{"id":319,"date":"2011-12-19T20:21:20","date_gmt":"2011-12-20T01:21:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/attheintersectionoffaithandculture\/?p=319"},"modified":"2011-12-19T20:21:20","modified_gmt":"2011-12-20T01:21:20","slug":"establishment-versus-establishment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/attheintersectionoffaithandculture\/2011\/12\/establishment-versus-establishment.html","title":{"rendered":"Establishment versus Establishment"},"content":{"rendered":"

The most listened to talk radio show host in the country, Rush Limbaugh, is often (though not often enough) critical of what he refers to as the Republican Party establishment.\u00a0 His friends and colleagues, Sean Hannity and Mark Levin, are no different in this respect: each portrays himself as a voice for the rank and file of the Republican Party against <\/em>the establishment with which it finds itself increasingly at odds.<\/p>\n

Although the aforementioned figures rarely mention names, it would appear that if Limbaugh\u2019s, Hannity\u2019s, and Levin\u2019s are the faces of \u201cthe conservative movement,\u201d then those of the establishment belong to the likes of Charles Krauthammer, Bill Kristol, and Karl Rove.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It is during presidential primary contests more so than at any other time that this rivalry between \u201cconservative\u201d Republicans and establishment Republicans comes into focus, for it is always conflict over the selection of a candidate that seems to shove it most forcefully to the forefront.\u00a0 On the one hand, the voice of the establishment insists upon favoring only the most \u201cmoderate\u201d (read: liberal<\/em>) of candidates.\u00a0 On the other hand, the voice of \u201cthe base\u201d\u2014as channeled through such colorful radio and television personalities as the Limbaughs and Hannitys of our world\u2014expresses resentment toward the establishment for its continual betrayal of \u201cconservative principles\u201d: the objective, according to \u201cconservatives\u201d and Tea Partiers the country over, is to always support the most conservative <\/em>of candidates.<\/p>\n

The conflict between these two factions of the Republican Party is continual.\u00a0 It is intense.\u00a0 It is even ugly.<\/p>\n

It is also contrived.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It isn\u2019t necessarily that the self-styled representatives of \u201cconservatism\u201d don\u2019t have real disagreements with those who they identify as spokespersons of the Republican Party establishment.\u00a0 It is just that these differences, when they exist, are greatly exaggerated.\u00a0 In reality, the conflict between the base and the establishment of the GOP is a conflict within<\/em> the establishment. <\/em><\/p>\n

There is one, and only <\/em>one, genuinely anti-<\/em>establishment candidate in the GOP\u2019s presidential primary race.\u00a0 Of course, that candidate is Congressman Ron Paul.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Whether you like or dislike him\u2014and Lord knows that the Limbaughs and the Krauthammers, as in so many other substantive respects, are united <\/em>by their equal disdain of him\u2014there is no one who can credibly deny that Paul is not only a heterodox Republican, but an anti-establishmentarian extraordinaire<\/em>.\u00a0 At the same time, though, he is the embodiment of just that vision that is the stuff of Republican Party rhetoric: \u201climited\u201d or Constitutional government; individual liberty; a strong national defense; <\/em>free markets, etc.\u00a0<\/p>\n

What, we may ask, are the substantive <\/em>differences between Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, and Mark Levin, on the one hand, and Charles Krauthammer, Bill Kristol, and Karl Rove, on the other?\u00a0 How is it that Limbaugh and company do not belong to the establishment, while Rove and company do?<\/p>\n

Presumably, there must be some fundamental differences in opinion regarding the issues of the day between those who belong to the establishment and those who do not.\u00a0 Yet when we consider these issues, we are hard pressed to determine where such differences lie.\u00a0<\/p>\n

When it comes to \u201cnational security,\u201d both sets of Republicans are of one mind.\u00a0 Certainly, there may <\/em>be differences in emphasis; <\/em>but there is no <\/em>difference in kind.\u00a0 <\/em>National security, to hear both camps tell it, demands not only that we steadfastly refuse to so much as consider cuts in \u201cdefense\u201d spending; it demand as well that we resolve to forever increase <\/em>military expenditures.\u00a0 These expenditures are necessary if America is to maintain its position as a \u201cbenevolent\u201d hegemonic power.\u00a0 They are necessary if America is to win <\/em>\u201cthe War on Terror\u201d and bring Democracy to the Islamic world and beyond.<\/p>\n

Both establishment Republicans and \u201cconservatives\u201d like Limbaugh enthusiastically supported the Iraq War\u2014even long after the predominant pretext for the invasion of Mesopotamia, \u201cweapons of mass destruction,\u201d had crumbled.\u00a0 And both kinds of Republicans insist upon describing President Barack H. Obama\u2014the same Obama who increased our troop presence in Afghanistan by 30,000 bodies; invaded a sovereign nation that never attacked us, Pakistan, in order to assassinate <\/em>Osama bin Laden; and essentially invaded another independent nation, Libya, to assist a revolution and undermine the government\u2014as an \u201cappeaser.\u201d<\/p>\n

Domestically, also, there are no substantive differences between establishment Republicans and their alleged detractors among the base of their party.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The \u201cconservatives\u201d of \u201cthe alternative media\u201d were as ardent supporters of President George W. Bush\u2019s \u201ccompassionate conservatism\u201d as was the very establishmentarians against whom they now set themselves.\u00a0 Whether it was the aggressiveness with which the Bush administration sought to pressure lending institutions to make mortgage loans to unqualified applicants or his consolidation of federal authority over America\u2019s public schools via the disastrous No Child Left Behind; whether it was Bush\u2019s decision to supply federal funding for embryonic stem cell research or his initiation of the ominous Patriot Act, Rush, Sean, and Mark threw their weight behind him as unreservedly as did Rove and the establishment gang.<\/p>\n

And now, during the midst of this primary season, we are treated to the display of \u201cconservative\u201d Republicans battling it out with their foes in the establishment over which candidates are and are not \u201cconservative\u201d\u2014as opposed to members of the dreaded establishment.\u00a0 Rick Santorum, Michele Bachmann, and Rick Perry are real <\/em>\u201cconservatives,\u201d we are told, whereas Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich are busy trying to convince voters that each is more a member of the establishment than the other.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In truth, though, how do any of these candidates differ substantially from the other?\u00a0 How do any of them differ from any other establishment Republican?\u00a0 As Ron Paul never spares an occasion to observe, they are equally beholden to the same ideology of Big Government.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Anyone who is honestly interested in voting for an anti-establishment Republican has no option but to pull the lever for the only Texas Congressman and former obstetrician on the ballot.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Jack Kerwick, Ph.D.<\/p>\n

originally published at The New American\u00a0<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The most listened to talk radio show host in the country, Rush Limbaugh, is often (though not often enough) critical of what he refers to as the Republican Party establishment.\u00a0 His friends and colleagues, Sean Hannity and Mark Levin, are no different in this respect: each portrays himself as a voice for the rank and…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":399,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-319","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nEstablishment versus Establishment<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/attheintersectionoffaithandculture\/2011\/12\/establishment-versus-establishment.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Establishment versus Establishment\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The most listened to talk radio show host in the country, Rush Limbaugh, is often (though not often enough) critical of what he refers to as the Republican Party establishment.\u00a0 His friends and colleagues, Sean Hannity and Mark Levin, are no different in this respect: each portrays himself as a voice for the rank and…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/attheintersectionoffaithandculture\/2011\/12\/establishment-versus-establishment.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"At the Intersection of Faith and Culture\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-12-20T01:21:20+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jack Kerwick\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Establishment versus Establishment","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/attheintersectionoffaithandculture\/2011\/12\/establishment-versus-establishment.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Establishment versus Establishment","og_description":"The most listened to talk radio show host in the country, Rush Limbaugh, is often (though not often enough) critical of what he refers to as the Republican Party establishment.\u00a0 His friends and colleagues, Sean Hannity and Mark Levin, are no different in this respect: each portrays himself as a voice for the rank and…","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/attheintersectionoffaithandculture\/2011\/12\/establishment-versus-establishment.html","og_site_name":"At the Intersection of Faith and Culture","article_published_time":"2011-12-20T01:21:20+00:00","author":"Jack Kerwick","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/attheintersectionoffaithandculture\/2011\/12\/establishment-versus-establishment.html","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/attheintersectionoffaithandculture\/2011\/12\/establishment-versus-establishment.html","name":"Establishment versus Establishment","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/attheintersectionoffaithandculture\/#website"},"datePublished":"2011-12-20T01:21:20+00:00","dateModified":"2011-12-20T01:21:20+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/attheintersectionoffaithandculture\/#\/schema\/person\/6832222998cc14717ded1849531201c5"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/attheintersectionoffaithandculture\/2011\/12\/establishment-versus-establishment.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/attheintersectionoffaithandculture\/2011\/12\/establishment-versus-establishment.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/attheintersectionoffaithandculture\/2011\/12\/establishment-versus-establishment.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/attheintersectionoffaithandculture"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Establishment versus Establishment"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/attheintersectionoffaithandculture\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/attheintersectionoffaithandculture\/","name":"At the Intersection of Faith and Culture","description":"Beliefnet Voices - 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