Thank you for this....I really want to copy and paste this to my "conservative" friend!! Alas, everything I send her she never reads and refuses to have dialogue. This made me feel better anyway.
you could leave her a voice message with some excerpts from the article. I'm curious what she thinks the positive contributions of conservatives are. I've had quite a few people insulting me, but nobody is saying what conservatives do that's positive.
So I think the conservatives just assume all the isms are bad because of the race to destroy communism and McCarthyism and other such movements in the US. I think the tea party revealed they weren't so much a movement against the ism as they were against colored people. I think they are all in on socialism, for example. As long as black and brown people don't get it too.
I was on the phone today with one of my good friends. We talk to each other on the phone once a day. I'm a Democrat and she's a Trumpie. She actually made the remark today on the phone that she thinks Elon Musk is doing a good job!!!!!! I knew better than to get into a discussion with her, because I can't change her mind, but DAMN!!!! How can people SEE what's going on and condone it?????
The last credible gay conservative IMO was Andrew Sullivan who I believe has now simply abandoned the label. I don't think he calls himself conservative anymore. He wrote a book in the 2000s objecting to the direction of American conservatism ("The Conservative Soul: How We Lost it, how to get it back". This book was out around 2008 and predicted everything that is happening now.
That's very interesting. I still don't understand why he can't just call himself liberal since the Overton window has shifted so far. Why are people so beholden to these labels?
In the case of Andrew Sullivan, the answer is likely that he is originally British where the definitions of "liberal" and "conservative" are far far more stable than America. He would likely view what is happening now as almost an Orwellian Newspeak redefinition of "conservative". There is even a major party over there with the word "Conservative" in its name, which Sullivan was involved in. England has four major political parties, the Tory Party, the Conservative Party, the Liberal Party, and the Labor Party, and often temporary coalitions are formed in which two of them back the same candidate for Prime MInister. Today's English Conservative Party has almost no ideas in common with MAGA.
It's fair to say that no Englishman educated at Magdalen College, Oxford, who was then active in England's Conservative Party is going to capitulate to the current American redefinition of conservative. Monty Python alumnus John Cleese once said one of (three) differences between English and Americans was that in English they speak English.
Trump is pretty universally despised across the spectrum in Great Britain in part due to an environmentally devastating golf course he built in Scotland in 2011. He pulled off a lot of payoffs and backroom deals to grossly violate Great Britain's environmental regulations and the water supply for several miles around was ruined forcing many to move out of the homes their family had lived in for decades.
LIke the author of the novel "Wicked" Andrew Sullivan is a gay Catholic. I get it that millions of Catholics use birth control, but I have a harder time wrapping my mind around being a gay Roman Catholic. RIchard Dawkins says he doesn't understand why there are Christians who are first rate research scientists, but he concedes the evidence shows that they are there. I have the same perception of gay Catholics, but there you go.
Why are left libs and right conservatives our only options? Within the Democratic party descriptors are liberal, moderate, and conservative Democrats. Are there not those levels in the Republican party? Why is it presumed that belonging to a party means that you swallowed the ideology whole?
Personally, I consider myself a moderate Democrat. I have difficulty with my taxes being used to support certain causes forever. I think Clinton did a good thing telling people on welfare to get a job. I grew up one block away from the government housing complex. I went to school with many kids from there. Their parents didn't work outside the house but they often had under the table incomes. The kids were often wicked little cusses fighting in the streets and murdering my pets. Yes they smashed all of my fish in the pond, they killed multiple cats (one was hauled off to a garage where it was mangled to a pile of bloody grey fur by hurling bottles at it), and my cockerspaniel was hacked to death with an ax. Most days in high school I had no lunch because my allowance was 25 cents a week. Those kids ate because of welfare. Now I am supposed to like the idea of voting for free school lunches.
My nursing job initially had great insurance until recent years when copays went nuts. Did people on Medicaid have copays? No. Union reps agreed to freeze our income for 6 years while costs kept rising. There was a time when I had to quit jobs due to burnout. I tried a couple different ones but I was totally fried. Cobra health insurance is time limited. I looked into the low income option. I had about a thousand dollars too much coming in.
More recently I saw an add from the governor saying that he reduced taxes on social security for the elderly. Hooray! But I kept reading. It was only for the people getting under $1800 a month. Make $2000 and you lose, Sucker. And I am supposed to be all warm and fuzzy about voting for this. The government has no income of its own yet it does nothing but find ways to keep taking money from those who work so that those who have less don't have to get more. I don't want people to starve or die from lack of medical care or adequate housing or inability to get good paying work due to poor education. I want a fair distribution of the taxes if they are going to take it. Make programs that give everyone health insurance and free education and free food and transportation and housing. If you want more do more but don't just keep getting robbed and punished for not cooperating and not smiling about it.
Walter, I understand the pain you feel, but I see the situation differently. Your example regarding Eisenhower contradicts to your argumentation. I call myself one third lefty, (socialist), one third liberal, and one third conservative. Of course I am Hungarian and identify with the European ideological trifecta, not just two, usual in America. I also identify with the positive, ever lasting values in each. Where would European history be without Konrad Adenauer, Charles De Gaulle, or on the other side Willy Brandt or Tony Blair be? Liberals had a lesser slice of the peak power, but modified the leadership in coalition government.
Trumpism has nothing to do with conservatism. Adenauer, or Churchill are certainly rolling in their graves nowadays. Don't even mention this craze as conservatism. The fact that they call themselves conservative, only shows their illiteracy.
We in Hungary have finally a strong party, challenging Viktor Orbán's corrupt, fascist regime. 25 years ago Orbán was vice president of the European Liberal Internationale. Now the best friend of Trump, AFD and Putin. His Challenger Peter Magyar
puts himself to the center-right and doesn't let his party identified with a "clean" ideological platform. After 15 years of Orbán he can only win with a people's liberator party, unifying the anger against dictatorship. Earlier attempts with multi-party, multi-ideological opposition fractured and could not defeat the dictatorship. I hope Magyar succeeds with his people's front, with (sincere ) conservatives, socialists and liberals in the voting battalions together.
As for Trump, his regime will hopefully collapse sooner than later.
Thanks for that interesting comment Zsolt! I think our different perspectives are a product of our geographic location. In the United States, the current presidential administration is a consequence of the deterioration of conservative ideology in this country. This happens often with supremacy groups, they take over terms. I think we have to be responsible and view the label "conservative" both in its historical context and what it has come to mean in modern America. Today, the label "conservative" has been taken over by right wing extremist groups. I realize that some people still identify as conservatives, but we can't disregard the negative connotations that word has come to represent. What I'd like to see are the "good" conservatives denouncing the bad ones like we have in the US. But it's really important to talk about these things because the word is being used to inflict harm in the US, and I'm fearful that harm will spread to the rest of the world. Again, thanks for takin the time to write such a thoughtful response.
Walter, there is no contradiction between us. But there is more than enough in the world. We both want the same. Decent life and responsible government. In the States you have havoc just entered, we in Hungary are hopeful to get rid of havoc in more than a year in the next parliamentary elections.
Being Hungarian, who lived in Washington DC for four years, I feel American politics on my skin.
I was personal advisor of the socialist prime minister if the last "communist" government, and doing the same job, as undersecretary in the next government of a true conservative prime minister. It was an exemplary transition, from "communism" to capitalism... single handidly.
Yup! Thanks for this lovely exchange. You taught me something. I see that there's a certain reverence for what the term "conservative" used to mean. We need more people speaking out about the way nefarious forces are capitalizing on the good will of the term in order to push through an authoritarian agenda. Let's warn people about what's happening and restore the good name of conservatives.
Without conservatives this country and economy would collapse. You would starve to death. The cities would turn into no-go zones. America would be overrun and taken over by mercenaries. America would cease to exist, becoming some kind of cartel fiefdom.
Your question is absurd, because there would be no America without conservatives.
That's completely false. Conservatives are currently in the process of dismantling the economy. They create no jobs. They are currently removing all the subsidies that pay farmers to create the food supply. You're completely misinformed William.
Your statement is incorrect. The simple truth is that the administration is saying it's doing a bunch of things, but they never provide the proof. When you do things like fire air traffic controllers, you have midair collisions. What we need to cut out are all the subsidies to billionaires, not the hardworking people that make our country function.
What is with removing my comment that you responded to? How can it be incorrect if no one else is able to make that judgment? I should think your unwillingness to show it is a pretty good sign that I said something accurate that you do not want others to see.
I’m jot sure this guy is worth arguing with. I couldn’t read 1/4 of this article without understanding this guy isn’t just partisan, he has no idea what conservatives are.
Okay, then explain it to me. Do you disagree that conservatives are anti-LGBTQ+? I think that would be hard to prove considering all the hate they spew against that group, but I'm willing to listen to your argument.
Personally, I believe in respecting the right of anyone to love whomever they want, but conservatives want the kind of government control that prohibits free will when it comes to marriage. That doesn't fit my definition of freedom... but try and explain it to me.
Conservatives are not anything like as anti LGBTQ as you are anti-conservative. Most conservatives are whatever, live your life, but no butchering or sexualizing children. You should probably qualify your "the right to love whomever you want," too.
Can you support that claim with an example? I mean, we could insult each other, or we could have a respectful conversation where we try to understand each other. What, in your opinion, is a straw man argument?
😮💨 Walter, Walter, Walter, it’s that imaginary “conservative” you supposedly talked with in your last expectoration on Substack. Even the low grade AI program you’re apparently using should be able to recognize a straw man character representing your idea of a conservative argument.
You don’t get it because you’re being deliberately obtuse and evasive. You can’t admit you strawmanned conservative’s objections to same sex marriage by deeming it “hate”. If you won’t acknowledge that, we’re done here.
Your argument is that conservatives can rip apart families and it's not based on "hate?" How do you think people in same sex unions feel? I expect they feel as if conservatives hate them. If somebody said that Christians couldn't marry other Christians, conservatives would call that an example of anti-Christian hatred. Why can't conservatives practice accountability? Conservative actions are clearly an indication of hatred against certain groups, there's no other way to define it.
So now it’s “anti-“? Love the attempt to minimize the strawman part of your “argument” suggesting conservatives “hate” LGBTQ+ people. As well as smearing all conservatives by suggesting “a Michigan Republican” represents them.
I still don't get where you're coming from. Conservatives are trying to repeal same sex marriage, they ban trans athletes from sports, they celebrate when a woman refuses to bake a cake for a same sex couple, they celebrate when a clerk refuses to issue a marriage license. Where are the conservatives standing up for the LGBTQ+ community. There's plenty of evidence. Why can't you just admit conservatives are homophobic?
You haven't convinced me that there are any strawman arguments. Please provide one example so I know what you're talking about. Maybe we agree on more than you think. How about this, do you think that it would help the national budget if we stopped offering massive subsidies to billionaires? I do.
I think part of the answer to many of these questions is generational. By that I mean that "because my family has been republican for generations, I too must be a member of the tribe that calls itself conservative."
The obvious problem with this mindset is that what is now the republican party has absolutely nothing to do with conservative values. On the contrary, it is a radical white supremacist/Christian nationalist cult of brain washed individuals who have no ability to think for themselves and therefore follow their tribe towards whatever destruction is promoted by the dear leader/ leaders.
The other part of the answer is pure racism, once again generational and suppressed in the past, but sadly no more.
I hate no one, except racists, and nazi's, and I refuse to tolerance either.
The cycle of educating children to hate must end before we can realize our human potential.
I prefer to identify as a progressive with the liberal connotations by definition, and leave traditionalist ideology to the so called conservatives. I also believe that MAGA/Republicans are something else entirely. Your quandary in this piece seems to be trying to understand the irrational conflating of the two. They are truly not the same. Once one votes for fascist oligarchy and apartheid dictatorship, one does not have the option to call themselves conservative. That is not only hypocritical but disingenuous. One cannot be both and I like you refuse to be fooled by, or continue to tolerate Nazi's, nor their disinformation. The entire world will pay a huge price for this past election but the entire world will not be so ignorant as to consider what is happening as a conservative movement. Go ahead and fool yourselves, but the rest of humanity isn't buying it.
Yes, I suppose that you missed my point. Anyone who calls themselves conservative and walks in lockstep with MAGA is lying to themselves or lying to everyone else. Conservative sounds so much nicer than Nazi doesn't it, but that is exactly what they have shown themselves to be. NAZI'S
There is no point in entertaining them by associating them with conservatism. They are lying about that moniker and want to believe (or want others to believe) that they are less than NAZI'S. They are not!
There is one man who created the very best tool to end fascism. (According to General George Patton.) His name was John Garand and my grandfather's both used this tool to end fascism and end Nazi's in the past.
Please let your "Conservative/MAGA" readers know that the tool still exists.
If we are to take them at their word, the second amendment exists to protect ourselves from a tyrannical government.
I guess we just have to wear it like a badge. Or at least mention how awful conservatives are. Make them own how awful they are, they try to wriggle out of it.
Immigration opportunities for labor and professionalism.
Religious freedom for all.
Reproductive decisions between people and their doctors.
These were the characteristics of the conservative people I have voted for over the past 51 years of voting. Most were Republicans until Bush. Now there are few and far between on the ballots.
They are whores afraid of losing the illusory crumbs their pimps throw them. They sold their souls cheap.
Thank you for this....I really want to copy and paste this to my "conservative" friend!! Alas, everything I send her she never reads and refuses to have dialogue. This made me feel better anyway.
you could leave her a voice message with some excerpts from the article. I'm curious what she thinks the positive contributions of conservatives are. I've had quite a few people insulting me, but nobody is saying what conservatives do that's positive.
So I think the conservatives just assume all the isms are bad because of the race to destroy communism and McCarthyism and other such movements in the US. I think the tea party revealed they weren't so much a movement against the ism as they were against colored people. I think they are all in on socialism, for example. As long as black and brown people don't get it too.
Your comment is a testament to our liberal educators! 🥰🥰🥰
I was on the phone today with one of my good friends. We talk to each other on the phone once a day. I'm a Democrat and she's a Trumpie. She actually made the remark today on the phone that she thinks Elon Musk is doing a good job!!!!!! I knew better than to get into a discussion with her, because I can't change her mind, but DAMN!!!! How can people SEE what's going on and condone it?????
I ask them if they think we should stop subsidies to billionaires. Sometimes that gets through to them.
The last credible gay conservative IMO was Andrew Sullivan who I believe has now simply abandoned the label. I don't think he calls himself conservative anymore. He wrote a book in the 2000s objecting to the direction of American conservatism ("The Conservative Soul: How We Lost it, how to get it back". This book was out around 2008 and predicted everything that is happening now.
That's very interesting. I still don't understand why he can't just call himself liberal since the Overton window has shifted so far. Why are people so beholden to these labels?
Follow up to comment below. Scottish actor David Tennant (aka Doctor Who) on Trump. In light of golf course discussion below
https://youtu.be/ZxFrN3_YU1I?si=nWzINyQEwd8NjZeD
In the case of Andrew Sullivan, the answer is likely that he is originally British where the definitions of "liberal" and "conservative" are far far more stable than America. He would likely view what is happening now as almost an Orwellian Newspeak redefinition of "conservative". There is even a major party over there with the word "Conservative" in its name, which Sullivan was involved in. England has four major political parties, the Tory Party, the Conservative Party, the Liberal Party, and the Labor Party, and often temporary coalitions are formed in which two of them back the same candidate for Prime MInister. Today's English Conservative Party has almost no ideas in common with MAGA.
It's fair to say that no Englishman educated at Magdalen College, Oxford, who was then active in England's Conservative Party is going to capitulate to the current American redefinition of conservative. Monty Python alumnus John Cleese once said one of (three) differences between English and Americans was that in English they speak English.
Trump is pretty universally despised across the spectrum in Great Britain in part due to an environmentally devastating golf course he built in Scotland in 2011. He pulled off a lot of payoffs and backroom deals to grossly violate Great Britain's environmental regulations and the water supply for several miles around was ruined forcing many to move out of the homes their family had lived in for decades.
LIke the author of the novel "Wicked" Andrew Sullivan is a gay Catholic. I get it that millions of Catholics use birth control, but I have a harder time wrapping my mind around being a gay Roman Catholic. RIchard Dawkins says he doesn't understand why there are Christians who are first rate research scientists, but he concedes the evidence shows that they are there. I have the same perception of gay Catholics, but there you go.
Why are left libs and right conservatives our only options? Within the Democratic party descriptors are liberal, moderate, and conservative Democrats. Are there not those levels in the Republican party? Why is it presumed that belonging to a party means that you swallowed the ideology whole?
Personally, I consider myself a moderate Democrat. I have difficulty with my taxes being used to support certain causes forever. I think Clinton did a good thing telling people on welfare to get a job. I grew up one block away from the government housing complex. I went to school with many kids from there. Their parents didn't work outside the house but they often had under the table incomes. The kids were often wicked little cusses fighting in the streets and murdering my pets. Yes they smashed all of my fish in the pond, they killed multiple cats (one was hauled off to a garage where it was mangled to a pile of bloody grey fur by hurling bottles at it), and my cockerspaniel was hacked to death with an ax. Most days in high school I had no lunch because my allowance was 25 cents a week. Those kids ate because of welfare. Now I am supposed to like the idea of voting for free school lunches.
My nursing job initially had great insurance until recent years when copays went nuts. Did people on Medicaid have copays? No. Union reps agreed to freeze our income for 6 years while costs kept rising. There was a time when I had to quit jobs due to burnout. I tried a couple different ones but I was totally fried. Cobra health insurance is time limited. I looked into the low income option. I had about a thousand dollars too much coming in.
More recently I saw an add from the governor saying that he reduced taxes on social security for the elderly. Hooray! But I kept reading. It was only for the people getting under $1800 a month. Make $2000 and you lose, Sucker. And I am supposed to be all warm and fuzzy about voting for this. The government has no income of its own yet it does nothing but find ways to keep taking money from those who work so that those who have less don't have to get more. I don't want people to starve or die from lack of medical care or adequate housing or inability to get good paying work due to poor education. I want a fair distribution of the taxes if they are going to take it. Make programs that give everyone health insurance and free education and free food and transportation and housing. If you want more do more but don't just keep getting robbed and punished for not cooperating and not smiling about it.
Walter, I understand the pain you feel, but I see the situation differently. Your example regarding Eisenhower contradicts to your argumentation. I call myself one third lefty, (socialist), one third liberal, and one third conservative. Of course I am Hungarian and identify with the European ideological trifecta, not just two, usual in America. I also identify with the positive, ever lasting values in each. Where would European history be without Konrad Adenauer, Charles De Gaulle, or on the other side Willy Brandt or Tony Blair be? Liberals had a lesser slice of the peak power, but modified the leadership in coalition government.
Trumpism has nothing to do with conservatism. Adenauer, or Churchill are certainly rolling in their graves nowadays. Don't even mention this craze as conservatism. The fact that they call themselves conservative, only shows their illiteracy.
We in Hungary have finally a strong party, challenging Viktor Orbán's corrupt, fascist regime. 25 years ago Orbán was vice president of the European Liberal Internationale. Now the best friend of Trump, AFD and Putin. His Challenger Peter Magyar
puts himself to the center-right and doesn't let his party identified with a "clean" ideological platform. After 15 years of Orbán he can only win with a people's liberator party, unifying the anger against dictatorship. Earlier attempts with multi-party, multi-ideological opposition fractured and could not defeat the dictatorship. I hope Magyar succeeds with his people's front, with (sincere ) conservatives, socialists and liberals in the voting battalions together.
As for Trump, his regime will hopefully collapse sooner than later.
Thanks for that interesting comment Zsolt! I think our different perspectives are a product of our geographic location. In the United States, the current presidential administration is a consequence of the deterioration of conservative ideology in this country. This happens often with supremacy groups, they take over terms. I think we have to be responsible and view the label "conservative" both in its historical context and what it has come to mean in modern America. Today, the label "conservative" has been taken over by right wing extremist groups. I realize that some people still identify as conservatives, but we can't disregard the negative connotations that word has come to represent. What I'd like to see are the "good" conservatives denouncing the bad ones like we have in the US. But it's really important to talk about these things because the word is being used to inflict harm in the US, and I'm fearful that harm will spread to the rest of the world. Again, thanks for takin the time to write such a thoughtful response.
Walter, there is no contradiction between us. But there is more than enough in the world. We both want the same. Decent life and responsible government. In the States you have havoc just entered, we in Hungary are hopeful to get rid of havoc in more than a year in the next parliamentary elections.
Being Hungarian, who lived in Washington DC for four years, I feel American politics on my skin.
I was personal advisor of the socialist prime minister if the last "communist" government, and doing the same job, as undersecretary in the next government of a true conservative prime minister. It was an exemplary transition, from "communism" to capitalism... single handidly.
Yup! Thanks for this lovely exchange. You taught me something. I see that there's a certain reverence for what the term "conservative" used to mean. We need more people speaking out about the way nefarious forces are capitalizing on the good will of the term in order to push through an authoritarian agenda. Let's warn people about what's happening and restore the good name of conservatives.
Right! We have to restore the good name of the real (good) conservatives, and the good name of the good socialists and good liberals.
Yes! This can be a topic for future articles :)
I am happy to continue, as every element deserves analysis, discussion and coming to conclusions. was deeply interested in world politics
I’m asking all the same questions! I don’t get it either.
The most revealing thing might be that most conservatives simply refuse to answer.
Without conservatives this country and economy would collapse. You would starve to death. The cities would turn into no-go zones. America would be overrun and taken over by mercenaries. America would cease to exist, becoming some kind of cartel fiefdom.
Your question is absurd, because there would be no America without conservatives.
That's completely false. Conservatives are currently in the process of dismantling the economy. They create no jobs. They are currently removing all the subsidies that pay farmers to create the food supply. You're completely misinformed William.
Your statement is incorrect. The simple truth is that the administration is saying it's doing a bunch of things, but they never provide the proof. When you do things like fire air traffic controllers, you have midair collisions. What we need to cut out are all the subsidies to billionaires, not the hardworking people that make our country function.
What is with removing my comment that you responded to? How can it be incorrect if no one else is able to make that judgment? I should think your unwillingness to show it is a pretty good sign that I said something accurate that you do not want others to see.
I’m jot sure this guy is worth arguing with. I couldn’t read 1/4 of this article without understanding this guy isn’t just partisan, he has no idea what conservatives are.
Okay, then explain it to me. Do you disagree that conservatives are anti-LGBTQ+? I think that would be hard to prove considering all the hate they spew against that group, but I'm willing to listen to your argument.
Personally, I believe in respecting the right of anyone to love whomever they want, but conservatives want the kind of government control that prohibits free will when it comes to marriage. That doesn't fit my definition of freedom... but try and explain it to me.
Conservatives are not anything like as anti LGBTQ as you are anti-conservative. Most conservatives are whatever, live your life, but no butchering or sexualizing children. You should probably qualify your "the right to love whomever you want," too.
That’s all you’ve got left; presenting to us a conversation with ‘straw man’ conservative of your own creation against whom you will always win.
Can you support that claim with an example? I mean, we could insult each other, or we could have a respectful conversation where we try to understand each other. What, in your opinion, is a straw man argument?
😮💨 Walter, Walter, Walter, it’s that imaginary “conservative” you supposedly talked with in your last expectoration on Substack. Even the low grade AI program you’re apparently using should be able to recognize a straw man character representing your idea of a conservative argument.
The number of strawman arguments you use here could scare the crows from the entire corn belt.
Rather than insult me, why not engage in polite conversation and support your argument with actual examples?
You don’t get it because you’re being deliberately obtuse and evasive. You can’t admit you strawmanned conservative’s objections to same sex marriage by deeming it “hate”. If you won’t acknowledge that, we’re done here.
Your argument is that conservatives can rip apart families and it's not based on "hate?" How do you think people in same sex unions feel? I expect they feel as if conservatives hate them. If somebody said that Christians couldn't marry other Christians, conservatives would call that an example of anti-Christian hatred. Why can't conservatives practice accountability? Conservative actions are clearly an indication of hatred against certain groups, there's no other way to define it.
So now it’s “anti-“? Love the attempt to minimize the strawman part of your “argument” suggesting conservatives “hate” LGBTQ+ people. As well as smearing all conservatives by suggesting “a Michigan Republican” represents them.
I still don't get where you're coming from. Conservatives are trying to repeal same sex marriage, they ban trans athletes from sports, they celebrate when a woman refuses to bake a cake for a same sex couple, they celebrate when a clerk refuses to issue a marriage license. Where are the conservatives standing up for the LGBTQ+ community. There's plenty of evidence. Why can't you just admit conservatives are homophobic?
OK, I’ll play, how about:
“Well, what is it about being a conservative that makes you identify with them? Is it the anti-LGBTQ+ hatred?”
Are you trying to suggest that conservatives aren't anti-LGBTQ+. You're aware that conservatives are currently trying to overturn Obergefell v. Hodges right? That's pretty clearly anti LGBTQ+: https://michiganadvance.com/2025/02/26/as-a-michigan-republican-made-his-case-to-ban-same-sex-marriage-a-gay-democrat-stole-the-show/
Why would I engage strawman arguments? It’s a waste of my time.
You haven't convinced me that there are any strawman arguments. Please provide one example so I know what you're talking about. Maybe we agree on more than you think. How about this, do you think that it would help the national budget if we stopped offering massive subsidies to billionaires? I do.
Lol
"Conservative" is an outdated label. It means
- Corporatism at the expense of workers and small businesses
- Free trade at the expense of local workers
- "Legal" immigration, as long as it provides cheap labor for big corporations
- Foreign intervention whenever Israel, um I mean democracy, requires it
- Big pharma
I am right-wing. I am for the following:
- Monarchy (which I realize requires a Constitutional amendment)
- National separation of different ethnic groups, as far as reasonably practical
- The Roman Catholic Church
- Family (I don't need to say "traditional family", because that is a tautology)
- Classical architecture
- Physical fitness
- Natural food
- Conservation of nature
It means something today, it's a word that stands for bigotry and hatred and we have to hold them accountable.
I think part of the answer to many of these questions is generational. By that I mean that "because my family has been republican for generations, I too must be a member of the tribe that calls itself conservative."
The obvious problem with this mindset is that what is now the republican party has absolutely nothing to do with conservative values. On the contrary, it is a radical white supremacist/Christian nationalist cult of brain washed individuals who have no ability to think for themselves and therefore follow their tribe towards whatever destruction is promoted by the dear leader/ leaders.
The other part of the answer is pure racism, once again generational and suppressed in the past, but sadly no more.
I hate no one, except racists, and nazi's, and I refuse to tolerance either.
The cycle of educating children to hate must end before we can realize our human potential.
We’ve got to stop defending the word “conservative” because conservatives blame liberals for all the problems they create.
use your energy to defend the word “liberal.”
I prefer to identify as a progressive with the liberal connotations by definition, and leave traditionalist ideology to the so called conservatives. I also believe that MAGA/Republicans are something else entirely. Your quandary in this piece seems to be trying to understand the irrational conflating of the two. They are truly not the same. Once one votes for fascist oligarchy and apartheid dictatorship, one does not have the option to call themselves conservative. That is not only hypocritical but disingenuous. One cannot be both and I like you refuse to be fooled by, or continue to tolerate Nazi's, nor their disinformation. The entire world will pay a huge price for this past election but the entire world will not be so ignorant as to consider what is happening as a conservative movement. Go ahead and fool yourselves, but the rest of humanity isn't buying it.
Conservatives have been in lockstep with MAGA this whole time
Yes, I suppose that you missed my point. Anyone who calls themselves conservative and walks in lockstep with MAGA is lying to themselves or lying to everyone else. Conservative sounds so much nicer than Nazi doesn't it, but that is exactly what they have shown themselves to be. NAZI'S
There is no point in entertaining them by associating them with conservatism. They are lying about that moniker and want to believe (or want others to believe) that they are less than NAZI'S. They are not!
There is one man who created the very best tool to end fascism. (According to General George Patton.) His name was John Garand and my grandfather's both used this tool to end fascism and end Nazi's in the past.
Please let your "Conservative/MAGA" readers know that the tool still exists.
If we are to take them at their word, the second amendment exists to protect ourselves from a tyrannical government.
Will do kill roy.
the vast majority of conservatives walk in lockstep with MAGA
And so, you do get my point 👉 👈
I wonder what we could do to make the word "liberal" less offensive.
I guess we just have to wear it like a badge. Or at least mention how awful conservatives are. Make them own how awful they are, they try to wriggle out of it.
I think you are confusing MAGA with conservatives.
What do you think are the positive contributions of conservatives?
Conservatives conserve.
Rule of Law, U.S. Constitution.
Equal justice.
Personal freedom from illegal discrimination.
Capitalism with reasonable regulations.
Immigration opportunities for labor and professionalism.
Religious freedom for all.
Reproductive decisions between people and their doctors.
These were the characteristics of the conservative people I have voted for over the past 51 years of voting. Most were Republicans until Bush. Now there are few and far between on the ballots.
Modern conservatives don’t stand for any of those things.
Yes, that is why the meaning of the word has been vandalized by Trump’s party, nee Republican.