Forget where you were buried
The work we're doing this summer.
15 months ago, a federal election didn’t go the way many of us wanted—or even needed. That was a tough pill to swallow then, but little reason to be ‘dooming’ now.
On our ‘side’ (the more inherently civilizational, good, and truthful; and yes, that can include some decent Liberals when and where applicable), there are half-wins on the key files, there are spiritual wins in having been a part of guiding a majority of people out of the deleterious, gaping maw of 2014-2023 thought processes, social pressures, and political cowardice.
This is no safe space for a rest, nor to set up basecamp. The night can still be dark and full of terrors. But the days are longer and the sun is sitting high in the sky.
Ultimately, for the politically intrigued, the question is this: Do you prefer a party that moves a movement, or a movement that moves a party?
A party may find itself in varying degrees of challenge or disarray. A caucus can kvetch. Consultants can turn petty. Knives can (wrongly) continue to point inward, rather than outward.
But if you care more about the latter, the movement and ideas space, does that not negate some of the importance surrounding apparent palace intrigue, or the ebbing and flowing in the polls?
From filling up rooms of late with our friends at Project Ontario, from having returned from meeting thousands in London, I can tell you, there’s more optimism out there than the Twitter discourse would have you believe.
(A walk and talk from yours truly, if you’re interested.)
Ultimately, we are not short on the people, principles, and ideas that are more than capable of handling this evolutionary political and cultural bottleneck. Meaning, those half-wins can become full, but only if we stay in the fight.
On that front, it’s why I was thrilled to publish this terrific call to action—and for sanity—from the inimitable Howard Anglin, former Deputy Chief of Staff to Prime Minister Stephen Harper, and an inspiration to many in our space.
And it’s why I was also honoured to sit down with Stephen LeDrew, former President of the Liberal Party of Canada and a CP24 mainstay in my household growing up, before Stephen joined W.D. Deputy Editor Kate Marland and I over on The Pilot’s rooftop for a pint—along with 120+ conservatives who are interested in better, more principled politics from Queen’s Park.
There was much Western Civilization-‘maxxing’ to be had, and there are more episodes to come, along with an upcoming feature with Stephen for The News Forum.
I don’t care about 15 months ago. I don’t care about the murmurs of a House divided. Conservative politics have always been regional and tempestuous. That tends to happen when you have core beliefs, rooted in more than whichever way the wind blows.
On the movement and culture front, in caring about how we continue to grow and respond in the here and now, I’m looking to enlist your help this summer.
This work takes time, and money, and it’s a labour of love; but a job is still a job.
If you’re able to chip in with a paid subscription here at Acceptable Views, your support would be most welcome.
If you would consider taking out a free or paid subscription to Without Diminishment, which continues to make cultural waves after just 9 months in operation, I’d be much appreciative.
And if you’re in a position to donate to the National Citizens Coalition, or to support our friends at the non-profit Project Ontario, thank you kindly.
‘We’ lost. So be it. All that’s left back there—down there—is tattered blue laundry and the remnants of a few alliterative slogans.
In the immortal words of a certain Beatles’ track that now serenades English superstar Jude Bellingham at the World Cup, “take a sad song, and make it better.”
Alexander Brown is the writer and editor of Acceptable Views, co-founder and Managing Editor of Without Diminishment, Director of the National Citizens Coalition, and a contributor to Project Ontario.