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Ray Balestri's avatar

You mention your "fellow 'conservatives,'" but you need to lose the scare quotes. MAGA Republicans are not conservative, and if those are your fellows, you need to upgrade whom you hang around with. And all non-MAGA Republicans who like to tell themselves they are still conservative should stop diddling themselves: they're not. The only way to hold on to one's conservative bona fides is to leave the Republican Party, like George Will did, like Bret Stephens did, and like I did in 2016 when the Party nominated Trump.

To be conservative, as I defined it (you may add or subtract from the list), is to respect laws; to tell the truth, even when the consequences of doing so are bad for you; to be honorable; to have traditional, old-fashioned morals about being faithful to your wife and honest with your friends; to believe in science, knowing that science is fallible and subject to continual revision; to believe and esteem expertise; to be true and steadfast with our allies; to be firmly opposed to our enemies; to respect military service and the sacrifices made by our service people; to believe that government should be in the service of all of our citizens, even those who, by physical or mental disability or lack of a fair start in life, are incapable of "pulling their weight"; to at the same time insist on personal accountability; and to adopt a tax system that fully funds for that government and then pay your own damn taxes.

The Republican Party no longer stands for any of those precepts. (I could link to three or four examples for each item on my list where Trump or some prominent Republican violates are renounces that precept.)

I'm a conservative. I will never, ever, be a Republican again.

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suzc's avatar

I think it might be helpful if we were more precise and accurate about our rantings-at-The-Other. For instance, "antifa" (which is supposed to mean anti fascist) is not a thing; it is not a party, not a nonprofit, not an ngo, not even an organized gang. It is, apparently, far left enough to be violently stupid, or stupidly violent, thus inviting comparisons with MAGA Republicans (the far right side of loony which has in fact co-opted one of the two major parties), QAnon, Proud Boys and other violent extremists who think it is fine to leave their feces on the marble walls of Congress (among other things). In between those two extremes are ACTUAL "conservatives" and "liberals" and "centrists" and "moderates" and the majority of voters, still. And it is in that middle where we can meet, if we will. (I believe it is in that middle that Biden was elected, by people of good conscience and terror on both so-called "sides" of the political aisle. So I don't see far left and far right as equivalencies politically; but I cannot condone either extreme as both are violent, stupid and destructive. (BTW I do not hear Democrat politicians defending left wing arson etc either; but maybe I'm missing it. And I do not know a local Democrat who believes in CRT, which is also not a thing, or thinks herself Woke.)

Here's another comparison: I voted for Hillary because of her boringly extensive wonky expertise in governing and her lean toward the liberal side (caring for others less fortunate etc), and despite her basic unlikeability. I will vote for Liz Cheney in spite of her horridly uncaring politics (she'd take my social security check I'm sure) because of her spine and her integrity and her love of the Republic and Constitution. Hillary and Liz each share some of my values. Neither is perfect. I'd be writing angry letters to Liz in the White House over her economic and social policies but I wouldn't fear having to shoot her supporters in my yard to keep them from killing me for wanting to feed the homeless! And, sadly, I do not think anything I have said here is hyperbole.... though it used to be, once upon a time.

We do not seem to be an intelligent species or nation; but we do seem to be fairly complex....

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