Corruption of the word “conservative”
The political universe has done a masterful job of sucking all the meaning out of being a “Republican.” These days, you don’t have to actually believe in one iota of the party platform to be a Republican-in-good-standing.
(Don’t believe me? Thom Tillis AND Tim Moore have both been given the NCGOP’s highest awards.)
We’ve been lectured to death about being too strict in who we admit to the Republican fold. We need a BIG TENT, we’ve been told. BIGGER, if possible. Never mind that a specific list of conservative ideals and principles paved the way for Republican dominance statewide and nationally. Other folks wanted in on our action, but they don’t want to have to deal with any of our *silly* beliefs. Our issues get lip service during campaign time, but get locked back in the closet during “governing” time.
So-called Republicans can spending BILLIONS upon BILLIONS more during their time in office. They can increase government consumption and the overall tax-burden back to levels last seen when Democrats last ran Raleigh. They can gleefully and overwhelmingly and dramatically expand the grand-daddy of all welfare programs – Medicaid. And they still have the nerve to call themselves conservative.
The “Republican” majority has appointed all kinds of people to college and university boards. These appointees have sat by quietly as DEI and other forms of Marxism have been crammed into every nook and cranny of our state’s higher education system. Speaker Thom Tillis got the ball rolling — defending his nominees to the various boards by detailing how much money they donated to the NCGOP. It seems his successor, Speaker Timmy, has kept the ol’ money “ball” rolling.
Being a “Republican” may have been reduced to a big bunch of nothing. But we’ve still got conservatism, right? (*Um, right ???*)
The kid who recently defected from Civitas / John Locke to flack for the Bill Graham gubernatorial campaign was recently quoted suggesting that Graham and Thom Tillis — of all people — have been ‘fighting to grow the conservative movement’. (No word yet if he said that with a straight face.). Maybe I misread his quote — perhaps he said they’ve fought the conservative movement. I know both men are in love with taxpayer subsidies for solar panels — a decidedly non-conservative policy position.
Check out where our current US senators currently rank in terms of conservatism. 100 percent is perfectly conservative.
To put this in context, HERE are the two most conservative Democrats in the US Senate:
Speaking of Locke and Civitas — both of those were founded allegedly to give voice and muscle to 
conservative ideas in Raleigh. All that pretense collapsed big-time when their founder, Art Pope, went to work as decidedly non-conservative Pat McCrory‘s budget director. Dallas Woodhouse and Donald Bryson — both former employees of Koch Bros. backed Americans For Prosperity – are now the most high-profile big dogs running around Locke and Civitas. (Dallas may have a convoluted title from some other organization no one has heard of. But he sure spends a hell of a lot of time running around Locke / Civitas.)
Woodhouse and Bryson have moved the whole organization decidedly away from an intellectual tenor to more of a landing site for prospective GOPe political hacks and a propaganda shop for favored campaigns.
Donna King and Mitch Kokai – operatives for the “journalism” side of the Locke / Civitas cabal — were briefed for hours months ago on Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson’s sketchy family business. They have PLENTY of material for a serious story. Yet, we can’t even get a mention of said family business by any Locke / Civitas organ.
The sitting lieutenant governor — allegedly the new conservative messiah — and his wife are heading a business totally funded by the NC Department of Health and Human Services and fully-integrated into that welfare state which conservatives supposedly despise. It’s also swamped in questions that surely warrant an investigation by government authorities. But we can’t get a peep about that from our alleged conservative watch-dogs in Raleigh.
The conservatism pushed by US Senators Robert Taft (R-OH) in the 1950s and Barry Goldwater 
(R-AZ) in the 50s and 60s emphasized shrinking the overall footprint of government. They recognized the threat big government posed to individual freedom and economic prosperity.
The heroics of Taft and Goldwater begat Ronald Reagan, who begat Jesse Helms, who begat our current crop of warriors – Lee, Paul, and Cruz. Those guys lit fires in voters and evoked all kinds of passion. So, a lot of career politicians hiding behind the (R) co-opted this conservative gospel — giving it enough lip service to get them past the voters for one more term in office.
We had a serious Freedom Caucus led by Mark Meadows and Jim Jordan at one time in the US House. Matt Gaetz is still around swinging away, but he’s outgunned and outnumbered by colleagues starstruck by their committee chairmanships. Gaetz’s most ferocious opposition often comes from his fellow Republicans.
In Raleigh, there is a House Freedom Caucus. They are pretty well ignored and run over by Speaker Timmy and his crew. Jason Saine’s name on the HFC membership list sure doesn’t help the group in the area of credibility.
In Raleigh and DC there are incredible opportunities for conservative reform. But both groups of Republican seem more fascinated with waiting hand-and-foot on BIG campaign donors than with achieving any sort of principled gains.
Election time is fast approaching. Primaries are in March. The next time one of these candidates utters the word ‘conservative,’ demand that they PROVE IT. What have they done to shrink the size and power of government? What have they done to honestly strengthen our country and protect our borders? What have they done to attempt to stave off the impending economic collapse?
The (R) doesn’t mean anything anymore. It’s about like joining Rotary or some other civic club. Conservatism still means something. Don’t let the scoundrels get away with co-opting and corrupting it for their own insidious purposes.
Wow, outstanding and accurate. My wife and I can add anecdotes to this, further evidence of the NCGOP leftward lurch. Supposed Tea Party Republican Renee Elmers screaming at her, calling her (a naturalized US citizen originally from Germany) for wanting everyone to obey immigration law. Like Ag Commissioner Troxler, Elmers is pro-illegals, at the behest of her sponsor, Farm Bureau.
Next few: We used to volunteer at the NCGOP booth at the state fair, until they started printing literature in Spanish. We asked the millennial snowflake boy staffer why Spanish and not other languages, like German, what we speak at home? His answer: “Germans learn English on their own. We want to attract Latinos.” My wife was in the Cary GOP Women’s club, shortly. They met at the Prestonwood CC, focused mostly on fleecing members for RINO candidates. Wealthy Black members told her the Republicans needed to “do more” for Blacks. She drove a nice Mercedes.
Next – I reviewed the NCGOP platform a few years ago, then asked my local platform committee member why they party didn’t use it when choosing leaders. For instance on the topic of gay marriage, unconstitutional in our state. His response: “That horse has already left the barn.” I loath such cowards.
Next – years ago the JLF asked me to speak to the legislative committee voting to repeal the terrible RPS quotas that force us to support solar and wind energy, unlike any other state in the South. As an engineer I have worked in the energy field and experienced first-hand how such policies have destroyed the German economy. My short talk was ignored by the committee, which clearly was prepared to continue these quotas. The vote, I later learned, was actually a power-play by the Tillis / Moore camp against conservatives, and they won. Soon thereafter out of disgust I changed party from Republican to unaffiliated. How can we determine who is getting rich from solar farms in our state? Hudson is a known supporter. It would be very interesting to see who really owns these farms and the income they derive annually from them. Like Cooper. In years past the JLF would have done this. They appear to have lost their fight.
And – whatever happened to the promise from the NCGOP that it would repeal the so-called education lottery after it was passed through trickery? And – Why did the two NCGOP members of the state board of elections vote in favor of WuFlu-inspired changes to voting laws in the summer of 2020, then quickly resign? Clearly they were all part of the RINO cabal to keep Trump out of office and his 80 million voters subdued. And – Why is the NCGOP doing nothing to defend the state constitution’s ban on gay marriage, and doing nothing to evict all illegals from our state and prosecute their employers and groups that enable illegals to hide here and find work and welfare benefits? Follow the money for answers.
A final note – a specially disgusting recent episode is the affair between Speaker Moore and Mrs. Lassiter, over which Moore apparently has no remorse and the NCGOP accepts. They should have given Moore the boot from the party and his seat in the House. Instead, now this home-wrecker is being groomed for Congress, incredible. Tar and feather, public canings and the public stocks need to be reintroduced.
I’m so fed up with the GOP, state and national. The GOP NC Medicaid sell out to Cooper may be the last straw. Made *me* sick. I expect legalized gambling and weed next. No one really knows of MR’s issues – yet – but we know they’ll be highlighted by the left and their transcriptionists in the media [but I repeat myself] once he’s locked in as the nominee. I am thinking of voting for Democrats in the next election/s, to send a message to the pseudo-conservatives. I don’t know if I can do it, but I’m sorely tempted. How would the legislative outcome be different?
This is so spot on!! I couldn’t agree more.
Over time the brands “band-aid” and “kleenex” have become generic terms. Same here with “conservative”.
Merry Christmas! On to 2024.
There is a term I heard some years ago for these phonies that I think is spot on – that is “COUNTERFEIT CONSERVATIVES”
They did this same thing to the term, “pro-life” about 20 years ago while quietly killing any reforms in committee.
Bill Graham reminds me a lot of the last rich pretty-boy trial lawyer who launched himself on the political stage in North Carolina, John Edwards. Everything suggests that he has the very same lack of any real substance as Edwards. Like any trial lawyer, he will spin whatever tale he thinks will win his case, in this case with the voters. We should be extremely cautious of this type of shyster.. It looks like some of the farm organizations are already onto him: https://ncagpartnership.com/2023/12/unmasking-bill-graham-a-distorted-image-and-real-threat-to-north-carolina-agriculture/
I agree with what everyone is saying about how fraudulently our national and state Republican Party behaves as phony conservatives. My local Republican Party is not exempt either. Our county recently elected three new Republican school board members. Two of the conservatives beat RINOs and the third beat a long serving Democrat. Already, county Republican Party officers are working the community saying, “We’ve got to do something about the three new guys.” One year in and the official party is on the attack against conservative Republicans. This is not an anomaly. It is pervasive and I believe the phenomena is well thought out and organized.
At this time the Republican Party is not our friend. Still, conservatives continue to need it for ballot access. We must keep a strong weather eye when dealing with these folks.
Tillis, Moore, Berger, Whatley, McDaniel, McConnell, McCarthy–they’re all repulsive to any true conservative, and especially to any Christian conservative. I left the GOP because of these traitorous pukes!
Climate change Fellows coming to NC..
Clean energy, green….suppose part of Coop’s bill that REPUBLICANS accepted…
https://www.usda.gov/media/press-releases/2023/12/22/usda-now-accepting-applications-40-climate-change-fellows-help
Farmers are wising up to this wind and solar crap.
https://stopthesethings.com/2023/06/24/wind-industrys-callous-treatment-of-rural-communities-driving-farmers-revolt/
https://stopthesethings.com/2023/10/08/farmers-rejecting-wind-power-projects-to-avoid-massive-clean-up-costs/
Sadly, you are right, that it was liberal “Republcan” sellouts like Phil Berger and Tim Moore that gave lefty Roy Cooper his wet dream of NC’s Green New Deal (HB951)
https://www.beaufortcountynow.com/post/48970/ncs-green-new-deal-the-anatomy-of-a-betrayal.html
Congressman Tim Burchett made it clear in his interview the other day that so-called conservatives end up being anything but because they weren’t conservative with their personal lives and get blackmailed into voting for garbage. By now, if conservatives don’t understand that no reform can be done without abandoning the worm-eaten carcass of the NCGOP and entering their own party, they’re hopeless.