Conservatives: As Good As it Gets (And Getting Better)

One of my favorite movies is “As Good as It Gets”. Jack
Nicholson plays Melvin Udall, a successful romance novelist with obsessive compulsive
disorder—and a mean mouth. He falls in love with a waitress, Carolyn Connelly
(played by Helen Hunt) whose plain-spokenness aggravates and attracts him.

After a series of awkward situations (including the sudden robbery
and assault against his gay neighbor Simon Bishop (played by Greg Kinnear),
Udall and Connelly work together to help Bishop get back on his feet.

It seems that way with Donald Trump as the presumptive
Republican nominee.

“Is this as good as it gets?” conservatives wonder.

Yes, this may work out for us.

Trump is foul-mouthed counterfeit to some, but in the end, he
might do more good than bad. He has helped people in the past, and his quirks
may work for us in the end.

Yes, a well-coifed rodeo clown has won the GOP nomination.

Yeehaw!

Someone has to lasso up the cattle. Washington is an Augean
stable of corruption, you know.

Let’s understand some other things in perspective.

The conservative movement is not dead, as embittered,
embattled political conservative pundits claim.

Far from it.

Obama—and Obamacare—turned conservatives into concerted
activists. Finally.

God bless the Tea Party. They were already riled up with
George W Bush and his Big Governor statism. President Obama forced us to reckon
with the last sixteen years of government growth at the expense of Middle
America, within our own party, too. Who can forget TARP, the forced minimum
wage hikes? The foreign interventions with no long-term plans for victory?

“Money does not grow on trees, Mr. President!” This rallying
cry screeched the airwaves throughout the country. Not just to Democrats, but
the Republicans of the Bush era—both of them. Yes, the statist, special
interest temperament has metastasized in both political parties, and We the
People need to excise it, now!

From 2010 to the president day, Republicans—conservatives who
understand the meaning of limitations and the value of a hard-earned dollar—took
over statehouses across the country.

Let’s look at the incredible record of results:

Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker’s Act 10 reforms have saved
Wisconsin families, taxpayers, and homeowners billions of dollars. The Big
Labor lobby is getting clobbered all over the country. A majority of states are
now Right to Work.

That’s right! The right is working!

Civil asset forfeiture reform is now a necessity, not a
trivial nicety for state legislatures. Cut off the pipeline of illegal seizure
of private property, and left-wing interest groups have less money to play with
to promote their destructive, illiberal agenda. Nebraska just passed similar
reforms, along with Michigan, and even in liberal California, a freshman Republican
(my first GOP representative in Sacramento in two decades) is working to
protect private property from public piracy.

Republicans are learning a lesson which has taken them two
decades to accept: winning election is one thing, but confronting the cultural
malaise is essential. Raising money is important, but connecting with voters
and showing them that you care is priceless. They won’t care what you know
until they know that you care.

Republican Governors cut taxes and spending, balanced their
budgets, engaging local businesses and international firms. Republican state
legislatures have redefined the federal government, restricting legislative
districts to benefit pro-growth, limited government advocates. The media and liberal
political classes screamed that spending cuts and shut-downs would destroy the
Republican Party. Look at the vast sea of red from sea to shining sea.

Sorry, illiberal regressive lunatics: Republicans are here
to stay.

Even in the blue states, Republicans are making inroads. Maryland’s
own Larry Hogan is building the Republican brand while rebuilding his state, including
the crime and race-torn city of Baltimore. #HoganStrong will set the stage for
#USAStrong in two years. Just keep your eyes on the Old Line State.

Even the uber-liberal Republican Governor Charlie Baker of Massachusetts
is starting to respect his erstwhile conservative adversaries of the Massachusetts
GOP. The Bay State may be three-to-one Democratic, but Baker has stopped the
tax hike state legislature. Even as he toys with LBGT agendas, concerned
activists are pushing back, fighting for life and family. And the central Mass
is turning bright red underneath everyone’s noses. Some blue states are getting
bluer, like a victim strangled by his own stupidity. New York, Rhode Island,
and California are losing large firms and their jobs. The red states are
getting redder, heated with economic growth and a thriving citizenry, shining
brightly like a glorious rising sun.

While Washington DC has grown lethargic and frustrated, the
states are regaining their footing. Subsidies for failed energy fantasies are
getting cut. Concealed carry permits are proliferating, and individual American
are embracing the spirit as well as the letter of the Second Amendment. The Constitution
means something for those destined for protection from an encroaching federal behemoth.

Obamacare has gone to hell. The most liberal states in the
union embraced the Unaffordable Care Act’s mandated state exchanges. Now they
find themselves in a spiraling death-grip, unable to escape. States which
rejected the exchanges will enjoy a healthy head-start to implement free-market
health care reforms while expanding access and increasing the number of health
care personnel and resources.

The homosexual lobby has “achieved” their end-game: forcing
an attempted legal redefinition of marriage down everyone’s throats. The same
line of attack seemed to work with abortion following the abortive Roe v. Wade decision.
But wait … Abortion clinics are closing all over the country. Mothers do not
want to kill their unborn children. Pro-marriage and pro-family advocates have
shouted “enough!” to the LGBT Hate Machine. Red states are protecting individual
liberty (Mississippi) and protecting the privacy of women and children (North
Carolina).

Conservatives knew how to talk. President Obama forced them
to fight. We have a long fight ahead of us, but at least we are fighting.

With that, let this theme from my favorite movie encourage
you to  “Always look on the brighter
side of life”.