[BlackFemaleArmyColonel]

Bill Mitchell ‏@mitchellvii: "Trump is the NEW Conservatism. A Conservatism based on listening to the voters and getting results - not enriching and empowering the Elite."

[Veracious Poet]

When YOU say Conservative, what do YOU mean?

I used to think I was a "Conservative", but then I did a bit more of a study of Our origins and discovered I an an AMERICAN:

The state of nature has a law of nature to govern it, which obliges every one: and reason, which is that law, teaches all mankind, who will but consult it, that being all equal and independent, no one ought to harm another in his life, health, liberty, or possessions. ~ John Locke 1690

WE hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness -- That to secure these Rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just Powers from the Consent of the Governed...

[DesertRhino]

They mean “republican” of course! And that they are -slightly- to the right of the communist party worshiping democrats.

[Amendment10]

Patriots, beware that “conservative” is a misleading, PC term imo. The real issue is the federal government’s constitutionally limited powers and associated limited power to appropriate taxes.

• “Congress is not empowered to tax for those purposes which are within the exclusive province of the States.” —Justice John Marshall, Gibbons v. Ogden, 1824.

• "From the accepted doctrine that the United States is a government of delegated powers, it follows that those not expressly granted, or reasonably to be implied from such as are conferred, are reserved to the states, or to the people. To forestall any suggestion to the contrary, the Tenth Amendment was adopted. The same proposition, otherwise stated, is that powers not granted are prohibited [emphasis added]. ...” —United States v. Butler, 1936.

[Bogie]

http://www.unz.com/article/trump-victorious-as-gop-transformed-into-a-national-conservative-party/

[coldoc]

The same could be asked of various other terms used commonly to conjure up negative thoughts: EVANGELICAL CHRISTIAN, RACIST, DENIER, SEXIST...

I believe this is another form of ad-hominum attacks used by small minds to try to exert some control over things they know nothing about and probably don’t have the mental capacity to understand. These tend to be heavily represented in Leftist, Liberal, Progressive, and dependent groups/organizations.

Their repeated over-use of all these terms brands them as the intellectually deficient people they are.

[niki]

I agree. I know longer have any idea what it means. Seems to mean anti-American globalist neocon with no loyalty to We the People.

[rockinqsranch]

The Republican Party, the GOPe have pretty much succeeded over the past two decades redefining the perception of conservatism.

They have people believing conservatism is them, and whatever today they want to sell conservatism as.

I like the idea of putting the GOPe on the spot, and making them spit it out of their lying mouths as to what they think conservatism is. It needs to be a daily question until the confusion causes a demand for truth.

Make America Great Again.

[Typical_Whitey]

It is really only the NEOCONS that got their panties all twisted over Trump because he is a non interventionist and they love the MIC and perpetual warmonger types....

You can be tough and not start wars all over the globe see Ronald Reagan for example.

[Scott from the Left Coast]

To the #NeverTrump’s like Bush and Romney and Ryan and Graham, being conservative means taking the big money from the Chamber and big international corporations in return for making sure they get the policies that will increase their bottom line. That’s what being conservative means to them.

[LowOiL]

To me conservative means little without the Prefix “Christian”. Christian Conservative means something that is grounded in the rock that drives the direction of conservatism. Without it, the other means nothing.

It matters little what is mandated speech (here or elsewhere) if one is trying to be true to the Lord of Lords.

Woe to you when all men speak well of you (even at FR), for that is how their fathers treated the false prophets. - Luke 6:26 (w/ artistic license in parenthesis)

One must speak one’s mind as mandated by what we know is the truth. We are given a guide and it does not once contain “never bend to envy” in Proverbs.

And not rather, (as we be slanderously reported, and as some affirm that we say,) Let us do evil, that good may come? whose damnation is just. - Romans 6:1-2

“Discernment is not knowing the difference between right and wrong. It is knowing the difference between right and almost right.” — Charles H. Spurgeon

It is knowing when someone can’t even deal with the simplest of moral conundrums (guys don’t use the women’s restroom) because their compass is non-existent with anything remotely based on the rock.

Fruits - they are either good or bad. There is a difference.

[Agnes Heep]

Statism that works for me, not just the corporate elitists, welfare recipients and minority whiners.

[knarf]

Holding on to the ideas and concepts of things I knew as a younger man .. even as a child .. when life was simpler and less complicated

I don't want to lose them, or 'use them up' ... I want to "conserve" them.

For me, a lot of politics and social structure is embodied in the works of Norman Rockwell.

[knarf]

Holding on to the ideas and concepts of things I knew as a younger man .. even as a child .. when life was simpler and less complicated

I don't want to lose them, or 'use them up' ... I want to "conserve" them.

For me, a lot of politics and social structure is embodied in the works of Norman Rockwell.

[grania]

Their “conservative” is to conserve and expand all power, rights and wealth globally for themselves.

[Cboldt]

Ask 100 people what "conservative" means, and you will get 100 different answers. For grins, I thought it might be fun to find out what William F. Buckley thought that term means. National Review Mission Statement - William F. Buckley Jr. November 19, 1955

The most alarming single danger to the American political system lies in the fact that an identifiable team of Fabian operators is bent on controlling both our major political parties(under the sanction of such fatuous and unreasoned slogans as "national unity," "middle-of-the-road," "progressivism," and "bipartisanship.") ...

No superstition has more effectively bewitched America's Liberal elite than the fashionable concepts of world government, the United Nations, internationalism, international atomic pools, etc. Perhaps the most important and readily demonstrable lesson of history is that freedom goes hand in hand with a state of political decentralization, that remote government is irresponsible government. It would make greater sense to grant independence to each of our 50 states than to surrender U.S. sovereignty to a world organization.

It stands to reason that these operators would also infiltrate and adopt the label of "conservative," as well as publications that started out with the mission of advocating for "whatever conservatism is."

[RaceBannon]

It can start by supporting less government
It can start by NOT supporting those who are for illegal immigration
It can start by NOT supporting those who promote Islaamic immigration
It can start by NOT being two face about everyone else

so, that leaves out Trump right from the start

[AppyPappy]

“When YOU say Conservative, what the hell do YOU mean?”

Doesn’t financially support far-left candidates like Hillary Clinton and Jerry Brown.
Pro-life all the time
A conservative voting record in office

[Blue Jays]

My concern is when a "pure" Conservative gets stuck on ONE pet topic. That is when things get challenging.

This is much like abortion and RKBA / Second Amendment rights, for example. Liberals do not wish firearms to be permissible. In both cases, my feeling is pure Conservatives should NOT get abortions if they do not want them and should perhaps convince others not to get them...yet they remain LEGAL.

In the case of firearms...Liberals should be free to NOT have them in their homes or their private property. They can encourage people not to own them, too. Firearms should naturally remain LEGAL and people who are Conservative can continue to happily buy and possess them as they wish.

One would suppose I am more of a hands-off individual who allows people to make their own decisions for themselves. Anything that specifically does not require Federal involvement (like the military) should be pushed to States to administer on a far more local method.

That is my quick $0.02 viewpoint on it with two limited examples.
This is naturally a very complex topic that could take volumes of space!

[Redmen4ever]

Winners do not unite the party by saying now it’s time for you to agree with me. They unite the party by “making deals,” such as:

Showing the factions of the party how their interests are advanced by the winner of the nomination winning in the general election. Typically this is done on the basis of the lesser of two evils. You might not agree with me on everything (a euphemism for a wide range of disagreements), but I’m not a bad as Hillary Clinton.

The lesser of two evils tactic turns some people off and can be pushed too far. If pushed too far, the consequence is third party siphoning. So, in practice, winners of nominations simultaneously attempt to (1) motivate the base, (2) appeal to swing and independent voters, and (3) minimize third-party siphoning.

As for what “conservatives” believe, the word means different things over time and between the English-speaking world and the European continent. It can change in meaning and perhaps is changing in meaning. But, Reagan - who was not in real time supported by Trump - defined it as (1) a market-oriented economy, (2) upholding traditional moral values, and (3) a strong national defense. This definition preceded Reagan, dating back to about 1960, and continues to today, unless it has now changed.

There are differences between this definition of conservatism and the populist brand of conservatism, but there are similarities as well. Trump is a smart person and within reach of being elected President of the United States. He should be able to figure this out.