Miami Criminal Defense Lawyer Brian Tannebaum asks us “Why do conservatives apologize for the government?”
But there is a more disturbing trend in conservative thought when it comes to criminal justice. Maybe it’s not a trend, just more visible with the advent of blogs and online comments on newspaper websites, but it appears that conservatives have abandoned their desire for limited government.
? That cracks me up every time I read it. Yes, Brian, the Bush Administration did not exactly make its mark by shrinking the government.Appears
I say this because more and more I read comments in response to innocent people being released, charges being dismissed, and not guilty verdicts that are written by conservatives apologizing for not rooting for the government.
“Hey listen, I’m a conservative, and I think they overcharged this guy.”
“I think the government went way overboard in this case and I’m a conservative.”
“I can’t believe the prosecutors are wasting their time with this case, and I’m a conservative.”
So, please, tell me, what am I missing?
That’s not an apology. That’s strengthening the credibility of their opinion by pointing out that it goes against their law-and-order predisposition. To see how this works, let’s try substituting a different political persuasion. Which of the following statements carries more rhetorical weight?
“Hey listen, I’m a conservative, and I think they overcharged this guy.”
“Hey listen, I’m a liberal wine-drinking criminal defense lawyer, and I think they overcharged this guy.”
The first one is surprising, and it gets your attention. The second one, not so much.
My understanding is that conservatives, while chest beating their “law & order” philosophy that has turned our criminal justice system into political talking points for elected officials, believe in limited government and believe that a government with too much power is a “bad” thing.
So why do conservatives apologize when they believe the government has gone too far in the criminal justice context?
Are they hypocrites, or am I confused?
Well, I don’t know about Brian, but I’m certainly confused. How is it inconsistent for conservatives who hate big government to lament clear cases of government going wrong?
I can’t speak for conservatives, but I think I might have an understanding of how libertarian conservatives see the situation, and why it confuses other people.
The key insight is that when (libertarian-ish) conservatives say they want small government, they don’t mean they want government to be smaller in general. Rather, “small government” is shorthand for a government that limits itself to a few critical tasks, such as national defense, crime prevention and criminal justice, and a civil court system for enforcing contracts and handling torts.
Libertarian conservatives are not offended when the government wields immense powers in the execution of these tasks because these tasks are the defining reason for having a government. If not for the need for national defense and criminal and civil justice (and a few other things), there’d be no need for a government at all.
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