Conservatives hope for power in 2010

The Heritage Foundation hosted a discussion with Michael Medved about his thoughts on the major falsities surrounding America as developed in his book “The Ten Big Lies about America”. Medved focused on three of his ten lies beginning with the idea that the one solution for economic downturns is to respond with aggressive government programs. Medved singled-out FDR and the New Deal as a perfect example for failure in terms of economic recovery. He believes that the new Obama administration will not “waste a crisis” and will behave in an extremely Rooseveltian capacity.

The second lie Medved specified was that the United States is an imperialist power and a constant threat to world peace. The alleged past of isolationism and pacifism that is believed to have existed at some point in American history is a fabrication that “never existed”, said Medved. He continued to deny America’s imperialist tendencies by pointing out that Canada is still “allowed to exist” almost undefended against our borders.

The final lie believed to distort America’s political dialogue is that America is in a state of “irreversible moral decline.” Medved says that every generation since the inception of America has believed they were the worst generation in the history of the world. However, conservatives can be reassured and encouraged by the passing of legislation like California’s Proposition 8 that created an amendment to ban same-sex marriage in the state, as opposed to the discouragement they felt with the overwhelming support for Democrats.

No matter what, Medved called himself a “tremendous optimist even at the age of the dawn of Obama”. He encouraged the conservative tone of the discussion by invoking the memory of Bill Clinton’s 1992 election. A similar sense of hope and change was in the air at the turn of that election, and by 1994 the Republicans had gained more seats (55 in the House of Representatives) than had ever been gained before in one election. Medved says this brings hope to the Republican Party for the possibilities in 2010.