Edmund Burke was a conservative, in your sense of the word. Teddy Roosevelt, maybe— but really an imperialist. Taft? He fought the New Deal tooth and nail. Goldwater loved nukes. Reagan did more damage to the country than anyone I can think of. Yes, I can think of one Republican I respected— my former Congressman, Jim Gerlach. But his type is extinct. Basically, the Republicans have been the party of the rich since the end of Reconstruction. That a (very) few of them regard the peaceful transfer of power as a principle does not make for a conservative party. Come to think of it, we could use one party that represented a principled approach to democracy.
Lot of words, Dan. But in the end we elect Biden as the only choice. We then give him (and the Republican Party) time to sort out the mess we (and they) have created. And while we're at it, we give priority to examining the non-conversations on social-media that have been substituted for real conversations between actual people.
Donald doesn't email, but he certainly understands that social media posts substituting for real journalism are essentially propaganda. In the end their objective is not conservative /liberal debate. Ultimately They are about creating tension and unease, so that the great majority of Americans— who are actually fairly comfortable with their daily lives— are constantly barraged with a deliberate stream of unsettling information.
If we want to examine a relevant example of successful government action under great duress, we all should take a look at the current TV series featuring 80-year-old Michael Douglas as the 77-year-old Ben Frankiin, as he dodges the intrigues of British spies, French court dilettantes, and the no-nonsense Puritanism of John Adams to somehow finesse the Treaty of Paris that ended the Revolutionary War.
It wouldn't be difficult to suppose which of our present choices has studied Franklin's astute lessons in governmental practices
Your description of Joe as honest is ignoring his blatant dishonesty on many occasions.
Second, I disagree that Billy Barr has chosen to support the Republican nominee to preserve his influence in the Republican Party. I think it’s because he believes that Biden is more dangerous than Trump to the welfare of the U.S. My guess is that he believes that we can survive Trump and have a better chance to return to American values in 2028.
I don’t quarrel with your description of Trump, but Biden is by far the worst president in our history in my humble opinion.
Biden is the worst president in our history? Worst than James Buchanan, Andrew Johnson, Millard Fillmore, John Tyler. Zachary Taylor, Herbert Hoover, Benjamin Harrison, Chester Arthur, etc., etc? And of course, for some of us, Donald Trump joins the list with the distinction of being twice impeached and many times indicted. Rather than assert Biden's "blatant dishonesty" on many occasions, can you name a few and how many compared to Trump's lies...according to the Washington Post amounting to 30,573 over 4 years in office.
As Santayana wrote: "those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." It is easy to be absolute when you can remember only yesterday or the day before.
Right about Harding. I should have added him to the list. Grant is now more favorably seen. In the list produced by presidential scholars, he's now between Reagan and Monroe at number 16. There's more to be said in a comparison of Trump and Biden but I'll admit to a certain fatigue. In a new survey of historians, Biden ranks as the 14th best president and Trump is at the bottom of the pack.
(The survey was done with 154 presidential specialists who are current and recent members of the American Political Science Association. By what do these pointed headed elite intellectuals know?)
The math and politics may not add up for a viable Conservative Party. Right now roughly half the voters claim to want Trump. About 2/3 of that group seems hard core MAGA. The other third is likely the traditional conservatives you are talking about, most of whom will vote for Trump because they don't like Biden. If there was a Conservative Party, I don't see it attracting the MAGA Republicans, who are basically populists and authoritarians. This might be good for us Democrats, but so long as someone would pick up the MAGA banner after Trump, I don't see a path for success for an electable Conservative voice.
From reader Robert Zaller:
Edmund Burke was a conservative, in your sense of the word. Teddy Roosevelt, maybe— but really an imperialist. Taft? He fought the New Deal tooth and nail. Goldwater loved nukes. Reagan did more damage to the country than anyone I can think of. Yes, I can think of one Republican I respected— my former Congressman, Jim Gerlach. But his type is extinct. Basically, the Republicans have been the party of the rich since the end of Reconstruction. That a (very) few of them regard the peaceful transfer of power as a principle does not make for a conservative party. Come to think of it, we could use one party that represented a principled approach to democracy.
From reader Eric Young:
My dilema precisely.
From reader Rick Snyderman:
Lot of words, Dan. But in the end we elect Biden as the only choice. We then give him (and the Republican Party) time to sort out the mess we (and they) have created. And while we're at it, we give priority to examining the non-conversations on social-media that have been substituted for real conversations between actual people.
Donald doesn't email, but he certainly understands that social media posts substituting for real journalism are essentially propaganda. In the end their objective is not conservative /liberal debate. Ultimately They are about creating tension and unease, so that the great majority of Americans— who are actually fairly comfortable with their daily lives— are constantly barraged with a deliberate stream of unsettling information.
If we want to examine a relevant example of successful government action under great duress, we all should take a look at the current TV series featuring 80-year-old Michael Douglas as the 77-year-old Ben Frankiin, as he dodges the intrigues of British spies, French court dilettantes, and the no-nonsense Puritanism of John Adams to somehow finesse the Treaty of Paris that ended the Revolutionary War.
It wouldn't be difficult to suppose which of our present choices has studied Franklin's astute lessons in governmental practices
From reader John Owens:
A couple of issues:
Your description of Joe as honest is ignoring his blatant dishonesty on many occasions.
Second, I disagree that Billy Barr has chosen to support the Republican nominee to preserve his influence in the Republican Party. I think it’s because he believes that Biden is more dangerous than Trump to the welfare of the U.S. My guess is that he believes that we can survive Trump and have a better chance to return to American values in 2028.
I don’t quarrel with your description of Trump, but Biden is by far the worst president in our history in my humble opinion.
Biden is the worst president in our history? Worst than James Buchanan, Andrew Johnson, Millard Fillmore, John Tyler. Zachary Taylor, Herbert Hoover, Benjamin Harrison, Chester Arthur, etc., etc? And of course, for some of us, Donald Trump joins the list with the distinction of being twice impeached and many times indicted. Rather than assert Biden's "blatant dishonesty" on many occasions, can you name a few and how many compared to Trump's lies...according to the Washington Post amounting to 30,573 over 4 years in office.
As Santayana wrote: "those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." It is easy to be absolute when you can remember only yesterday or the day before.
Prior to this century, Grant and Harding were the consensus worst presidents, at least among historians.
Right about Harding. I should have added him to the list. Grant is now more favorably seen. In the list produced by presidential scholars, he's now between Reagan and Monroe at number 16. There's more to be said in a comparison of Trump and Biden but I'll admit to a certain fatigue. In a new survey of historians, Biden ranks as the 14th best president and Trump is at the bottom of the pack.
(The survey was done with 154 presidential specialists who are current and recent members of the American Political Science Association. By what do these pointed headed elite intellectuals know?)
The math and politics may not add up for a viable Conservative Party. Right now roughly half the voters claim to want Trump. About 2/3 of that group seems hard core MAGA. The other third is likely the traditional conservatives you are talking about, most of whom will vote for Trump because they don't like Biden. If there was a Conservative Party, I don't see it attracting the MAGA Republicans, who are basically populists and authoritarians. This might be good for us Democrats, but so long as someone would pick up the MAGA banner after Trump, I don't see a path for success for an electable Conservative voice.
Any idea what the agenda/platform of today’s “principled” conservative is?