Big Con intro letter draft

You're a progressive. You know in your bones that strong and competent government, the liberal values of openness and tolerance, and a foreign policy of strong alliances and judicious use of power are the way we keep America great. History has proven it. The news proves it every day. Others, however, just don't see it. Friends, coworkers, family. Some call themselves conservatives. Others don't call themselves anything at all--but, maddeningly, accept as self-eivdently true the conservatives' false and dangerous picture of the world, and their fantastic and insulting smears of progressive values and accomplishments. It's frustrating. Why can't you make them see the truth?

The Campaign for America's Future's new blog The Big Con is here to help--to arm you with stories about how conservatism always fail, because they despise the very government they wish to lead.

My name is Rick Perlstein. You may know me for my award-winning history of the Before the Storm

. It's about the right-wing takeover of the Republican Party. Conservatism is a subject I've always treated with seriousness and respect--enough to earn the respect, in turn, of prominent conseratives like William F. Buckley and William Kristol.

Now, I'm willing to burn those bridges. Patriotism demands it.

Each and every day, The Big Con will work to break the spell conservatism holds over our fellow Americans by helping you convey how conservatism is threatening their very security and well-being. We lead off with a manifesto on the [1]--right-wingers whose cult-like faith in corporations' ability to regulate themselves has led to the worst crisis in our (and our beloved pets) food supply since the Food and Drug Administration was established over a hundred years ago in the wake of Upton Sinclair's legendary bestselling novel The Jungle.

Conservatives uphold Ronald Reagan as a hero beyond challenge. The Big Con will help you reveal him to your stubborn friends, relatives, and coworkers as the man who started us down the path to the mess we're in today--whose greatest stroke of luck was his inability to pass his agenda because progressive institutions and politicians were in a stronger position than they were today. Had he been able to achieve what he wished to achieve--enfeebling the Food and Drug Administration--he would be a no more respected man than George Bush is now.

Meanwhile, Bush has been able to carry out the Reagan agenda. And just like the conservatives' war in Iraq has stressed the American military to the breaking point, his conservatism has stretched our nation near the breaking point. The Big Con will give you the ammunition that proves it. Conservatives want to defend their tax cuts? We'll show you those tax-cuts quiet, awful consequences--for instance, the gaping holes opening up in our very city streets, day [2] after day [3] after day [4], thanks to underground sewage mains and water pipes so rotten the American Society of Civil Engineers given our wastewater infrastructure a D-minus [5].

Check back often. We'll have new posts up several times a day--including, every several weeks, the kind of full-length, major investigations and essays I've been writing for publications like The Nation, the Village Voice, and the New York Times. I'm putting my shoulder to the wheel, to try to convince my fellow Americans that conservatism is something they should be embarrassed to ever have associated with. Stay in touch--because I'll need your help.

Sincerely,

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