Recently, I had the opportunity to serve as a panelist for a discussion on foreign policy at the 2009 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Washington, DC. The title of the panel was A Conservative Foreign Policy: What's in America's Best Interest? Joining me was Doug Bandow of the Cato Institute and Frank Gaffney, Jr. with the Center for Security Policy. Mr. Bandow's opening remarks reflected the libertarian leaning of the Cato Institute by highlighting the current problematic consequences of the Bush Doctrine's emphasis on preemptive war and interventionism. Mr. Gaffney took what might be considered the counterpoint to Mr. Bandow by suggesting that the world is a dangerous place where we cannot wait for trouble to come to us. We must snuff it out in its infancy wherever it may be. My remarks were much more in agreement with Mr. Bandow's. My emphasis, however, was a historical one that relied on, among other things, the Federalist writers and the Monroe Doctrine. Concluding that the intelligence did not support the allegation of a program of weapons of mass destruction, I was one of six Republican members in the House of Representatives to vote against authorizing President Bush to invade Iraq. Just as my opinion in October 2002 was a minority one among conservatives, I could tell not much had changed in 2009 when I received respectful and limited applause following my remarks. On the other hand, Frank Gaffney's admonition for a continued policy of worldwide preemption against future acts of terrorism elicited an enthusiastic response from the panel discussion attendees. It's not that my ego was bruised by Mr. Gaffney's obviously more welcome reception than my own. As the eighth of ten children, I abandoned the hope of any measure of self-esteem decades ago. It was what seemed to be the abandonment of the genius of our political ancestry - John Jay, John Quincy Adams and James Monroe - by self-described "conservatives" that initially discouraged me. Less than 48 hours after that initial feeling of discouragement, my spirits were buoyed by a Facebook post.

Yes, it's true. I'm a 47-year-old with a Facebook account. My son accompanied me to CPAC and I was returning him to his apartment at college on Sunday evening following the conference. Yes, it's true. I'm a 47-year-old checking my Facebook account in a college apartment. A Facebook friend had posted a link to Rush Limbaugh's CPAC speech. My son and I were unable to attend the speech so I was curious. Included in the post was an excerpt of the speech. When I read the excerpt, I was so stunned that I had to go to the website to determine if the link and excerpt were a hoax. Clicking on the link I was sent to Rush Limbaugh's official site that included the speech transcript. At this point it is important to note that Mr. Limbaugh was giving the speech in response to receiving the 2009 Defender of the Constitution Award from CPAC. The excerpt was indeed not a hoax and was taken from Mr. Limbaugh's observation that, "We believe that the preamble to the Constitution contains an inarguable truth that we are all endowed by our creator with certain inalienable rights, among them life, liberty,…and the pursuit of happiness." This prompted me to post my Facebook status as "asking why the CPAC 2009 Defender of the Constitution Award mentioned an 'inarguable truth' about the Constitution that isn't true." Mr. Limbaugh was applauded for attributing a well-known portion of the Declaration of Independence to the Preamble to the Constitution. My first inclination was to allow my discouragement to grow. After all, the one conservative most admired - and awarded - for his defense of the Constitution, did not seem to know the difference between the two most foundational documents of our republic. But after considering this gaffe by Mr. Limbaugh in light of the reception I received from my discussion panel remarks, my discouragement turned to joy. Although it is true that two wrongs do not make a right, I learned that two episodes of discouragement can lead to an overwhelming sense of relief. If CPAC attendees praise a confusion of such profound wisdom of our forefathers, it's unreasonable of me to expect conservatives to understand the nuance of the Federalist Papers or the Monroe Doctrine in the context of our current foreign policy woes. Wait a moment. If this is in fact the state of conservatism today, I now know what three episodes of discouragement can lead to - despondency.

©2009 by John Hostettler

The Hon. John N. Hostettler is a Republican and a former six term Member of the United States House of Representatives. He is author of Nothing for the Nation: Who Got What Out of Iraq published by Publius House.