I wrote my first Don’t Call Them Conservatives post on April 14, 2022. I’d rather tell jokes but it’s among my better serious posts. The logic and reasoning are impeccable if I do say so myself and I do. Here’s how I closed that piece:
Calling them conservatives sends the message that the GOP is a normal American party. It is not. It has morphed into a radical reactionary party featuring a cult of personality. Cults of personality are Fascistic in nature. Conservatives are normal Americans. Trumpism is aberrant and should be abhorrent to true conservatives.
That remains true. I feel the need to revisit the subject because of recent developments in the news. You’ve surely heard about Trump’s plan to blow up the Federal government if he returns to power. The DOJ would be his personal plaything even more than under Bill Barr. How is that conservative?
Actions by Republicans across the country confirm my belief that they are NOT conservatives and should be denied the label in both the media and everyday discourse. The WaPo published a fine story this week about the disturbing trend of red state governments messing with the blue cities within their borders. It’s particularly prevalent in Tennessee because Nashville and Memphis are blue towns and the state lege is hopelessly reactionary. The same goes for Texas with its wingnut Governor and blue cities such as San Antonio, Austin, and Houston. Greg Abbot’s goal is to cripple the election system in Houston. How is that conservative?
This pernicious state meddling in local affairs is about to explode in the Gret Stet of Louisiana. It bugs incoming Governor Jeff Landry that New Orleans is one of the bluest cities in the country. He received a pitiful 10% of the vote here while winning statewide. That’s no surprise: Landry is a lying, election denying, anti-vax MAGA true believer. He takes it well beyond the traditional rural fear and loathing of New Orleans. Landry wants to impose his own warped values on a city that will never accept them. How is that conservative?
Let’s circle back to the WaPo article:
The group’s tracking mostly found “conservative state legislatures responding to or anticipating actions of progressive cities,” she said, with many bills designed to bolster state restrictions on police defunding, abortion, and LGBTQ and voting rights. As of mid-October, at least 92 had passed.
Notice the lazy usage of the C word. There’s nothing conservative about messing with the right to privacy and the right to vote. True conservatives believe that government should leave people alone, not tell them what they can read or who they can marry, sleep with, or vote for. Sounds more like fascism to me.
The far right’s fascination with Vladimir Putin and support for his war mongering is especially disturbing. The GOP became the “strong on defense” party during the Cold War. Opposition to Russian imperialism was a major part of their brand. Now they oppose aid to Ukraine while still invoking the name of that ardent Cold Warrior Ronald Reagan. How is that conservative?
Today’s Republican party is anti-majoritarian. They don’t think they can win elections without resort to chicanery, In contrast, Reagan signed an extension of the Voting Rights Act in 1982. He believed Republicans could win elections fair and square.
I drop Reagan’s name not because I thought he was a good president, I do not. But it used to be possible for liberals and conservatives to have serious and civilized conversations. My father was active in the California GOP when Reagan was governor. I met Reagan at some event and my dad told him that I was a hopeless liberal Democrat. His response was something like this, “It’s okay as long as you’re an engaged and informed citizen. Low-information voters are the biggest threat to our freedom.”
It’s impossible to imagine a current Republican leader saying such a thing. All they care about is owning the libs and keeping the Indicted Impeached Insult Comedian out of jail. We cannot even agree on the definition of freedom. How is that conservative?
Repeat after me: Don’t Call Them Conservatives.
The last word goes to Thin Lizzy:
A younger neighbor who installs flooring as his business told me that he changed his party affiliation to conservative. He once had a handwritten sign in his front window that read “Fuck Biden”. He is not a conservative but has succumbed to wing nut hysteria.