[Boogieman]

“We are being attacked, because they have the upper hand, to such a degree, that they feel safe to do more than just destroy constitutional conservatism politically, but also to thoroughly marginalize and discredit the ideas themselves. They do this because they know they have won. Not because they fear they will lose.”

Sure, they have won, that is why they keep losing seats to those tea party “hobbits”. Right now, they have only two advantages left, their leadership positions in the party and their big money backers, and one of those they will lose soon enough if trends continue. So they are squeezing all they can out of those leadership positions while they can still hold on to them.

[jjsheridan5]

Right now, they have only two advantages left, their leadership positions in the party and their big money backers, and one of those they will lose soon enough if trends continue.

What trends are you seeing? Because it certainly appears that they have no fear of the voters, which would imply that they don't see those trends. When push comes to shove, how many of the 54 senators will back the establishment, and how many would take a stand against the left. If you think that the number of Senators who will fight, in any meaningful way, for conservatism exceeds a dozen, then I don't know what to say. We will have to agree to disagree. I feel very comfortable in the prediction (and equally uncomfortable in the reality) that the establishment Republicans will have firm control over all leadership positions for at least the next 5 years. And that they will continue to not bother pretending that they have anything other than contempt for conservatism.

They are not squeezing everything they can from their last few moments in power. They are preparing themselves for squeezing everything they can from the middle class, indefinitely. Thinking otherwise is just feel-good fantasy.