Saturday, January 9, 2021

So what's conservative about the Trumpists?

 Ok, Trumpists, happy with what you have enabled on the mob invasion of the Capitol, January 6.  Oh, you say you are conservative so he was supporting your beliefs. So I asked a person who had a history of supporting Ronald Reagan and considered himself at one time a conservative.  He gave me his views of  what a conservative meant. I think there are still many who would agree with this definition. Let me see: small government, states rights, rule of law,  strict adherence to the Constitution, strong defense, leading the world with American setting the example of being the shining city on the hill of democracy,  individual accountability, and responsibility, small taxes, low debt, low taxation, fiscal constraint., minimum regulation?

Let us talk about states' rights.  So States' Constitutional right to count and determine their own vote total was denied by more than a majority of GOP House members and 6 Senators on the basis of "fraud" though they presented no evidence,"What if" theories were all the proof they needed. they believed.  They did this even if they knew about multi audits and many court cases that decided there was no basis to throw out votes from those racial groups who voted against Trrump. These so called "conservatives"  did this,  even if they knew  Trumpster attorneys had the opportunity to present evidence of widespread fraud in over 60 judicial actions to make their case before a judge, many of which were members or appointees of the GOP and Trump. They knew they had lost every single suit.  Trumpster attorneys either chose not to present evidence of fraud, or the judge threw out their cases, or there just was no evidence they could find to support the claim of fraud.   they kept on asserting the lies.

Let us talk about small government.  We had a wannabe dictator that threatened and forced his will on everyone else and demanded loyalty to him the president? That is the exact opposite: of any degree of democracy, It was attempted totalitarian control from the very top. 

There may be less environmental and financial regulation but the regulations removed were those that once protected the health and finances of ordinary citizens. The only people to benefit from low taxes were the ultra-rich.....and that was before COVID.  Denial of health insurance to those who could not afford private insurance or who did not have employers insurance was done because providing this was "socialism" and therefore by definition evil.  

Let us talk about rule of law  His was a rule of a person and he expected loyalists to break the law on his behalf to protect his power and then promised he will pardon them if they end up in jail or admit to the crime and get punished. They had to be loyal to him, even lie, throughout their ordeal, though.   Was the riot in the Capitol by the militias he summoned and incited exemplified what you would consider. law and order?

Strong defense?  He has supported the national interests of our adversaries, defied his own intelligence services favoring Russians instead, and replacing leadership at the Pentagon with his political yes man flunkies, thinking he could command the military to keep him in office.  He even denied the use of the national guard as the Capitol was stormed; though after the Capitol was ransacked, people killed, and incendiary devices were set to burn it down, his Vice President called up the guards. . He destroyed US participation in alliances, making it a "go it alone" defense without the help of our friends. 

What about individual liberties?  Great if you are white, but not if you were brown or black. Those white rioters were good people and patriots. He loved them.  Freedom of the press?  Only ones who tell the truth are those the president tells them what the truth is and the only ones that deserve his support were the ones who towed his "truth" line.  Don't believe what you see, he told his followers.  Only believe what he says?  The rest is fake news.  All facts are fake unless he tells you otherwise. Anyone who dared deviate from his lines is no longer "his friend" and is to be vilified.  Freedom of religion meant freedom to discriminate against those of other beliefs or lifestyles.  

While the debt/deficit soared during COVID , it was also a disaster before COVID due to his tax cuts and the failure of the economy to reach 4% growth needed to offset the loss to the treasury. He had a philosophy that either debt or bankruptcy was just fine. After all, he had plenty of both, but that did not slow down his lifetime of wealth accumulations he claimed he had. (Tax returns were to be kept under wraps, though, but just take his word for it).  

So what's conservative about any of this? 

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