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The Mount Vernon Statement

By: Dave Poff (haystack) (Diary)  |  February 17th, 2010 at 09:46 AM  | 

RESIZE: AAA

The Mount Vernon Statement has been released. I suggest that any among you who consider yourselves “Conservatives” should go there and read it. Sign it if you agree. If you are unfamiliar with the project, here is their “About” intro:

In light of the challenges facing the country and the need for clarity in the age of Obama, The Mount Vernon Statement, modeled on the Sharon Statement issued on Sept. 11, 1960, is a defining statement of conservative beliefs, values and principles penned by a broad coalition of conservative leaders representing a wide spectrum of the movement including fiscal, social, cultural and national security conservatives.

Go there now and read it for yourself.

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  • tngal

    I re-read the Sharon statement this past weekend just to refresh and was wondering what the tweaks would be in this new document. Kinda figured they would leave out the communism part specifically and address a more globally generic threat. Looks good. Looks real good.

  • RedBeard

    Two little squeaky guys, one a silly cartoon character and the other one Mickey Mouse.

    Back to the statement. Looks good to me.

    • tngal

      Redbeard, did ya notice Attila the Hun from Outer Mongolia AS also signed it?. With “mickey” and “Attila” both on and the thing has only been up a couple of hours., seems this is going to be an unsightly problem. They’re going to have monitor the site constantly just to take out the trash.

  • zroxx

    It’s a fine statement, I guess, but it doesn’t advance any policy proposals or set specific guidelines over how (these signing) conservatives assert the country should be governed in order to advance, for example, “individual liberty in American politics and life” or “limited government based on the rule of law“.

    I’d be willing to promote anything that declares all federal legislation be passed through a very tight sieve according to what powers the Constitution specifically assigns the government. A statement that essentially says the Constitution is the document that defines the guidelines for government that all citizens explicitly or implicitly (by way of their continued residence here into adulthood) consent to be governed by.

    This is close but seems to throw in some extra-Constitutional and unnecessary nods towards morality and family, I imagine to try to broaden the group of people that might be attracted to it as I know those are key emotional words for many. It also doesn’t really provide much beyond vague statements that would lead one to conclude how (these signing) conservatives would regard, for example, the UIGEA gambling ban – is that an affront to “individual liberty” or a “defense of family”? You’re probably going to have arguments for both sides but if we’re really going to go by a non-expansive reading of the Constitution to make the call, it would be the former for me. What do these statement promoters believe? You really can’t tell which way they’d argue based on this.

    The statement could be improved by providing a framework for how these principles are prioritized or otherwise how legislative policies, such as UIGEA or NCLB, are judged according to (strictly) Constitutionally conservative principles.