[American Thinker] I've long admired Rep Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas) for the knack he has to clearly state conservative principles — and his willingness to speak out constantly about those principles. One of Trump's problems was his inability to articulate principles. His practical instincts were good, but he — along with way too many Republican politicians — allowed Democrats to win the war of words. On Friday, Crenshaw again used his gift in this area with a Twitter thread that lists 22 core conservative principles that we need to fight for in this lunatic Democrat era.Crenshaw went down in my estimation last month when he attacked Trump over the events at Capitol Hill (an attack at odds with the facts) and when he pushed back against ousting Liz Cheney from her leadership position in the House after she voted in favor of impeaching President Trump. Both of those stands looked remarkably like pandering to the Bush crowd and the Democrats. I strongly disagreed with them then, and I still do now.
On Friday, though, Crenshaw published a Twitter thread (which I'm presenting below as a straight text list) that deserves respect. In it, he simply and clearly articulates principles that are the antithesis of the madness the Biden administration and the rest of the Democrat party crew are imposing on our nation:
The Conservative Guide to the Culture Wars (in no particular order):
1. America is worthy of our love and patriotism.
2. Victor mentality is better than a victim mentality.
3. Free speech is absolute. "Hate speech" is not an objective term.
4. It doesn't matter what kind of gun you restrict, criminals still hurt people. Let us protect ourselves.
5. You get to keep wealth you create & pass it to your kids.
6. The govt has no right to shut down your business or invade your home without due process, even in pandemics.
7. Women should not have to compete against men in women's sports.
8. Verifying ID to vote is not racist. It is common sense.
9. Borders and national sovereignty are not racist or xenophobic.
10. You can't have freedom without order, order without law, law without morality, morality without religion, or religion without God.
11. Innocent until proven guilty — not the other way around.
12. Personal responsibility is a virtue.
13. Never give into cancel culture (but stay humble and apologize when you're wrong).
14. The founding was 1776, not 1619.
15. Stand for the anthem.
16. Policy that favors one race over another is not "social justice," it is racist.
17. It's Latinos, not Latinx.
18. Less abortion, more adoption.
19. Only women can be pregnant and breastfeed.
20. It's ok to lose in competitive sports, and second place trophies don't help anyone (but also see # 7).
21. More police, not defund the police.
22. We don't tear up the past, we learn from it.
23. This list is not exhaustive.
Again, it's a shame that Crenshaw seems to have missed the fact that these are the principles that Trump, inarticulate though he was, put into play during his four years. Again, it was not Trump who was a break in normalcy; it's the Democrats who were and still are.