As one new to KvM and the blogosphere, I’m not going to set up myself as the arbiter of political speech.  However, I believe we have to think hard about what we’re trying to accomplish here in the blogosphere: persuasion.

For the past decade, as first talk radio, then cable news, and now blogs, opened communications mediums for more and more people, I’ve been very bothered by the rise of the “look at me conservatives.”  These are people who are all about promoting themselves, and only themselves, not about advancing the Right’s goals and ideas.  They may sell books or make some dough on the speaking circuit, but they are a big time negative for our side, because for every one already committed person who says “right on” two undecideds go “yuck” and run in the other direction.

I think we on the Right must always resist ANY temptation to emulate Daily Kos, MoveOn and the rest of that ilk.  It rings damn hollow if on the one hand we demand that fair-minded, decent citizens of all stripes denounce the General Betrayus Ad, then turn around and expect everyone on the Right to defend a post that falls someplace between a ham-handed attempt at being provocative gone horribly bad, and the R-word. 

Remember gang, we’re conservatives.  We believe that right is right, wrong is wrong.

This is part of a much bigger problem for conservatives.  We on the Right once had a proud and honorable tradition of policing our own.  Unlike the left, we’ve traditionally been willing to call out our own when they went wrong.  Recall, dear friends, that it was Bill Buckley and National Review that purged the conservative movement of a host of unsavory characters back in the 50s, allowing the movement to grow and prosper.  Likewise, he took a very tough look and passed stern judgment on Pat Buchanan back in the 90s.  Finally, there’s a reason Ann Coulter isn’t found in any NR venue. 

We started to lose our way as a movement when folks on the right started taking the liberals “the ends justify the means” attitude toward politics.  Too many on the Right didn’t call out the rogues in Congress because they were being attacked by liberals and they felt compelled to rally to the defense of people engaged in genuinely bad behavior.  Because our side didn’t police its own, voters did, punishingly, at the polls in 2006. 

Again, I never, ever want to see our side embrace the grotesque tactics of the Daily Kos.  We are better than that.  Likewise, I don’t want to see us abandon self-policing in favor of an embarrassing group-think that causes us to feel like we have to defend any and all on the Right because they’re “on our side.” 

A final thought: As conservatives, we believe in the flawed nature of man.  We all make mistakes, by what we have done, and what we have left undone.  Before we banish people to outer darkness, we must give them the opportunity for redemption.  There’s nothing wrong with admitting “I was wrong.”  Most people are going to let bygones be bygones. 

But anyone who takes an entitlement mentality, believing that he or she is “owed” loyalty by fellow conservatives may be very disappointed.  Right is right.  Wrong is wrong.  We are conservatives.  We have standards.