Mr. Marshall's first submission

Greetings to my fellow Weaver Blog readers and contributors. I was delighted that J-Rod asked me to contribute some ideas to his new blog. I, like many of you, have surely spent many an hour puzzling over what goes on in that "big head" of his and so I suspect, this Blog may be a refreshing and illuminating foray into Weaverdom. I was struck by the notion Jarrod alluded to earlier about Conservative and Liberal and how these terms are simply insufficient for our present day discourse. If anything has been made clear over the last 8 years, it is that what used to be known as conservative (manifested in the Republican model) is no longer such. The days of small government, free markets, and individual liberty have been trumped by expansive deficit, government interventions, and a perversion of the constitution. Indeed, "the dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate to the stormy present" and so too are the labels which once characterized American political life. The challenges which face us today – sprawling wars, an economic collapse, a cultural battles within our borders – require solutions that far exceed the polities of Republican and Democrat. Without echoing the mantra of a "team of rivals" or "bipartisan cooperation" we need to find thoughtful strategies that are pragmatic and effective (if not intelligent) for if we are to continue on the path, blazed by both Republicans and Democrats, America shall certainly "perish from the earth." – K.Charles Marshall