G.K. Chesterton, one of the greatest thinkers of the 19th and 20th century in my opinion, once wrote,

“‘My country, right or wrong,’ is a thing that no patriot would think of saying except in a desperate case. It is like saying, ‘My mother, drunk or sober.’”

G.K. Chesterton

I believe this can also be applied to political parties. There has been a lot of speculation and criticism aimed at Glenn Beck’s keynote address at CPAC on Saturday. Some say that Beck was calling for a third party and saying that the GOP is exactly equal to the Democrat party in its approach to governing.

I was there and I did not hear that in Beck’s speech. What I heard was Chesterton’s patriot refusing to say ‘my country [or party] right or wrong.’

There are absolutely some bright lights in the GOP for those who believe in Constitutional, limited government. Beck acknowledged this on his TV show today. He also noted that those

bright lights are often succeeding in spite of the actions of the Republican party establishment, as with the Florida U.S. Senate primary race between Marco Rubio and Charley Crist. The GOP establishment is backing the squishy moderate Crist who is down 18 points to conservative Rubio.

At times it still seems that the GOP is about as engaged with the American people as the U.S. Congress has been with regard to health care reform.

If you tell me that the Conservative Political Action Conference is no place for valid criticism of the GOP’s less than stellar record on limiting the size and scope of government, I’m hearing you say “My mother, drunk or sober.”