Curtains For Conservatism

by Christopher G. Adamo

It's time for all devoted conservatives in America to face the inevitability of defeat, give up the cause, go home, and wait around for the other shoe to drop. Despite our best efforts of recent years, liberalism has just invoked its “nuclear option” and is bringing out its biggest guns to mow us down in the streets. Al Gore has decided to go head-to-head against the world of conservative media. Woe to all of us! It's over.

The epitaph for conservatism appeared, among other places, in the June 19 issue of USA Today , in which it was explained that Gore intends to provide a liberal alternative to Rush Limbaugh, Bill O'Reilly, and the Fox News Channel. What a novel idea!

Every thinking conservative who spent much of the last four decades frustrated at the shameless liberal bias of Jennings, Brokaw, and Rather (not to mention the more recent addition of mindless liberal drivel from CNN), assumed that the left already had loyal media networks to promote its propaganda. And this cabal didn't amount to a liberal “monopoly”, but an entire series of monopolies, competing with each other for ratings, but consistently presenting the world from a perspective somewhere to the left of Berkeley California.

Actually, upon reflection, things may not be all that bad, though some leftists undoubtedly hope that those on the right will be thoroughly intimidated. The man who “invented the Internet”, “re-invented government”, and probably founded Phillip Morris Corporation (depending on the audience he's addressing), believes he's going to rewrite the rules for talk radio. Who can guess what might result from such a superhuman effort? One thing is for certain: it's going to be really boring. On the other hand, being that this is Al Gore, we can at least rest easy knowing that regardless of what he spews onto the airwaves, it will be biodegradable.

To understand the real dilemma liberal Democrats face, consider an incident that occurred in the early days of the Clinton Administration. Having recognized the flaws of Clinton economic policy, talk radio giant Rush Limbaugh offered to bet the Democratic National Committee one million dollars that the policies would fail. DNC chairman David Wilhelm wasn't interested (a few phone calls to the Communist Chinese could net that much…). However, Wilhelm responded with a sinister and telling counter offer. He agreed to take the wager on condition that, if Limbaugh lost, he forfeited the EIB microphone. By his suggestion, Wilhelm unwittingly let slip the nature of Democrats' anxiety ever since Limbaugh's ascension to national prominence, as well as the futility of their schemes to undermine his effectiveness.

It was not the absence of a suitable outlet, or many such outlets, that concerned Wilhelm. Rather, it was the mere presence of Limbaugh's voice, and the light of truth he represented, that mortally threatened the political left. Liberals can create as many new misinformation outlets as they like. However, what they really need, but can no longer achieve, is total dominance of the information that is disseminated to the public.

The situation for liberal Democrats looks grim. Those “useful idiots”, so critical to the advancement of liberalism, only remain useful as long as they remain idiots. At least David Wilhelm recognized that his problems resulted from the activities of his opposition. Anita Drobny of AnShell Media, who ostensibly is going to bankroll Gore's effort, believes she can prevail through brute force. Drobny presumes that she can accomplish success through a “top-down” approach of force-feeding liberal diatribe to the general public. In reality though, she merely proves that she has no comprehension of free markets and no regard for freedom in general.

No doubt, this “new” liberal media effort will be as attractive and successful as is every new liberal government program (which is why participation in such programs is so often compulsory). Hopefully, it will be equally expensive, draining the funds that liberals normally use to engage in other mischief. In the meantime, conservatives can take heart. These flailing efforts of the left show just how much influence alternative media is having. Perhaps it isn't time to give up just yet.

Unfortunately, the people who will most likely be watching and listening to the Gore/Drobny broadcasting network, and seriously considering their ideas, are those brilliant Republican political “analysts”, led by Karl Rove, who believe it to be a winning strategy to adopt and implement the liberal agenda, thereby eliminating any need to elect Democrats.

Growing up during the turbulent decades of the ‘60's and ‘70's, Christopher  Adamo saw, to his dismay, the nation's moral foundations being destroyed  before his very eyes. But even then he was a staunch Conservative at heart,  and rejected outright the tenets of America's counterculture revolution.

 After a hitch in the Air Force, where he specialized in airborne  electro- optical systems, he pursued a career in the field of aerospace,  working for major defense contractors in California, Florida, and Colorado. But his career plans abruptly changed during the industry-wide downsizing that followed the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster.

Presently he is working in the field of industrial instrumentation in the state of Wyoming. Concurrently, he has become involved in that state's political process, attending state GOP conventions as a delegate, and serving as a member of the Wyoming Republican Central Committee. He has also aided in the candidacies of local legislators and state senators, as well as a U.S. Senator and Congresswoman.

From 1993 to 1996, he edited and wrote for “The Wyoming Christian”, the state newsletter for Christian Coalition of Wyoming. During that period, he developed an acute awareness of the harm being done to Conservatism by liberal activists within the Republican Party as well as the Democrats. This remains a favorite theme of his articles, which now appear as a regular feature on GOPUSA.