Easy Righter...

No sir, I'm not a political innocent, but I still find myself shocked by some people's persuasions. For example, Dennis Hopper's conservatism has been quietly unnerving me for a while now. Common sense would dictate that this freewheeling son of the Sixties would be a life long anti-establishment radical lefty. But no, Hopper's long rejected his radical youth. Today his rebellions are played out in 18 holes with pals like Newt Gingrich and John McCain. Yup, Hopper's a card carrying Republican (since Reagan) and he voted for both Bushes.

So today, at work, it dawned on me... More than anything Hopper's always been about chasing dreams. Personal visions. When he was a young man that meant rejecting society, this so-called reality, in order to define and ferret out internal (i.e. "privatized") notions of artistic and hedonistic freedoms. Right there you've got some fundamental seeds of conservative thought.

And of course, all that wild dream-chasing took money. Cashola. Lot's of it. When certain privileged members of the "ME" generation ran out of ideals and found themselves with some very expensive habits, the call was a simple one: Screw paying taxes, screw big government, screw the welfare state, screw all the smelly hippies and their Commie ways, and screw the boring liberal agenda... I want what's mine and I want it now! Then when the drugs wore off, and (some) senses returned, people like Hopper realized that they weren't interested in the Left in any state of consciousness. Holding their own feet to the same fires they held other's to, they openly admit that they want to protect their wealth, make government as small as possible and get on with their aesthetic and creative lives. In pastel golf slacks if need be.

So OK, now I get it.

Hear it from the Elephant's trunk here.