You About to Lose
The purpose of Conservatism is to stop progress from happening. The opposition to Conservatives is Progressives, those who want things to progress. To change.
A party based on fear of the future and resistance to change is absolutely going to find their appeal in retribution and anger. They think some magical “before” has been taken from them.
It’s not Trump and it’s not new. It’s the entire apparatus. It’s the politicians. It’s the insular media. It’s the donor network. It’s the courts. It’s the voters. It’s Pat Buchanan. It’s Rush Limbaugh. It’s David Duke. It’s Donald Trump. It’s Richard Nixon. It’s Barry Goldwater.
Conservatives in this country are defined by a dream of turning America into a version of 1985 or 1955 (or 1855) when it was truly great, which meant they didn’t have accountability and ran everything. Obviously so different from today. What did those times have in common? White, Christian, Male cultural dominance. There were other people, but they knew their place. It was absurd and ridiculous to think that all people had the same value. To think that people who are not YOU or like you are supposed to matter is a nonsensical concept.
This is the base instinct I see in Conservatism today. A vengeful and bitter group who complain and whine since they’re opposed to the concept of new ideas and are pining for a fantasy. This approach resonates with a very specific type of person. The type of person who is also bitter and vengeful because of unhappiness in their own lives. These people get thrills from punishing those they value less. They cheer police violence and fly flags to celebrate. They’re looking to eliminate swaths of society they don’t want here, from immigrants to trans folks to Muslims. They want to demean and deport anyone who protests publicly. They don’t want to eliminate the threat of those groups, since those groups offer no threat. They want to eliminate the culture of those groups.
They also think that everyone feels the same way they do. Secretly we all have a list of people we think don’t matter and who we’d like to torment. I don’t. Most people don’t. That’s not how people who are well-adjusted think. So, we hold them in contempt not just because their aspirations to slide backwards for the benefit of a small few has made them unappealing, but also because it’s made them small and anxious and spiteful.
While many are taught to be kind and respectful, the new default setting for Conservatives is that some people are generally deserving or respect while others are not. That’s how you end up with a 3-time Presidential Nominee best known for being a corrupt, cruel, and miserable conspiracy theorist. This means the anxieties and fears get amplified and more chaotic. That’s why you end up with insular weirdos demanding to see the genitals of teenagers before they’re allowed to play softball or wearing memorabilia showing the Democratic Presidential nominee as a cartoon sex doll or desperately analyzing the birth rate of white women in Europe.
Tim Walz called it weird, and they didn’t like that. Fine. It’s not weird. It damn sure ain’t normal, though. Your behavior is unusual and concerning. You all say and do the same types of things but without any stability or rationality. Old ladies wearing shirts asking for sexual assault. Little kids with cuss words and guns all over their clothing. Mangled American flags just everywhere. Plus all the little white supremacist group symbols you can think of. Motorcyle jackets looking the old NBA logo coats. It’s just throwing slurs and offenses at the wall in the hopes that something hurts. And then once it does, work to make it legislature. It’s a high-school bully getting to run things. Just picking on people they think are weaker to look just a little bit stronger. Pathetic.
I guess my main takeaway is that Conservatives are about to lose this election. They’ll probably keep the Senate, but they might not. The political map is whatever it is this year. The system is still trash. They’ll lose the House and the Presidency. That’s even though they continue to violate the law to deny Black people the right to vote. And that’s with the promise of more Rudy Guliani-esque attempts to break the law and undermine Democracy when they lose. Even with the illegality they’re still going to lose. That’s what losers do.
The last time they did a full assessment they were told to broaden the tent. Bring people in. Be the party that leads on immigration. Jeff Sessions said nah, and they nominated Trump.
I teach my kids that other people are as real as they are and just as deserving of respect. We don’t add caveats.
If Conservatives want a sustained movement based on bringing people in instead of pointing at the enemies they hate or changing the law to lead with even fewer voters, they’re going to have to understand that other people are just as real as they are and just as deserving of respect. That means whether they were born in the US, worship your god, share your gender/race/sexuality/, or have a few different ideas than you on what might be a good path to happiness or not.
There’s still hope for love in America. And the hateful losers losing is key step that’s just a few weeks away.
