to whenever they have no arguments, or when their lies have been exposed.

For example, when discussing photo identification for voting, time and again I hear the argument that doing so will somehow discriminate against "minorities," or will somehow suppress this legitimate voting demographic. Frankly, I am astonished that they have gotten away with this lie for so long. Photo identification is required for thousands of transactions that take place every day. You must show a photo identification to visit the emergency room, to cash a check or to veryfy a credit card or to obtain a cell phone.   Even if you do not drive, the State offers free official photo identification to anyone who walks in and who qualifies. But that is the point, isn't it-those who qualify. They are not so much concerned about voter suppression as they are that this will greatly suppress the fraudulent vote.  Everyone seems to be too polite to say that what they want is to increase the chances for a fraudulent voter to escape detection, but that is what they want, and we should call them on it.  Turn the tables.  They say racist, you say felon.

In a similar vein, the current meme that Republicans are seeking documents related to the Fast and Furious operation are just racists trying to get Eric Holder to back off his lawsuits against States that purging the voter rolls can be countered by pointing out that laws were broken. States like Florida are also following the law.  Do they not care about the rule of laws?  Are they condoning felonious acts by our government, felonies that resulted in the murders of Brian Terry and 200-300 innocent Mexicans? They cry "racist," you yell that they have blood on their hands.

Walsh again:

By rejecting their premises, you do more than simply level the playing field: you also force them out of hiding and either cause them to flee or, more rarely, actually admit their true intentions — something that is almost impossible for them to do. For they must be devotees of what I (and David Kahane) have dubbed “American taqiyya,” the concealment of their destructive purposes under the rubrics of “Fairness,” “Tolerance,” “Compassion,” etc.

Indeed.