20 Comments

Great Analysis! There is much that can be done to fix things using conservative Ideals, but the current crop of Republicans are not interested in new solutions. Instead they seek to try to stop the clock by legislating intrusive, mean spirited laws so that they can maintain their own power at the expense of the country.

What really frightens me, is the thought that Trump could run for Congress using a pocket Republican district and then become Speaker of the House!

God help us if that happens.

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Why? Erick advocated shooting the January 6th protestors......what if that had happened?

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Your memory must be better than mine. I don't recall Erick saying anything like that. IMO, shooting protesters makes us no better than Myanmar.

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The post was entitled “I Told You So”. This is just the last part of the post:

“ When national talk radio hosts, TV hosts, pundits, politicians, state party chairs, etc. are all expounding on conspiracy theories of stolen elections and giving legitimacy to crazy, the President’s voters don’t show up at the ballot box, they show up to storm the Capitol.

This is madness and shameful.

Shoot the protestors storming the Capitol. Ted Cruz and Josh Hawley need to stop the clown show on the floor of the Senate. It is time to accept reality.”

Thanks for subscribing to Erick Erickson's Confessions of a Political Junkie. This post is public, so feel free to share it.

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The only people with any fight seem to live outside the Beltway.

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I suppose if you live on social media, you'd call it a "puffed up rage machine". I do have a twitter account sitting around somewhere, but I couldn't tell you the last time I actually logged in.

What's *funny* your statement of "The American public embraced stability" is...we actually...had stability. No wars, solid economy...loud mouth on twitter. Of course, in order to disrupt stability, the left and the media griped about every little thing possible.

There is a loss of hope. A feeling of, no matter what, the left and the media will lie.

I'm sure there were people saying, let's just end this clown show and things can go back to normal.

What is normal?

The news telling the...news?

When will that happen again?

The left not lying?

Waiting.

As Erick has referenced before, those folks who said God will reverse the election results (something like that) and he said they were kooks...well, I think it is kooky to sit back and say God will make sure this all works out at this point.

You can't just sit back and...hope.

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Insightful and truthful. Let's begin by expressing our "hope" that God is in control, His plan is moving forward and there is true excitement for us to see what He will do. Of course, this will not resonate among those who do not believe; yet I'm sure when they cross a road they look both right and left so as to avoid being crushed by an oncoming truck. Reality "is." So also God "is."

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The problem I’ve noticed is how many burgeoning self-identified conservatives are ignorant of basic principles of limited government, have poor public schooling, and could really use an American Conservative 101 to discern wheat from chaff. For example, 10 years ago I noticed how Drudge was leading a mob of clickers around with click bait titles to pound on innocent/righteous people who were actually struggling through Democrat policy wrongs to right the ship...so this mob was essentially the secret weapon of standing corruption and just willing to chase the red flag of “they’re doing progressive things”

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I am not at all sanguine about these United States remaining united in the long term. Currently one half of the country just desires to be left alone and the other half is determined to rule, in perpetuity if they get their way. A breaking point is inevitible. I envision a movement towards an amicable divorce sometime in the next 50 years. I say amicable because I do not think the Left has the stomach to use force to prevent it. They’d just as soon see the one half leave and get back to their navel gazing.

In all likelyhood we will see the conservative states nullify Federal rules and laws with which they disagree. We’ve already seen this used effectively in Left leaning states ignoring or refusing to enforce Federal immigration and marijauna laws. Then one state will decide enough is enough and move to secede, others will join in and there you have it. Effectively a national divorce.

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Mr. Erickson I love your optimism.

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Where is the word "conservatism" found in the Bible?

Since the time of Goldwater, idolotry of "conservative" ideology has crept up on right-thinking people and eclipsed the grace and koinonia of Jesus' gospel. Now Right-wingers accuse progressives of marxist socialism.

But whatever happened to our Lord's instruction about just what His will is for His people? When asked upon what basis would He divide the sheep from the goats, Jesus explained it this way:

"I was hungry and you gave me something to eat; I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink; I was a stranger and you invited me in."

Where is the conservatism in that?

He did not instruct us to protect our precious assets with guns and 2nd-amendment arguments. He did not command us to speculate on stocks that are inflated with derivative hot air and ponzi-puffed-up valuations.

Too many Right-thinking Christians have allowed themselves, over the course of the last half-century, to fall into selfish American conceit instead of the generosity of Christian grace and mercy.

In neglecting the weightier matters of God's Law--justice and mercy--Right-thinkers abandoned benevolence and Christian charity toward the poor in favor of feathering their own suburban nests, and nurturing an obsession with their own rights.

That fertile field of Christian charity and benevolence was neglected because of the obsession with self-interested politics. When the "strangers" of Matthew 25 were straggling in from poorer regions, trying to get to the promised land of (make America) great again, they were turned away as so-called conservatives were obsessing with building a wall to keep them out.

Then progressives and socialists moved in with their .gov programs and marxian manipulations to occupy the grounds of altruism and philanthropy formerly occupied by Christian benevolence.

America should have listened to a prophetic voice, Dr. King's, when he insisted upon the ancient utterance of Amos: "Let justice roll down like the waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream!"

We never should have neglected the weightier matters of the law--justice and mercy.

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Christians didn't abandon their benevolence, they give more and do more volunteer work for the poor than any government program! The government (progressives) came in because they saw an opportunity to exploit the poor (which they equate with stupid), as a means for gaining control! NO government program has really helped the poor get out of being poor, those programs just keep them in their place! Jesus wants us to help each other out of LOVE not MANIPULATION! God will see what's in every heart! This is not to say every Christian on the right is good or that every leftist is bad, but that folks who are trying to better their own life, do so to help others! It's hard to help someone when you are the one drowning!

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Carol, I really do hope you are correct about this. I am just glad the Trump deadend is over and we can get back to being true conservatives and Christians again.

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I hear your points but have not Americans - with feathered suburban nests - voluntarily given billions in charity, not including what they’ve volunteered to have taxed and that’s not including all the time spent in service at public schools and community organizations and donating quality goods to thrift stores. If America were as uniformly cold-hearted as you imply, it would not be as inviting as it is. The reality is that we do need more Christianity - more faith, hope, charity. But we also need to stop promoting policy that robs the more honest/conscientious/law-abiding of self-sustaining economics and enriches the less honest/conscientious/law-abiding of us via black market free market capitalism.

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Yes, Olivia. I may have gotten a little excited. I think there is a reasonable middle ground between these two progressive vs. conservative worldviews. And I think our already-great America has historically done very well in balancing these two political positions. Probably the reason I got a little worked up is because what we have just been through--the Trump deadend-- was quite scary to me.

The Trump deception was a powermongering manipulation of conservative inclinations that never did actually represent true conservatism, nor Christian traditions of benevolence and philanthropy.

What bothers me is that progressives talk as if they want to bring opportunity for advancement to poor people, whereas conservatives seem to be concerned with their own agenda of staying comfortable when so many are suffering.

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"None seem to have a real path forward other than puffery, casting blame, decrying the conservatism they think has failed them"...Uh, every time, EVERY TIME moderates and progressive RINOs undermine, minimize, and obfuscate conservatism. There have only been two times actual conservatism has had a shot and been tried, Reagan and Newt. Both times it has been WILDLY successful. However, it also diminishes people of power in the GOP because at its core conservatism is for smaller government. Those who have made a career of getting rich off the public teet feel threatened when you suggest that teet should be smaller.

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Once again, you have hit the nail on the head.

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This is why I subscribe. Keep up the good work.

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We are reaping the spoiled fruit of the 1980’s Moral Majority movement.

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No. The "sixties". The effects are ongoing and not at all good.

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