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Conservatives Must Listen and Look for Common Ground, But Not Give Up on All of Our Principles

Nov. 13, 2012 1:53pm

Steven Ruffatto is an Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice at Harrisburg Area Community College in Pennsylvania. He is a former member of the military and a […]

Steven Ruffatto is an Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice at Harrisburg Area Community College in Pennsylvania. He is a former member of the military and a retired police officer having worked for both federal and local agencies. Steven received the medal of valor from PGPD and speaks to groups about critical incident responses, recounting his own story. He also serves on the board of directors for Peace Officer Ministries, a Christian law enforcement chaplaincy ministry.

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In the aftermath of the 2012 general election there are many things that we (Conservatives) must consider going forward. What things should we expect from each other? What should we expect from our elected officials? What should we expect from the media? If expectations are met, then what should we expect from our country?

Immediately after the election the blame game started. Many conservatives started complaining and began looking for someone or something to become the scapegoat. The twiterverse, blogs and news sites exploded with stories and messages that the Republican Party and Conservatism are dead. Some of this is to be expected after a close election. It is not easy to be on the losing end. However, I would note that politics is not a sport in which everyone gets a trophy. Therefore, it is important for us to be gracious in our losses and generous in our desire to work towards a better America.

Our desire to work towards a better America does not mean that we give up on all of our conservative principles. What is does mean is that we need to learn to better explain to our fellow Americans what those principles are and why we feel they are so important to our existence. In turn, we must be ready to listen to liberals and independents. What is it that they believe to be most important to them? There has to be a compromise that we can reach that will serve the best interest of all Americans. There is a saying that there are two sides to every story and somewhere in between is the truth. We need to find that in between.

We must expect our elected officials to work for what is best for all of us. This may mean that they step outside of what is generally expected of a “liberal” or a “conservative.” This may not sit well with some. However, what doesn’t sit well with most is the fact that Congress fails to get anything done. We have to decide what we want to hold on to more. Is it most important for our elected officials to hold on to a conservative ideology or should they work towards a compromise?

While our elected conservative officials must work towards a compromise we must expect the same of their liberal counterparts. President Obama is the leader of the Democratic Party and should set the example for reaching across the aisle. He could do this is many ways. In his victory speech President Obama vowed to work with Mitt Romney. Why not be like President Lincoln and bring in someone that has been his rival. We need to ensure that we do not go over the fiscal cliff. If President Obama would be willing, he could bring in Mitt Romney and utilize his vast business experience to his advantage. This would be the example that Congress needs that shows compromise can happen and will work.

Finally, we need to have a news media that is not afraid to tell the American people the truth. We are sick and tired of bias reporting. Polls have shown that the American people trust the media less than we trust our politicians. That also has to change. We must hold the news media accountable for the service that they provide. Our news media should not be biased one way or the other. Their job is to provide the news in a fair and balanced way. There should be no glossing over of any information based on whether or not the media outlet likes or dislikes a politician. To quote Sgt. Joe Friday, we want “nothing but the facts.” So when any of the media fails to tell the truth we must hold them accountable.

I heard a song by R.E.M. today that made me think of the election and its outcome, It’s The End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine). I laughed when I heard the song as I thought about the post election world. No matter whether President Obama or Mitt Romney won, the world was not going to be the same. We have to make changes because our country is not sustainable the way it is. We are heading towards a fiscal cliff, unemployment is out of control, and immigration needs to be addressed along with a number of other key issues. Therefore, it is in the best interest of the American people, the president, our Senators and Representatives to work towards a compromise to change our current path and ensure a bright future for all.

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Comments (7)

Chromo200
Posted on November 26, 2012 at 6:42pm
I read and re-read .STEVEN RUFFATTO’s article and all I got is compromise. The article does not tell us what to compromise on .. Abortion, spending more money, more gov’t involvement in our lives, for free stuff to people. Mr. Ruffatto does not itemize anything, so he should quit writing nebulous articles and be more to the point with definitive suggestions.

I know let us compromise on higher taxes that will do nothing but allow more spending, more money to places like Egypt.and Libya. I still want to know when the higher taxes go into effect what will Warren Buffett and the J-Zee pay.

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RevRiles
Posted on November 23, 2012 at 6:38pm
The Republican Party abandoned its base (Christianity).

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scarydave
Posted on November 15, 2012 at 1:08am
I strongly urge the following…
1. Make a concerted effort to start a 3rd Party. My two personal choices would be (A. Tea Party) (B. Constitution Party).
2. Make darn sure that this 3rd Party keeps all Paul-Bots (G. Johnson too) at arms length.
3. Have this new party embrace Conservative ideals. To teach and talk about them at every opportunity and raise our children to understand that Socialist/Marxist ideology is just as much of our enemy as Al-Qaeda.
4. Start a campaign to punish the mass media outlets that won the election for Obama.

These 3 items would go a long way to solve our problems.

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- zapparules
  Posted on November 16, 2012 at 1:15am
  These THREE items huh? 3? No wonder you folks lost.
  That and perhaps that you see the formation of an ultra- conservative / teaparty Third party as the solution to your political failure.
  Oh. That and believing a socialist/marxist ideology is as great of a threat to America as Al queda. (Note: Neither are an actual threat to destroy America.)
  
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gsp9993
Posted on November 14, 2012 at 7:18am
Sorry man, but common ground means only one thing to taxpaying Americans…We’ll tell you how much you are going to pay to support the takers.

Not buying that again, never will. Refer to the current movement of states to leave the United States. We are not united, but divided by the dysfunctional culture called Washington DC.

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phillycornerboy
Posted on November 14, 2012 at 2:16am
now, more than ever, we must stand our ground, speak up, and make our presence felt. we cannot allow our country to be “transformed” into a socialist basket case. the progressives want the downfall of our country, not just weaken us. half of our fellow citizens seem to want the same thing. stand by the constitution, speak up for whats right, act, make your presence felt in some way. call the local/national media, e-mail your local/national government reps, even flyers, handed out in your local community, communicate, advocate. only if we stop, do we fail.

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Silvertruth
Posted on November 13, 2012 at 6:46pm
After watching the Real News crew tell people who ‘want to give up and take their ball and go home’ that they are cowards, the point is entirely being missed.

The people that are upset is because they feel the electorate got mugged by fear, “You’ll lose your food stamps, your Medicare, your deductions, all your free stuff if you elect Mitt Romney”. How do you fight against that with what is clearly a long running part of a plan to increase the entitlement generation. It’s worked, and this election is the first proof of it.

What those that want to ‘check out’ are saying is: “Let’s stop participating, let the liberals have their day, let EVERYONE suffer for it because they sooner conservatives are finally proven right, the sooner the Country can be restored.”

The moderating voices like Real News and Mr. Ruffatto here are engendering “Staying the course and let’s see if we can win next time.” That’s certainly a valid approach but it’s actually more uncertain of a path than letting the country hit the rocks and sink.

Remember, for many of these people, they don’t care if the Country fails, they have the firepower to ‘take it back’.

I get both sides, but don’t demonize the seccessionists, they have a valid approach to hit the reset button.

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