Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
My take is that the intellectuals love to sit around and ponder, discuss and lecture but Trump is more of a doer...you can theorize all you want but nothing gets done unless you roll up your sleeves and start working.
That "sitting around and pondering" is called Democracy.
If you go look at modern history's worst, most oppressive governments -- Stalinists, European fascists, Chinese communists, Venezeulan left-wing socialists, African dictatorships, Argentina's peronism -- they were all very good at "rolling up their sleeves" and getting things done.
Nobody wants to face the reality that political theater is the tool of both parties. They (Wall St., oil companies, and military contractors) care not who is in power because they will profit from either side. ...
If you truly believe that then I think you will agree with me that we need to end Citizen's United by whatever means the constitution requires.
Corporations are NOT people my friend. Let's get that dark money out of politics.
There might not be that many factions but what is clear there are a few. Whatever their principals are they are different among the factions. They disagree among and within the party and are less likely to vote lock step. If conservatives want a party to win elections they can't narrow their principals down and eliminate anyone on the principals.
So they open the door to anyone conservative or not who wants to hitch their wagon to them. Much the same way Burnie Sanders the socialist hitched his wagon to the Dems. It could be said that Rand Paul is one faction. It doesn't have to be a faction of more that one.
At anytime, on any legislation, one or more of them gets a bee in his/her bonnet and decides he/she is going to stand on some principle, conservative or not, and watch the legislation fail.
Its a model for dysfunction. When it does succeed its viewed as magical or miracle. The voter never knows what they are going to get when they vote for the party and is often disappointed. In order for the party to get more than a little done with regularity it needs more than a slim majority. The voter ranks are thinned by frustration and disappointed.
The ranks were increased by a candidate with a populist agenda and the election won. That put another faction into the party and created other factions to oppose the populist agenda because they claimed it wasn't conservative. Then the butt hurt status quo politicians that were also candidates never really got over the defeat. They only claimed too on the surface and acted as another faction to prevent legislation from passing and claimed some principal as the reason.
Conservatism is a failure and its no longer a party. Its changing and it will continue to change and become a populist party or it will go back to losing. Its alive because its the only game in town to put the socialist in check.
The thirteen colony's were each a faction with their own interest but they came together to act as one and produce a country. Conservatives of any stripe would do well to remember how that is done or relearn it. The least they could do is stop thinning their ranks by frustrating their voters.
Here is a NYT opinion on the piece. Note- October 2016. The author did manage to get certain things wrong- especially the depth at which 'commercialized Republican messaging' has impacted the party.
This country has taken a big hit with Trump as president. The Republican Party has really deteriorated in the past years but hit a new low with this Liar in Chief. He’s a big child and cannot control the thoughts and words coming into his head and going out of his mouth. Children have more self control.
A lot of people believe this speech cost her the election...
Forget about the neatly diversified positions of "conservative" and "liberal" because in the end they are nothing more than an us-versus-them construct that is used to leverage people to behave (and vote) in particular ways; generally to benefit monied and powerful interests. Effective centrists have always been the most useful, because they are willing to cherry pick that things that work, and discharge those that don't. Most Americans at the end of the day are centrists, even though they might not think that they are, being convinced that they need to fit in some preconceived category to be comfortable.
I've been saying for 15 years, that there are 2 different types of conservatism. There is the mainstream media conservatism full of symbolism, traditionalism, patriotism, strongly authoritarian, and very much in favor of big state, big government politics. But then there is another, less talked about conservatism. A conservationism steeped in nuanced philosophy, objectivism, classical liberalism, pro individualism, fiscally responsible, etc. The latter is losing, and has been for a long time.
One would argue that there hasn't been a real conservative in office since the late 40s. Trump is certainly not one. Nixon most definitely wasn't one. Regan, while strong on rhetoric certainly wasn't one. And now we have Trump, the latest conservative leader, whose entire platform is based around cult of personality, narcissism, and shock jockeying that would school Howard Stern. Very little Trump has done is compatible with conservatism. And to me, I find that Trump exist to discredit conservatism as a legit philosophy.
Trump has effectively gotten conservatives to buy into what I call the "calibration fallacy". The idea that certainly thing like big government are not immoral. But more of the idea that big govenment isn't being used the right way. Trump, despite his optics in "elminating regulations" (none of which has impact). His entire platform was about growing government. Growing government, and increasing spending. A government that is already rather large. He wants to grow it more. His space doesn't care, because it's not about the government being too big. It's about the government serving the right people. It's the same philosophy held by the left for over century.
A true conservatie sees a problem with big government. Period. It doesn't matter it serves. Because the more government there is, the less respect there is for individual rights. Hence the act of growing the government is immoral. Because government is only effective when it's forceful and coercive. But this matters little to the modern day conservative moment. Symbolism defines conservatism. Being patriotic, worshiping the flag, worshiping the state, complete reverence for military no matter the implications of their military action, and speaking about religious and cultural superiority at every turn. Individual rights and civil liberties comes second to conformity and dogma. Free markets and economics comes second to "protecting your own".
That is why I feel for conservatism to ever regain it's footing. It needs an intellectual revolution. There needs to be a move to get back to free markets. A move to restore a focus on individualism. Because conservatism is not state worship, or boasting that your culture is superior despite you not practing said superior culture.
NEWSFLASH: We elected Trump precisely **because** both liberalism and conservatism have been bastardized by the establishment. His election is all about throwing away the failed conventional wisdom from both parties that has plagued this nation for decades. Trump is not in office to promote conservatism. He's in office to completely deflate the system that has failed America in every conceivable way. While one person won't be able to do it all, he's doing a magnificent job so far.
My take is that the intellectuals love to sit around and ponder, discuss and lecture but Trump is more of a doer...you can theorize all you want but nothing gets done unless you roll up your sleeves and start working.
You realize that you are describing the behavior of a despot in an authoritarian state, right? The whole purpose of our form of government is to ensure that every single issue that affects the citizens is discussed, debated, negotiated and carefully considered before laws are enacted or irreversible decisions are made. Boring and slow maybe but that's the way our system is designed to work. The longer it takes to enact a law and the more hamstrung our Congress is - the better.
...................A true conservative sees a problem with big government. Period......
Nonsense.
Blow it out your ear. We conservatives will define our beliefs for ourselves. We don't need you telling us we are going the wrong direction since the direction we want to go is away from liberals. If it takes government regulations to get the job done then we are willing to do it.
It's hysterical. Liberals show up and lecture conservatives about how to be conservative. They warn conservatives that conservatism is in danger because conservatives are winning.
Lunacy from The Left.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
