WHO ARE The REAL CONSERVATORS?

I never thought I would say this, but guess what?  The true conservatives remaining in this nation are not necessarily who you think they are.  The basic principles of conservatism have turned out to be less secure with the Republican Party than we have been led to believe.  The destruction of those principles began when Richard Nixon launched his attack on the integrity of the presidency that laid some of the foundation for a Donald Trump and his outright attacks on those principles.    

Instead of pursuing that intriguing subject, let us look at some definitions of the word “conservative.” (New World dictionary)

“Conservative” adjective –

1. “conserving or tending to conserve; preservative

2. “tending to preserve established traditions or institutions and to resist or oppose any changes in these       

“Conserve” – “to keep from being damaged, lost, or wasted; save”

Those definitions aren’t enough to describe political conservatism in this country right now.  We need to explore further to identify what some Conservatives claim as defining principles.   We begin from a bit different perspective at a site known as factmyth.com. 

“From a historical perspective we can define the terms conservative, liberal, and progressive as:

• Liberal: Can mean classical liberal (individual rights ideology rooted in the late 1600 – 1700’s) or social liberal (an evolution of classical liberalism that includes… response to the age of Robber Barons as social justice). This term is sometimes used as meaning “not a conservative.” In current usage, the U.S. classical liberals are called libertarians, and social liberals are called “liberals.”
• Progressive (or Radical): Always means wanting to push forward. Progressivism typically implies altruism, but not all good intentions have positive outcomes. Likewise, radical typically implies “going too far,” but not all radical movements have negative outcomes.
• Conservative: usually opposes liberalism or progressivism. As liberalism, socialism, and progressivism changed, what conservatism meant changed in response. The Conservative Federalists of the late 1700’s wanted order… after changes in the parties, modern Republicans often ran on a radically conservative platform. They may, for example, favor state-enforced religious laws. Meanwhile, progressive movements like Prohibition have conservative aspects to them.”  (factmyth.com)

Based on that last sentence, we shall proceed to examine who the real conservators and preservers are in our current circumstances.  It is not conservative Republicans or Donald J. Trump.  Clearly, Trump and his minions are more tied to the classical conservative model, as indicated by the following. (factmyth.com)

•  classical conservatism focuses on authority and order through traditional/classical power structures like the church and state (it favors authority of the few or one, and not individual liberty of the many).  In its social form (social conservatism) it favors social hierarchy and tradition, and not social equality.
• FACT: Conservatism came from the Enlightenment thinkers, although we can trace the history of conservatism back as far as we can trace the history of Monarchies…

TIP: In general, it works like this, each term considers how fast change should occur (either change forward toward “progress” or change “conserving” back to a less liberal or progressive time).

According to Russell Kirk, a visiting Fellow at the Heritage Foundation, Conservatism is claimed to be “a body of sentiments, not a system of ideological dogmata”.  Nonetheless, he offered ten principles to which he felt confident most conservatives would subscribe.  But he is not necessarily describing classical conservatism that appears most relevant to Trump tweets and policies. We shall address 4 of the 10 principles here and save the rest for another posting.

1.      There exists an enduring moral order; moral truths are permanent.  There are two aspects or types: the inner order of the soul and the outer order of the commonwealth.  Kirk claims: “A society in which men and women are morally adrift, ignorant of norms and intent chiefly upon gratification of appetites, will be a bad society – no matter how many people vote and no matter how liberal its formal constitution…” In other words: “A general dissolution of principles and manners will more surely overthrow the liberties than the whole force of the common enemy.  While the people are virtuous, they cannot be subdued; but once they lose their virtue, they will be ready to surrender their liberties to the first external or internal invader.” – Samuel Adams

In contrast to a permanent moral order, Trump believes in and practices:

·      lying as a tool of propaganda;

·      taking revenge against anyone who criticizes him;

·      demolishing or destroying political opponents;

·      abusing children by locking them in cages as a tool of discouraging immigrants seeking asylum,

·      threats to export children and adults who had been temporarily allowed in this country to receive special medical treatment but who would most likely die without it after deportation

·       enabling killing of Kurdish children by Turkey’s army after withdrawal of American troops in Northern Syria.

·      use of vile language;

·      advocates abuse of women;

·      often refuses to pay for services or products;

·      uses his office to enrich himself and his family;

·      admits to disobeying laws like tax requirements or reporting of foreign nation influence-peddling and attempts to interfere in our elections  

·      disrespects constitutional provisions that limit his powers

·      incites others to violence with his words and with videos, the latest of which shows him attacking media members and other “enemies”

·      invites interference from foreign nations into our elections and uses those nations to advance his agenda and election campaign 

Apparently, Trump and his supporters are anything but committed to the moral order, while liberals and progressives are attempting to resurrect a social morality dedicated to greater inclusion, greater equality and greater regard for the needs and dignity of all people in a society that stands for those principles and values.  Their H.R. #1 bill also intends to strengthen the ethical standards for individual officeholders.  Plus, the very act of initiating the power of impeachment procedures is an attempt to restore the order that is missing under this president and his administration.

The real preservers of this first principle of moral order are not conservatives, especially those Republicans in Congress who have abandoned morality to support ethical disorder, abandonment of principles, and financial gain for themselves. Republicans have blatantly used the institutions of government to bilk the people (such as gutting regulations that control cheating of consumers by business). Department heads have been caught using taxpayer funds for personal travel; taking advantage of insider information to enhance their stock options or to improve the profit margin of companies in which they have an interest. 

Moreover, they have used the tax system as cover for their fraudulent assessments of personal wealth, but mostly used that system to lower their taxes.  And, the “swamp” that supposedly existed in Washington under Liberals has been “overrun” by the many creatures of the Trump administration who have gone to jail for carrying out illegal actions on his behalf.  John Adams’ words resonate through the centuries – this administration has lost all its principles and ethics and invited foreign and domestic forces to devour our individual and national soul.

The real conservators are the much-maligned Liberals and Progressives who have acted to preserve a moral imperative of decency and justice for all.  It is the Progressives who have acted to preserve voting rights, women’s rights, children’s health and education, affordable health care, a fairer justice system, to establish a decent minimum wage. Not the Republicans.  In fact, Democrats have passed much legislation to address national problems and needs that has been blocked and discarded by Senate Republicans.

2.      Conservatives adhere to custom, convention, and continuity…that enables people to live together peaceably.  Kirk says: “When successful revolutionaries have effaced old customs, derided old conventions, and broken the continuity of social institutions…the new social order that eventually emerges may be much inferior” to the one overthrown.  Order, justice and freedom are the…result of centuries of trial and refection and sacrifice; that continuity of a society must not be interrupted.”  In other words, “No one…can come…to such fullness of understanding as to safely judge and dismiss the customs or institutions of…society, for those are the wisdom of generations after centuries of experiment in the laboratory of history.”—Will Durant

Kirk and Durant never met Donald J. Trump! He has already captured (and probably destroyed) the Republican Party.  On that path, he has also captured the leadership of a Republican-controlled Senate and obliterated that institution and its standards of rigorous debate and legislative prowess. Instead, its leadership now plays lapdog to the Executive. 

Using his appointive powers (and the Senate’s non-opposition) he has created a Judiciary beholden to him to the extent that one of his nominees to an appeals court has just written a dissenting opinion that creates a false interpretation of the Constitution that is already perfectly clear on where the sole authority for impeachment lies – with the House of Representatives.  She asserts that the President has a right to be included in that process. Liberals and Progressives oppose that false interpretation of the clear intent of the Founders.

 

Democrats have also asserted the primacy and importance of public schools, the right of both houses of Congress to formulate their own rules to maintain their independence, and the importance of government regulation of Trade, Commerce and financial interests; the importance of placing more regulators in certain departments like the EPA, the IRS and the border patrol.  Conservatives under Trump are steadily de-constructing the federal government which the Constitution enshrined in the first place because the separate states in a Confederation were not able to fulfill a broader responsibility for national issues and problems.    

In addition, Trump has been the catalyst for undermining elections, not only inviting foreign powers to interfere, but encouraging restrictions on voting for certain groups.  Liberals and Progressives oppose the destruction of these institutions and have passed legislation to overturn such de-construction only to have that legislation blocked by a “conservative” recalcitrant Senate that cares little for continuity or equality. 

3.      Conservatives believe in the principle of prescription, that is, things established by “immemorial usage.”  According to Kirk, “In politics, we do well to abide by precedent and precept and even prejudice, for…the human race has acquired a prescriptive wisdom far greater than…petty private rationality.” 

Interesting, is it not, that such a principle does not rule out “prejudice” or the historic devastation of the Civil War fought over the slavery of others. 

Is it possible that this conservative principle of prescription also includes a loyalty to precedents like racial discrimination, white supremacy,  placing women in secondary positions and salaries, working to diminish labor unions, being intolerant of anything associated with LBGT, attempting to overturn Roe v. Wade and outlaw abortion or favoring air/water/ground pollution by chemical effluent from certain factories?  Does it include the time-tested practice of banks withholding or blocking mortgages for minorities or the lowering of taxes for a small percentage of the population?  All of these and more negative precedents meet the definition of time-tested standards and norms.

It is sheer folly to live by a principle that tests and memorializes one side of human nature and not the other.  Human beings, and the things they memorialize have flaws as well as assets and negative as well as positive outcomes.

Perhaps liberals are more careful conservators or preservers of what is positive, like laws that address racial equality, union rights, women’ rights, equal opportunity, social justice, health care, and so on.  It is my contention that Republicans tend to prescribe many more time-tested negatives than positives for the people, while Progressives seek to prescribe far more investment, support, encouragement and opportunity for those traits that reflect a regard for the dignity and well-being of humankind.

4.      Conservatives are guided by their principle of prudence.  Kirk says: “The conservative…acts only after sufficient reflection, having weighed the consequences.  Sudden and slashing reforms are as perilous as sudden and slashing surgery.”  Prudence doesn’t exist in the Trump vocabulary or in his toolbox (unless it can be used to advance his own interests).  All one needs to do is look at the present decision to pull troops out of northern Syria, to invite the Turks to invade so they can build a “neutral zone” on the Turkish-Syrian border, abandon the Kurds to certain genocide, and then to direct the  pull-out of all US troops from Syria which will lead to the resurgence of thousands of ISIS fighters. 

This foreign policy disaster began with a phone call between Trump and Erdogan of Turkey that is probably now assigned to the same highest classified server on which several of Trump’s indiscreet conversations may be hidden.  This is not prudent in any sense; nor is it diplomatic or based on a weighing of consequences.  This is a sudden and slashing decision that benefits one other tyrant: Vladimir Putin.

Prudence is epitomized by Liberals and Progressives who have long advocated and worked to develop the most effective and affordable system for universal healthcare coverage. Prudence has also characterized the Liberal approach to abortion, space exploration, work with the U.N. and other international groups and with coalitions of all kinds, especially those related to trade and defense.

    

While “sudden and slashing” reforms are attributed to Progressive Liberals, that negative attribute just doesn’t fit the record they have compiled.  To Conservatives who are reluctant to change anything, proposed change always looks like it is sudden simply because Republicans have delayed any real action for so long on issues like gun violence control, climate change, immigration reform, healthcare, women’s rights, minority rights, etc. that any change seems to them like a slashing, sudden assault.

One last thought on this subject:  progressivism has been (and will continue to be) the saving grace in terms of the advancement of rights, freedoms and responsibilities simply because Conservatives do not know the difference between delay/obstruction and prudence.  Progressive Liberals know that prudence means well-conceived, well-researched, well-thought-out, well-executed, well-evaluated and well-fixed when required. Conservatives (especially right now) have no clue as to these positive meanings for prudence.  Instead, their locked-in approach is to de-construct government itself and destroy government programs that lend a helping-hand to anyone other than their wealthy friends and sponsors.  Their prudence translates to inability to confront problems like climate change (and more important: the pending annihilation of life on this planet) or the need for universal affordable health care to reduce the financial ruin that confront too many families today; the need to rebuild our infrastructure before we become a 2^nd rate economic power.  They cannot even produce a vote on important reform legislation already passed by the Democratic majority in the House (environmental protection, election reform, gun violence control related to universal background checks, infrastructure repair, etc.).  Republican “prudence” (translated as obstructionist-do-nothingness) is costing us our future. 

Those whose “prudence” won’t allow them to throw off the destructive influence of Trump and the puppets dancing to his tune (like the automatons of any tyrant) -- to vote for real progress, for preservation of our values and the goodness of our institutions, plus for the acquired best practices of our democratic system –- let them suffer the consequences of their actions.  Any more years of this false form of conservatism will destroy their sense of satisfaction and unquestioning loyalty and approval of the destructive fascist values of this authoritarian leader, (Fuhrer)Trump.

We are on the Brink, and Trump intends to push many of us into the abyss below because that is what he has always done with “lesser” people.  His list keeps growing: Islamic and Mexican immigrants, all those who need government help such as Medicaid, Food Stamps, Affordable Health Care, TARP, Head Start, etc. or those who seek abortions, or Planned Parenthood or Section 8 housing.  Then there are those people who are homeless, or mentally ill or living with developmental disabilities – they are expendable in his mind. 

Of course, others are not just expendable, they are useful as tools for his propaganda – just like those children and families seeking asylum in this country – he separates and detains them in cages without access to hygienic conditions or even to outside recreation and lets us know they are being used as examples to other refugee/immigrant families to warn them not to come here looking for entry to this country.

As we have seen, of all his miserable decisions about the welfare of human beings, he has abandoned our Kurdish allies in Syria in order to make a deal with Turkey to create for themselves a “neutral zone” in northern Syria along the Turkish border.   The Kurds are being slaughtered and Trump does nothing except threaten financial sanctions against Turkey.  And WHY has this happened? As a gift to Vladimir Putin say many analysts.

Who is next on his list?  Perhaps the rural poor or the family farmer who voted for him and then received the negative results of his Trade War with China. Perhaps veterans whose benefits keep getting cut in Trump budgets.  Maybe seniors who are a drain on resources for Medicare and long-term disability.  Or maybe just more women, like those who supported him, but more likely those supporting his opposition – they are the activists who present the biggest threat to his re-election.  But then – who knows…it could be anybody!  Take care all of you because the authoritarian tyrant in the White House believes he can do anything that advances his cause and his power.  That chaos in Syria and the Senate and at the southern border means that government might no longer be your protector and advocate but could become the centralized authority favored by classical conservatives which has no other interest than its own power.  We are all in danger from a pretender to a throne of his own creation.

FOOTNOTE:  Recently, I saw General James Mattis (Ret.) on Meet the Press.  Now, there’s a true Conservative:  places his trust in the American people, believes in building trust and support between allies; refused to put politics in front of duty (resigned from a political position over a disagreement on principle); willing to speak out when circumstances demand it; committed to principles of duty, civility and civilian control.  He is concerned with the integrity of America, the military, and his own actions; understanding of the importance of diplomacy; unwilling to speak ill of others or to join in such “swampiness”; concerned with the morale of the military and the well-being of his troops, and ultimately of the American people and this nation.

It doesn’t matter whether he is a Democrat or Republican; Conservative or Liberal.  He embodies principles that illuminate the greatness of this Republic, reminiscent of Abraham Lincoln and Dwight Eisenhower.  Is he perfect?  No, but perfection is not what we seek.  We seek strong commitment to principles and values that enhance the lives and just aspirations of this nation and its people; plus, the extension of such to humankind.  We are beginning to see government professionals -- diplomats, military, administrators -- come forward, some as whistle-blowers, but most as concerned citizens, to say “enough is enough,” Donald Trump is destroying our nation and his destructive policies must not be allowed to stand. 

KICK HIM OUT and LOCK HIM UP!