Posted on 11/09/2025 1:16:18 PM PST by TBP
How do I begin to cover today’s latest development: President Trump, having imposed steep tariffs on Chinese goods—tariffs that reached a staggering 145%—is now signaling a substantial reduction. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has acknowledged these tariffs are "unsustainable," hinting at a likely de-escalation in the trade war with China.
Yet, in a twist of political theater, this retreat is being celebrated by supporters as a strategic masterstroke. The same voices that once championed the tariffs as a bold stand against China now laud their rollback as a savvy move, all without a hint of irony.
I say this a lot, so you’re probably used to it but: This isn't conservatism; it's a parody of it. A movement that once valued consistency and intellectual rigor now revels in contradictions, mistaking them for cleverness.
They told us we were winning. The rallies were full, the influencers were loud, and the memes were ubiquitous.
But while the Right was busy building an identity out of merch drops and YouTube tantrums, something precious was quietly bleeding out—our ideas.
This was never supposed to be the story of conservatism: a movement once defined by statesmen and scholars, now reduced to a cosplay convention where quoting Burke gets you called a traitor and calling for restraint gets you booed off the stage by men in tactical shorts.
We used to respect things. Now we perform rage. We used to debate ideas. Now we chant slogans. We used to believe in virtue. Now we fundraise off vice.
What we’re watching is an exorcism in reverse—where instead of casting out demons, we invited them in, gave them a podcast, and made them keynote speakers.
But the reckoning is coming. And when it hits, it won’t just destroy the grift—it’ll stain the name of conservatism itself unless someone is left to salvage the truth.
If you do not understand conservatism enough to suggest it’s prime motive is “conservation”, as in “conserve”, then read up on the background of Conservatism in the U.S. context (not exactly the same as in the British sense).
Economic nationalism or nationalist economics is an ideology that prioritizes state intervention in the economy, including policies like domestic control.
I had this same discussion with a Freeper the other day who was agreeing with Marjorie Taylor Green when she was complimentary of Nancy Pelosi saying she did great things for her party, and Republicans should be more like her.
I reject that entirely.
Pelosi did many “great things” for the Democrat Party, but all are antithetical to our founding principles and Constitutional guidelines to get them done. In the end, to do her “great things” the things she did to achieve her party’s goals were the kinds of things the Constitution was meant to protect us against.
The heinous actions she took were INHERENT in the “great things” she accomplished for HER party.
Her actions are not something we should emulate.
I do understand , unfortunately “conservative” politicians do not.
As opposed to allowing foreign bad actors to intervene in our economy?
I thought he was referring to Russel Kirk who would be the first to remind us that conservatism is not a rigid ideology and of Bismark’s adage that law and government are distasteful like sausage making.
I will agree however, in describing Trump and his appeal the term conservative does not spring to mind. Perhaps traditionalist better applies.
“As opposed to allowing foreign bad actors to intervene in our economy?”
You do not have to become like them to not allow them to intervene in our economy.
I cannot say that I regard Economic Nationalism as the "bedrock of conservatism", but it is very important.
This business of doing things based on what Europe, South America, or Asia wants is idiotic. That is a One World, Globalist outlook, and it runs counter to human nature.
We are a sovereign country, and we should do things that are in our own best interests for our country. I would have to say, that kind of attitude and increased the quality of life for hundreds of millions of people over the last century or two.
I disliked Charles DeGaulle, but his admonition that "No nation has friends, only interests." gets to the heart of the matter.
One of the reasons Conservatism works is that its motives are in line with the parts of human nature that align with both self interest and individualism.
That doesn't mean we are selfish, but it does mean we don't have to subscribe to altruism to satisfy someone (especially mandatory altruism, which isn't altruism at all, but a tyrannical force) and in the end, the world comes out better because of it. Altruism isn't a natural motivating source in humans, even if self-interest is.
I’ll take populism over RINO-ism any day of the week.
I’m tired of the useless quislings that call themselves republicans, that claim to be conservatives, refusing to even lift a finger to counter the evil that is today’s democrat party.
Most Republicans are but modern day Whigs. Useless, pretend opposition to the destruction of our constitutional republic.
How is that “becoming like them”? We want good trade agreements that benefit both sides. But that’s not what you get with globalist organizations like the WTO.
The ability to ignore nonsense semantic games.
When was the last time the Democrats supported Democracy when they didn't win?
Russell Kirk maybe?
Conservatives have been conserving leftist victories.
The game has changed.
👍No other words needed.
"Intellectual conservatism" used to be all about quoting Burke and not about getting anything done. It was the "designated loser" in political debates, as people say about McCain and Romney. If you have Congress and the presidency, sure, you can be "restrained" but you have to be more than that. You have to actually do something, not repeat the same tired cant. I don't know what tactical shorts have to do with anything, but I do hope the writer's experience wasn't too traumatic.
Neither are these Neocons.
Thanks for reminding me that he used the word “cult” in the headline. He’s not for ideas. He’s for slander.
Ideas he seems to have missed: illegal immigration, domestic manufacturing, Islamic supremacy, gender confusion, politicized justice against conservatives, stolen elections, slouching towards Gomorrah, and the organized dominance of liberal Democrats in our institutions of mass indoctrination (”news,” entertainment, education).
They don’t say it, they act like it. Many act as if conservatism doesn’t even exist.
How can you conquer by surrendering?
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