Former Congressman Bob Barr spoke at the annual CPAC convention this week. He was, by all accounts, accorded a cool welcome, based in large part on his principled opposition to many of the Bush Administration's tactics in the War On Terror.

"Are we losing our lodestar, which is the Bill of Rights?" Barr beseeched the several hundred conservatives at the Omni Shoreham in Woodley Park. "Are we in danger of putting allegiance to party ahead of allegiance to principle?"

Barr answered in the affirmative. "Do we truly remain a society that believes that . . . every president must abide by the law of this country?" he posed. "I, as a conservative, say yes. I hope you as conservatives say yes."

But nobody said anything in the deathly quiet audience. Barr merited only polite applause when he finished, and one man, Richard Sorcinelli, booed him loudly. "I can't believe I'm in a conservative hall listening to him say [Bush] is off course trying to defend the United States," Sorcinelli fumed.

But that is precisely the strength of the conservative movement, Mr. Scorcinelli -- we allow for dissent and disagreement and are willing to listen to them. The Left takes a different approach, shouting down and silencing those who disagree. Would supporters of the Patriot Act or the war in Iraq be welcome to speak at major liberal events? And we all remember the refusal of the Democrats to allow even a single token pro-lifer, Pennsylvania Governor Robert Casey, to speak at their convention ON ANY SUBJECT WHATSOEVER (which makes his son's continued affiliation with the Party Of Sucking Dismembered Babies Into A Sink while claiming to be a pro-lifer utterly incomprehensible).

Would Vice President Cheney or Secretary of State Rice get a polite but chilly reception at Yearly Kos or an event sponsored by MoveOn.org? Heck -- would card-carrying liberal Democrat Joe Lieberman get such a reception? I think we all know the answer. And the willingness to tolerate dissent and engage in discussion is part of what makes conservatism a much stronger, attractive (and dare I say it) American ideology than liberalism ever will be.

Posted by: Greg at 03:00 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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