I will stand for our constitutional, conservative values and stop the left from forcing their radical agenda on the people of America.–Joe Sempolinski, July 21, facebook

Joe Sempolinski, the Republican Candidate for Congress in the NY-23rd special election, claims to be a “Constitutional Conservative.” What can this mean? Joe writes:

Joe is a proud Constitutional Conservative.(1) The first action any member of Congress takes when entering into office is swearing an oath stating, in part, to “support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic.”(2) Joe will take this oath seriously.(3) Our republic is based on the Constitution and cannot prosper when our lawmakers ignore our founding document.(4) Joe’s first consideration when examining a proposed law is whether it is in line with the Constitution.(5) Joe opposes efforts to undermine the Constitution, including the proposals coming from the Democrat Party to have a federal takeover of our electoral process.(6)

1. So Joe says, but what does he mean?
2. Yes, members of Congress swear an oath.
3. I would hope so.
4. A platitude: Republicans, Democrats and independents, liberal or conservative, might do that.
5. The courts decide what is constitutional. Joe and others often label any proposal they dislike “unconstitutional.”
6. A strawman argument: Joe fails to explain specifically what proposal he has in mind or why he thinks it unconstitutional.

The meaning of constitutional is often muddled by politicians. Ones opinion doesn’t make a law constitutional or not. Only the Supreme Court’s opinion matters. When politicians claim that something is unconstitutional, they often mean only that they oppose it.

The concept of conservative is so often muddled that it has lost all meaning. Real conservatives ought to be careful and cautious. Self-styled conservatives often promote ideas which are anything but conservative: some radical, some reactionary. Willful ignorance isn’t conservative.

Be informed! Vote Aug. 23rd!

Note: Voters registered in the current NY-23 district vote in the special election. Consult your Board of Elections if you have questions about eligibility to vote.