Comments about ‘Michael Gerson: A yellow light for government’

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American Fork, UT

"In the traditional conservative view, individual liberty is ennobled and ordered within social institutions — families, religious communities, neighborhoods, voluntary associations, local governments and nations." Claims the article. Same sex marriage fits nicely as an individual liberty that should be enobled; perhaps I'm just a traditional conservative.

Tyler D
Meridian, ID

Good article, but this is definitely NOT the type of conservatism that has been proffered on talk radio for the last few decades.

An entire generation of conservative politicians have been raised on the idea that all government is bad (“evil” in their words), and so it should surprise no one when young firebrands rail about a “liberty destroying” stoplight (I mean literally… a stoplight).

I took decades (of Rush, Glenn, et al) to tear the house down so again don’t be surprised if it takes a long time to turn Republicans back into a party with a healthy and productive outlook on government.

And no, this doesn’t mean becoming a left-winger (the extreme form meaning that government is the first solution and can solve all problems). It simply means recognizing that there are many things the private sector is ill equipped to handle and that government can play a positive role in forming a more perfect union (e.g., like putting up a traffic light).

Salt Lake City, UT

Why would I vote people into government…

who's platform is 'limited government'…?

That is sabotage politics.

You cannot ignore cause and effect. The conservative base 'took back America' in 2010…

and in 2014, we have the LEAST productive congress in history.

Using the Yellow light analogy, it means 'slow down'.

And yet in traffic, you go to the right to slow down…

and allow the rest of traffic, to pass you.

Irony Guy
Bountiful, Utah

Wild oversimplification. The liberal yellow light is always on for wars, discriminatory legislation, and measures giving carte blanche to fat cat donors to defraud and oppress the rest of us. For conservatives, all that stuff has a big green light all the time. Just look at Utah. Swallow, anyone?

USS Enterprise, UT

To "Tyler D" you obviously don't understand conservativism, nor do you listen to Glenn Beck. If you did, you would know that Glenn Beck encourages his listeners to take action and to take care of those around them, just like the article describes.

Put down the MSNBC, CNN, Huffington Post, and whatever liberal rag you read and actually listen to what conservatives say.

Tyler D
Meridian, ID

@RedShirt – “Put down the MSNBC, CNN, Huffington Post, and whatever liberal rag you read and actually listen to what conservatives say.”

Curious if part of the purpose of your comment was to confirm that today’s conservatives are just a bunch of rageful guys looking to attack anyone who doesn’t agree with them on every purity point? If so, well done…

In any case, the article was about the proper role of government – in particular how it relates to economic mobility - and I commented on that theme. If you can cite an episode where Rush or Glenn or Sean spent a significant amount of time talking about the positive effects of government action, then please point them out and I’ll stand corrected.

Or let’s make it even simpler – name three government programs or regulations you (or conservatives) like and want to keep in place… just three.

clearfield, UT

I don't think Mr. Gerson, or anyone who is not conservative, really understands that conservatives like government When It Is Doing The Right Thing. Our(conservatives) disagreement with big government is when it is doing unnessary things, or simply being used by the Democrat Party to buy votes and feather the nests of special interest groups, (unions) by spending tax payer money. That is why we conservatives dislike much of big government, which by the way puts us just where Reagan was. We love big government if it is doing the right things, like defending the country, or seeing to it that the economy is running in a free market system rather than a government controlled system (socialism). One of the next big issues coming is something called income equality. The Democrats will want to use big government to achieve that. Republicans/conservatives would say, make the economy better and income will distribute itself. No need for a big government minimum wage. Just ask the lowest paid workers in places like South Dakota if they want minimum wage. They make more now, because business has to pay more for them, because the economy is booming.

liberal larry
salt lake City, utah

After reading article I have zero idea what he is talking about. Why don't conservatives just name a country, or even a state that is successfully practicing his vision of conservatism?

I think answer is simple, the far right Utopia exists only in the dreams of conservatives.

Salt Lake City, UT

Haha, Larry, I was thinking the exact same thing. The author is so incredibly vague, so absolutely imprecise, that what he is saying ends up being totally meaningless.

It's sorta like this comment by SCFan, "make the economy better and income will distribute itself."

What in the world does that mean?

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