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.
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I don’t believe I’ve heard or read anybody saying populism is conservatism.
Conservatism is too far down the road to worry about now. Now we have to conquer communism and Islamism, by any means available, because the communist and the Islamists are using any means available to conquer us.
This guy talks like a fag and his s***’s all retarded.
Who are all these people piling on at this time? There’s a fox in the hen house. You know it when they use the word “cult “ as in group think. The right is like herding cats and I like the independence of that. If everyone chants the same slogan, I’m outta here.
What have conservatives actually conserved ?
They used the lead to get to the tariffs and how they failed. Well they didn’t. Since the tariffs started:
Suspended rare earth export controls: China delayed its new export licensing regime for rare earth elements and related technologies.
Resumed U.S. agricultural purchases: China agreed to buy a minimum of 25 million metric tons of U.S. soybeans annually for the next three years and lifted retaliatory tariffs on other U.S. agricultural products.
Agreed to combat fentanyl: China pledged to crack down on the flow of chemicals used to make fentanyl into the United States.
Ended retaliatory actions: China ceased other recent retaliatory actions against U.S. companies and lifted retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods.
Relaxed semiconductor trade restrictions: China agreed to relax some export controls on semiconductors and resume trade for semiconductor production.
Think they would have done this on their own?
wy69
They used the lead to get to the tariffs and how they failed. Well they didn’t. Since the tariffs started:
Suspended rare earth export controls: China delayed its new export licensing regime for rare earth elements and related technologies.
Resumed U.S. agricultural purchases: China agreed to buy a minimum of 25 million metric tons of U.S. soybeans annually for the next three years and lifted retaliatory tariffs on other U.S. agricultural products.
Agreed to combat fentanyl: China pledged to crack down on the flow of chemicals used to make fentanyl into the United States.
Ended retaliatory actions: China ceased other recent retaliatory actions against U.S. companies and lifted retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods.
Relaxed semiconductor trade restrictions: China agreed to relax some export controls on semiconductors and resume trade for semiconductor production.
Think they would have done this on their own?
wy69
Just what is conservatism? Ask ten people and you’ll get ten different answers.
Stopped reading at croaky
Why is Charlie Kirk mentioned in the headline? Maybe that “Kirk” is referring to Capt. Kirk. I didn’t see anything relating to either of them in the article — maybe I missed it.
Croaky? I would never take advice from someone named Croaky.
I have no idea what this guy is talking about.
Whoever said that no tarriffs are the bedrock of conservatism.
Trump did first rate job of explaining that in the first 100 years of America’s existence it was a high tarriff country—with no income taxes. That enabled the USA industry to ward off the better british industrialists through the 19th century.
Then when US industry became more competitive than the british industrialists—the switched policies to become a low tarriff country.
Now that so many countries have better industries than the US—its best for the US to revert to being a high tarriff country so as to nurture the growth of the US industries.
Big deal.
No conservatism needed. Just common sense. Thank you very much.
To me Economic Nationalism is the bedrock of conservatism, and that means doing what’s best for the country. Sometimes it’s higher tariffs, sometimes not.
“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.”
By “we” he is describing Democrats. This Brady Bunch reject sounds like the guy who calls in a radio show and says “I voted for Trump 3x but blah, blah, blah...”.
This is not a criticism of you, TPM.
I disliked this article wholly. Of course Populism is not Conservatism, and the author seems fully invested in the notion that the Trump Presidency is all populism and no substance.
This person who wrote it sounds like a weak-kneed wimp who is going to cave at the first hint of pushback and run to the rear. These people who have taken over our country, robbed it of industry, infected it with DEI, CRT, and Affirmative Action did not do this overnight.
It took them decades to do it. And that destruction was nearly complete in 2024. This attempt to reclaim our country from those people is not going to be done overnight. It isn't going to be perfect. These evil people who have infested society at all levels, not just the government aren't going to raise their hands and surrender as they walk out the door saying "You got me."
They are burrowed in like ticks, and rooting them out and eliminating their influence and policies is going to take years, if not decades.
And it isn't going to all go in one direction...ours. That mindset is stupid, asinine, juvenile, and weak. There are going to be victories and losses. We will go through times of one step forward, one or two steps back. I won't be perfect, it won't be clean, and mistakes will be made.
People who write articles like this can exercise their free speech and spew blather as long as they don't get in the damn way.
LOL, I read your post and thought I had stuck the “Idiocracy” DVD in my home theater!
I hated the piece, if you cannot tell.
“Now we have to conquer communism and Islamism, by any means available”
You cannot conquer them by acting like them; you do and you become just like them with the “success” of that justifying continuing to be just like them. You become culture of the means and methods you adopt.
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