After the Hangover: The Conservatives' Road to Recovery

It easy to take for granted how good we have it here in America. Freedom of speech. The ability to pick our leaders. Freedom to dissent. Relative safety.  The right to pull ourselves up by our bootstraps and make a little something of ourselves. The right to choose. Yet we rarely spare any of these gifts much of a thought.

I don't even walk my butt down to the polling place to personally deliver my vote. Instead I wait for the bright orange envelope to arrive in mail, place my stamp of approval and merrily send it back on it's way, ever hopeful my one little vote combined with a multitude of others will be enough to ensure the goodness doesn't disappear overnight.

As I'm  lucky enough to live in a country that doesn't make me pick one political party over another, I've chosen to register Independent. It's a political party that agrees with my values in that it's not a political party at all but a merely a responsibility and a set of beliefs. Plus the dues are fantastic considering there aren't any.  I get to choose amongst the best; Republican, Democrat, Green Party or Bob from around the corner. The choices, the choices, the endless choices. Of course with choice comes great responsibility. I think Yoda said that.

Independents don't get the luxury of being told what to do or think. We have to get out there and listen to all the truths, until we find one that resonates within ourselves and vote accordingly.

Which was why, when Thomas Nelson Publishers sent me After the Hangover I relished the chance to look at a different view, one skewed to the nth degree from mine. All in all I'm very glad I gave Mr. Tyrrell a chance because while I didn't agree with every idea- he wrote those ideas well. With great thought and clarity, passion, and a strong belief in his words. Plus at heart, a deep optimism, one you  you don't find in many conservatives these days.

Of course he indulged in the usual Liberal bashing one would expect from a book of this nature. Liberals are to blame for our current predicament. They control the media and therefore control the minds of our youth and uneducated. Liberals are bad and evil and to blame for all that is wrong with the country. Plus they eat baby's faces. (No, he didn't say that part) (But once you read enough rhetoric, it all starts to sound the same)  

However once you wade through the nonsense and get to the core- Tyrrell makes a decent stand. He believes wholeheartedly in conservatism and he believes in an America that supports his beliefs. “When we run for office, we state forthrightly what we believe in – limited government, personal liberty, lower taxes, strong foreign policy. We don’t have to mince words because that’s where the mainstream of the American people are.” However, for Tyrrell Conservatism isn't all roses and good feelings. He doesn't hesitate to point fingers and place blame where blame is due stating the cause is "pinched by a smallness that has set the movement back and encouraged intramural squabbling."

It's always fun to take a peek into a world unlike your own. While I'm not inclined to suddenly change political affiliations, R. Emmett Tyrrell Jr is a delight to spend an afternoon with.