I see, so then all the Republican Presidents (Bush Sr., Reagan, Nixon, Ford, Bush Jr.) were not actually conservatives. Interesting defense.
I don't buy it, but it's still an interesting defense.
I'm not "defending" anything, Hellstrom. Merely stating facts. Whether you "buy it" or not, is your own problem.
At the core, there is a problem with this argument, in that for decades (and more lately than previously) Republicans and the GOP as a whole has been yelling for smaller government and less regulation. Each and every Republican President listed above, and almost all the standing GOP Congressmen have been hyping about deregulation and shrinking government, yet the reports available clearly demonstrate that whenever Republicans are in office, be it local, State, or Federal, size and scope of government actually increased. In stark contrast, Democrats invariably result in same or smaller government, which has been largely attributed to the notion of efficiency as opposed to "less" government.
The reality is that both major political parties have both become parties of big government, militarism, the nanny state and anti-civil liberties.
So then, are we to conclude that the GOP is simply faking it? Is this yet another case of placating the masses whilst doing whatever the hell they want? How is it possible that anyone can trust the GOP if it's all just smoke and mirrors?
Trust a political party? Only a fool would do that, Hellstrom. Political parties are inanimate objects, with different people in power and sway at any given time. What one should be trusting are core principles and look for the best person, regardless of party, who shows by actions, not just words, that they stand for those principles.
I have told you before and I will say it again. There used to be 2 major factions in the Republican Party. The "Rockefeller-Republicans", who were the big government folks, and the "Goldwater-Conservatives", who were the limited constitutional government folks. The Goldwater-conservatives were THE conservatives. Real conservatism is really a slice between libertarianism and conservatism, which is why many called themselves libertarian-conservatives. Heck, there even used to be some conservatives in the Democratic Party; Larry McDonald was one.
Then came Reagan. He promised conservatives that he would not pick an establishment Insider as a running mate, but then he went ahead and did it by choosing Bush. Everyone should have known then, but I think a lot of people remembered him from back when he gave a
speech for Goldwater and it sounded so good. Even Ron Paul believed Reagan at the beginning. But, back to the story...
The people advising Reagan really wanted to win, of course, and saw 2 groups of people that they thought might put him over the top. One was a group of people in think tanks who seemed to be interested in Reagan and the second were evangelicals. Both were a huge mistake. The people in think tanks who were brought in were actually the ex-Trotskyite neoconservatives that had been in the Democratic Party. It wasn't until later that they started using the term, neoconservative. They thought they saw an opening to take over the conservative movement and lo and behold, they carried it off. FOX news sings their tune most of the time. Many of the evangelicals who were courted, cared very little about the Constitution. In fact, they were happy to use big government force, as long as they could use it to cram their own wishes down their fellow Americans' throats. Still today, they don't seem to realize that their actions help create the big government that they so often hate for doing the very same things that they wish to do.
Reagan was a pretty popular President and after he left office, everyone and their dog in the Republican Party started calling themselves a conservative. I think mostly because conservatives didn't really let them see what he did, as opposed to what he said. This is also when the hyphenated conservative denotions started. Social-conservative, Neo-conservative, Paleo-conservative. Paleocons are the Goldwater-Conservatives; the only real conservatives. Heck, even the Rockefeller-Republicans, like Mitt Romney, called himself a conservative.
Today, neocons have dropped their moniker and just go by "conservative". That does not change the fact that they are not. They are in fact almost polar opposites. They have much more in common with your beliefs Hellstrom, as they came from the Democratic Party. Many disgruntled Republicans left the Republican Party. Did you realize it was disgruntled paleocons who started the Libertarian Party? Others started the Constitution Party. Some went Independent and some stayed in the Republican Party.
FOX News has played their part in propagandizing conservatives. I often refer to it as neocon-central. They offer false choices and tell people to choose between them. For example, either you want Hillary, or you want someone like Giuliani or Huckabee. CHOOSE. After the constant opinion pieces that are supposed to serve as news, for years on end, people forget what they once stood for; they forgot their principles. And here we are.
But, many paleocons (libertarian-conservatives) are trying their hearts out to wake people up before it is too late, if it isn't already. Libertarian-conservatives are constitutionalists, believers in sound money, fiscal responsibility, a strong national defense (not offense), individual liberty, personal privacy and personal responsibility.
The End.
Or is it just smoke and mirrors?
It's probably the same as saying that the word "Progressive" equates to Communist. There is a lot of truth in that, of course, as anyone can look up how the Progressive Caucus came about. But, I am also quite sure that some use that term and have no idea of whence it came.
.....guns, airports, mental health...I can go on and on about areas the country is biased.