February 12, 1999 was the day social conservatism died in America.

On that bitter day, President Bill Clinton was acquitted in his impeachment trial. The United States Senate determined that his perjury and obstruction of justice in the Monica Lewinsky scandal did not warrant his removal from office; the Senate’s view was shared by two-thirds of the American people. With that decision, traditional American morality bit the dust.

Four days after Clinton’s acquittal, the late Paul Weyrich wrote an open letter to the American conservative movement in which he declared:

Cultural Marxism is succeeding in its war against our culture. The question becomes, if we are unable to escape the cultural disintegration that is gripping society, then what hope can we have? Let me be perfectly frank about it. If there really were a moral majority out there, Bill Clinton would have been driven out of office months ago. It is not only the lack of political will on the part of Republicans, although that is part of the problem. More powerful is the fact that what Americans would have found absolutely intolerable only a few years ago, a majority now not only tolerates but celebrates. Americans have adopted, in large measure, the MTV culture that we so valiantly opposed just a few years ago, and it has permeated the thinking of all but those who have separated themselves from the contemporary culture.

Further, Weyrich asserted:

I believe that we probably have lost the culture war. That doesn't mean the war is not going to continue, and that it isn't going to be fought on other fronts. But in terms of society in general, we have lost. This is why, even when we win in politics, our victories fail to translate into the kind of policies we believe are important.

Weyrich died just a month after Barack Obama’s election. Weyrich had a number of physical ailments at the time of his passing, but it’s quite likely that he died of a broken heart, since Obama’s victory reinforced the painful accuracy of what he wrote nearly ten years earlier.

If a traditionalist majority still existed in this country—if we were truly a “center-right” nation—Obama would have been trounced on Election Day, and the McCain-Palin ticket would have gone over in a manner similar to Reagan-Bush in 1984. Obama’s victory brought home a truth too many conservatives are still reluctant to acknowledge: America is now a socially left-libertarian country.

Forget fluke results like California’s Proposition 8, a victory delivered in part by voters who, on the same day, selected a Presidential candidate whose judicial appointments will likely work to establish same-sex marriage as a national right. Look at the political and social culture in 2009—where are the traditionalist values? You couldn’t find them if your next heartbeat depended on it.

Social conservatism has been, for all intents and purposes, deleted from the American political and social culture. The courts, the schools, the mainstream press and the entertainment industry have done much to decimate the ranks of social conservatives. In addition, there have been instances where social conservatives have been their own worst enemies.

Social conservatives kept on singing Reagan’s praises even after he appointed two pro-abortion Supreme Court Justices. They continued to carry George W. Bush’s water even after it was clear to everyone else that Bush and his political consultants were merely exploiting their support for votes, and giving them little that was tangible in return. At times, it seemed that social conservatives wanted nothing more than “a place at the table.” Just let us feel important, they essentially told the GOP, and we won’t say anything even when you sell us down the river.

On the heels of Clinton’s impeachment, it seemed that social conservatives were gearing up for a comeback. They embraced Bush as a member of the club and worked tirelessly to propel him into the White House. Yet, as President, Bush did little to advance the goals of the social right. Sure, there were a few faith-based initiatives here and a few catchphrases about protecting marriage there. However, the only important thing Bush did for the social right was to involve himself in the Terri Schiavo controversy in Florida—a decision that, of course, turned everyone who wasn’t a social conservative against him.

Social conservatives should remember February 12, 1999 with disgust. It was a day that a corrupt President got away with his criminality—and a day that signaled the country’s irreversible move from traditionalism to social libertarianism. Thankfully, conservatism itself hasn’t died—and if the conservative movement can find a way to advance its goals despite the cultural and political changes of the last decade, there will be better days to come for the country.