Conservatism

Imagining A Theodore Roosevelt-Donald Trump Meeting!

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At a tumultuous time like now, in late March 2025, after two months of the second Donald Trump Presidency, it seems appropriate to make a comparison between a past President, Theodore Roosevelt, the 26th President, and Donald Trump, the 45th and 47th President.

First, the similarities:

Both TR and Trump were Republican Presidents, although massively different in philosophy and outlook.

Both TR and Trump ushered in massive change, revolutionary in many ways.

Both TR and Trump were attention grabbers on a daily basis, constantly creating news and publicity.

Both TR and Trump were egomanics, having an element of insecurity that required them to insist on “rocking the boat” on a regular basis.

Both TR and Trump could be described as “characters”, highly outspoken more than any other combination of Presidents.

It has been said that TR wanted to be “the bride at every wedding, and the groom on every wedding cake”, and that Trump wanted to be equally admired and noticed constantly.

TR was toasted by Great Britain as a great man during and after his Presidency, and loved every minute of it, while Donald Trump was toasted as a great man during his first Presidency by the Saudi Arabian government, and loved every minute of it!

Both TR and Trump were born to wealth and in New York City, with TR in Manhattan, and Trump in Queens County, and with TR’s vacation home in Nassau County, Long Island, at Oyster Bay, and Trump’s vacation home in Palm Beach County, Florida at Mar a Lago.

As former Presidents running again for reelection in 1912 for TR and 2024 for Trump, both were victims of assassination attempts, with TR more seriously wounded than Trump, but both showing a defiant spirit at the time of their being victims.

Now, the massive differences between TR and Trump!

TR was our youngest President ever at age 42 and ten and a half months of age in September 1901, while Trump was our oldest inagurated President age 78 and 7 months in January 2025, and he will be the oldest President when he leaves office in 2029, surpassing Joe Biden in that statistic if it occurs.

TR believed in a need for a stronger, more engaged national government, challenging the conservative, laissez faire philosophy of the Republican Party, and proudly asserting he was a “progressive”.

Trump has declared “war” on the federal government, wanting to cut down the involvement of the national government in a wide variety of ways, promoting a return to state and local government control as in the Gilded Age of the late 19th century.

TR was the promoter of environmental reform and conservation of natural resources, regarded as the single most significant President in that area of policy.

Trump has made clear his desire to shut down most environmental and conservation efforts, and promote more drilling and more industrial use of natural resources, despite the reality of climate change and global warming. He is attempting to cut back on national parks, national conservation lands and national monuments in a dramatic fashion.

TR believed in the need for federal government regulation for consumers, regarding food and drug protection, while Trump has allowed himself to appoint a Health and Human Services Secretary, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr, who is reckless and unstable, and has created great concerns about the protection of health for the American people.

TR promoted openmindedness on workers’s rights, while Trump has demonstrated that he is unconcerned about the average working man and the significance of labor unions.

TR believed in the concept of corporate regulation and responsibility, while Trump has the belief that corporations should not be regulated, and corporate taxes should be cut, both in his first term, and now in his second term. So TR utilized the anti trust laws, while Trump has not and will not do so.

TR and Trump both were involved in the issue of the Panama Canal, with TR promoting a revolution in the area of Colombia which broke away, became independent with US support, and agreed to the building of the Canal, while Trump is now promoting US takeover the Canal, which was given back by treaty in 1977 under Jimmy Carter, and returning to Panamanian control in the year 2000.

TR was aggressive in his relations with the rest of Latin America, promoting the “Big Stick” policy, with intervention in Cuba and the Dominican Republic, while Trump has created tensions in the entire Western Hemisphere, and including our Canadian neighbors to the North, as well as the nations south of the US.

TR cultivated good relations with Japan, while looking down on China, while Trump is being aggressive in his policies toward China, and ready to use tariffs against all nations, including those in Asia.

TR wanted good relations with Europe, particularly with Great Britain and France; was suspicious of Germany; and critical of Russia and its mistreatment of Jews and other minorities. Trump, on the other hand, seems ready to abandon NATO and our close alliances with Western democracies since World War II, and is cozying up with our traditional antagonist, the Russian Federation..

TR won the Nobel Peace Prize for helping to negotiate the treaty ending the Russo-Japanese War, while Trump is hoping for a Nobel Peace Prize by resolving the Russia-Ukraine War.

It is very clear that TR, were he alive today, would be a major critic of Donald Trump, and would have no issue in confronting him openly and “in his face”.

The question is how would Trump react to such scathing and extreme criticism!

Defeat Of Donald Trump Only Way To Save Republican Party And Conservatism!

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The Republican Party and conservatism have had a long history, best represented by Barry Goldwater and Ronald Reagan as its major luminaries, with both assuredly condemning Donald Trump, were they alive today!

Now, vast numbers of conservatives are repudiating the candidacy of Donald Trump, as they well realize he is a total electoral disaster, and his lunatic behavior is causing many of them to back the candidacy of Kamala Harris, as the only way to survive Trump.

So conservatism is still going to be a challenge to Democrats and progressive and liberal values in the future, but the sense is that MAGA Trumpism is a disease, a cancer, that must be excised before conservatism is able to offer a legitimate alternative in the future in the Republican Party.

In other words, purging is essential, and the total defeat of Donald Trump and his followers, who are a threat to American democracy, the Constitution, and rule of law.

Republican Party Destroying Itself From Within

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The Republican Party, born in 1854, is very likely to die in 2024, and be replaced by a different political entity.

Their decision to support a criminal President, Donald Trump, and start impeachment action against a decent, compassionate, accomplished President, Joe Biden, will put the final nails in the coffin of the party of Lincoln, TR, Ike, Reagan, and Bush.

When Marjorie Taylor Greene calls for secession of states and a new Civil War, and when Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy allows an attack on a man, Joe Biden, he knows has done nothing wrong or illegal, it is clear that the party is in its death spiral.

There is a dire need for a solid conservative party based on principle and on support of the American democratic republic, and the GOP is in its death throes!

Calvin Coolidge Became the 30th President A Century Ago!

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Precisely a century ago, Vice President Calvin Coolidge succeeded to the Presidency upon the death of President Warren G. Harding.

Coolidge would be shocked to see how the Presidency has been transformed since his time, as he was a believer in a limited Presidency, and is seen as the most conservative President of the 20th century, with the possible exception of Ronald Reagan, who greatly admired him.

Coolidge would have been opposed to the New Deal of Franklin D. Roosevelt, and the Great Society of Lyndon B. Johnson, based on his conservative, small government philosophy.

But he also would have been greatly disturbed by the corruption of Richard Nixon and Donald Trump, as his administration moved to prosecute the corruption of his predecessor, who had sadly presided over the most political corruption since Ulysses S. Grant.

It has often been said that Calvin Coolidge would have fit in better in the 19th century, with John Quincy Adams fitting in better a century later in Coolidge’s place!

We can also say he most certainly would not have fitted well in the succession of Republican Chief Executives, particularly Nixon and Trump!

Can Senator Tim Scott Become The Republican Presidential Nominee In 2024?

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The only black Republican Senator, Tim Scott of South Carolina, has just entered the race for the Presidency.

With only five black Republican House members and Scott the only black Republican Senator, the Republican Party does not have the image of caring about African Americans.

So the question arises whether Scott has any possility of becoming the Republican nominee for the White House.

With South Carolina being a crucial state in the battle for the nomination of both parties, he might have an avenue to advance, but also has to deal with the woman who chose him originally to fill an open Senate seat a decade ago, then Governor and later United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley, who has already announced her own Presidential candidacy,

And Donald Trump has the backing of the South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster and Senator Lindsey Graham, so these complexities make one wonder if Scott has any chance to move forward.

Scott comes across as likeable to his own Republican Senate colleagues, with South Dakota Senator John Thune, the Minority Whip, endorsing him, and even New Jersey Democratic Senator Cory Booker praising him as a colleague across the aisle.

His announcement was inspiring to those who think conservative government is the best, and have no issue with his promotion of Christianity in government.

But such viewpoints are not inspirational to anyone, such as this author and blogger, who believes in progressive and liberal values.

Scott will make the race more interesting for sure, but one has to wonder how Donald Trump will treat him in language and behavior, as the former President’s racism may, once again, show up in his rhetoric.

The Republican Accountability Project Priceless In Its Attack On Trump And His Supporters

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The Republican Accountability Project is dedicated to defending the principles of the Republican Party and is against Donald Trump and everything he stands for, including the January 6, 2021 US Capitol Insurrection.

In league with the earlier Lincoln Project, designed to undermine Trump in the 2020 Presidential Election cycle, those Republicans and conservatives in the earlier and present organizations are working to insure that the conservative values they share are able to prevent the future nomination of Donald Trump for President in 2024, and any other political leader who has been willing to sell their soul to support and court Donald Trump.

Those in the group include: George Conway, whose wife KellyAnne Conway, worked for Trump during his Presidency and still supports him; Steve Schmidt, who worked for John McCain in his 2008 Presidential campaign; John Weaver; Rick Wilson; Michael Steele, former head of the Republican National Committee in 2009-2010; Kurt Bardella; Susan Del Percio; Stuart Stevens; Max Boot; Jennifer Rubin; Bill Kristol; Mike Murphy; Miles Taylor; and Olivia Troye.

The ads the Republican Accountability Project has produced, and will continue to do so, hopefully will lead to the failure of Trumpism to keep a hold on the party as we near the Midterm Elections of 2022 and the Presidential Election of 2024!

Joe Biden’s January 6 Anniversary Speech An Epic Moment That Will Be Remembered In History!

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President Joe Biden gave an epic speech in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol Building yesterday, marking a year since the horrendous tragedy of the January 6, 2021 Insurrection perpetrated by Donald Trump! It will be remembered in the long run of American history!

Biden laid the blame for the violence, bloodshed, loss of life, and destruction incited by a now former President, who has acted like a spoiled child for a year, refusing to accept defeat, as it hurts his ego!

Donald Trump will face prosecution this year, possibly in three locations—Washington DC, New York City and State, and Georgia. His older children will also face justice, and the Trump family will go down as the most disgraced Presidential family by far in American history!

Matt Lewis, a well known conservative, said that Biden’s speech yesterday shows he finally became President in a full sense. Many conservatives are intelligent and ethical enough that they realize what a total disaster and tragedy Donald Trump has been for the American nation!

Trump has promoted mental illness that he has in millions of ignorant, biased Americans who have authoritarian tendencies, and the fight for the sustainment of democracy is in full swing, as to abandon it would defy the story of American history, the struggle for equality and justice!

The Republican Party Of History Is Gone! 1854-2022!

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The Republican Party of history once stood for human rights, civil rights, racial equality, in the age of Abraham Lincoln.

The Republican Party of history once stood for progressive reforms, in the age of Theodore Roosevelt, Robert LaFollette, Sr., and George Norris.

The Republican Party of history once stood for promoting internationalism and fighting the Cold War for democracy and against the threat of totalitarianism, in the age of Dwight D. Eisenhower, Richard Nixon, and Ronald Reagan.

The Republican Party of history once stood for Civil Rights in the age of Senators and Congressmen who joined with Democrats to promote political and social reform.

The Republican Party of history had its elements which were evil and divisive, but the party overall stood for basic principles of decency while promoting conservatism and the concept of limited national government.

But now, the Republican Party has promoted massive give aways to the wealthy, while having no concern about the needs of the middle class and the poor.

But now, the Republican Party consorts with authoritarian regimes of the Left and the Right, including collaborating with Vladimir Putin to fix the Presidential Election of 2016, and to make concessions to the Russian Federation during the era of Donald Trump.

But now, the Republican Party has the craziest conceivable elements in its party, who promote sedition, treason, and attacks on the Constitution and the rule of law.

Only a small element of the 2021-2022 Republican Party is part of the mainstream of American politics, and they are outnumbered and attacked for their commitment to decency, honesty, and the tenets of American democracy. Plaudits to Liz Cheney, Adam Kinzinger, Anthony Gonzalez, Peter Meijer, John Katko, Tom Rice, Lisa Murkowski, Susan Collins, Ben Sasse, Mitt Romney, Pat Toomey, and a small group of other courageous, principled Congressmen and Senators!

Donald Trump and his ilk, which include millions of ignorant, prejudiced white supremacists, antisemites, Islamophobes, racists, nativists and misogynists, represent a dire threat to the American republic, and must be combatted by every legal tool available, to allow America to reach its 250th anniversary in 2026 as a nation still keeping its values and heritage that are a model for democracy around the world in the 21st century!

Republican Party Is Selling Its Reputation To Donald Trump, Who Is Hellbent On Destroying The Party!

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The Republican Party is in the process of destroying its legacy, and selling its reputation to Donald Trump, who is hellbent on destroying the party in his quest for absolute power, and destruction of American democracy!

Whether one agrees or not with the conservative philosophy of the Republican Party throughout its history, the party has added to the constant debate over the nature of government.

The Republican Party had its great leaders with courage and convictions, from the time of the party being founded as a reform party in the 1850s, through its various highs and lows over the past 167 years from 1854 onward.

Its low points included 1912, when William Howard Taft won only two states, 23 percent of the vote, and 8 electoral votes; to 1964, when Barry Goldwater won less than 40 percent of the vote, and only 6 states; to the shock of a reckless businessman, Donald Trump, who was able to hijack the party and its principles in 2016, and now has set out to destroy the party and the nation by refusing to concede defeat in the Presidential Election of 2020, and is a dire threat for the future!

Where are the “Profiles in Courage” that put the welfare of the nation over their own ambitions, and are willing to stand up to Trump Fascism, and its promotion of white supremacy and domestic terrorism, as demonstrated in the January 6, 2021 Insurrection on the US Capitol!

Only a small group is putting the nation and American democracy ahead of their own naked ambitions!

So on this Thanksgiving Day, we have to be thankful that Joe Biden is President, and do everything to insure that the Democratic Party overcomes history, and keeps control, and gains seats in both the House of Representatives and the Senate in 2022!

Two Profiles In Courage: Liz Cheney And Adam Kinzinger Voting To Censure Arizona Congressman Paul Gosar!

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This author and blogger is not a fan of conservatism, and definitely not a fan of former Vice President Dick Cheney, or his daughter, Congresswoman Liz Cheney of Wyoming.

He is also not a big fan of Illinois Congressman Adam Kinzinger, whose conservative views are not his idea of leadership.

But both of them, Cheney and Kinzinger, have shown they have principle and are true profiles in courage, who someday will have an historian write a book on their willingness to stand up to extremist Fascist rhetoric and the danger of Donald Trump!

Both are on the House Select Committee investigating the January 6 US Capitol Insurrection, and both voted to impeach Trump after that event.

And both now have condemned Arizona Congressman Paul Gosar, just about the most extreme member of the Republican Party, who put a anime cartoon on Twitter which portrayed the assassination of New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and a sword combat of Gosar with President Joe Biden.

This advocacy and portrayal of violence is not a laughing matter, and led to the censure of Gosar in the House of Representatives, with only Cheney and Kinzinger, of all Republicans, joining the Democratic majority to take such action, which has only occurred 23 previous times in the history of the lower chamber since 1789!

Gosar should be expelled from the House of Representatives, but that cannot happen unless there was a bipartisan vote of two thirds of the chamber, which will not happen.

But for Republicans to defend the advocacy of violence, and for Republican Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy to refuse to condemn Gosar’s action is an outrage that will cause much grief in the future, and particularly if the Republicans, due to gerrymandering, are able to regain control of the House of Representatives in the midterm Congressional Elections of 2022!

This whole situation reminds historians of the Congressional violence and advocacy of violence in the pre Civil War period, particularly in the decade of the 1850s!

Terrifying to think that Congress itself is becoming a battleground of extremism and violence, due to the extremism and danger of Donald Trump!