96 Comments

It's a good thought, Erick, but how do you do it when mainstream politicians and mainstream media are all purveyors of conspiracy and fear-inducing theories? The strangest theories don't seem so strange when you hear similar or worse things again and again from people in responsible positions and mass media?

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Thanks again for saying it.

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I wish we would stop using the word conservative when referring to the, I don't know what to call it, the Trump fringe?? The ones who can't seem to accept truth of November 3. I don't know how many they are but they not an insignificant number. I'm coming around to Jonah Goldberg's view of them. Let them join the Patriot Party or whatever so there is a clear demarcation of conservative/classical liberal versus whatever the expletive deleted they are.

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I am with you 100% on this.

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The one thing Erick left out is that when given the chance to dispel the QAnon nonsense, Trump acted as if he hardly even know what the questioner was talking about.

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-qanon-conspiracy-theory-first-time

Please. Trump was complicit in the perpetuation of one of the most dangerous (as proven by all the QAnon inspired participants on January 6th) lies in history.

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He knew little...same here. All I know about this q-crap is what I learn here and the MSM. Cooks in line with antifa...that folks seem to fail to discredit

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Did you know that under President Clinton they passed the Senior Citizens Freedom to Work Act which repealed the Social Security earnings limit and allowed seniors to work as much as they wanted. Under President Bush Part D was added to Medicare so seniors could purchase medicine at a reasonable cost. Under President Obama, the Affordable Care Act was passed which lowered the cost of insurance and some of the Advantage Plans come with a zero dollar premium. I sell Medicare Advantage plans and these plans are better than I have received under an employer. Under President Trump the cost of medicine was lowered to help seniors. I wrote that because I don’t think anyone would run for the Office of President of the United States without having a goal to help the citizens of this great country. Instead of you guys seeing that all of the presidents brought something good to the table and have tried to help the rest of the world become like us, we are still pretty partisan. I have voted Democrat most times unless they gave me a reason not to but I know I live around people who don’t think like I do. We have to learn to accept that we’re different and stand behind every President if he’s doing the right thing. So let’s not start badgering President Obama to make President Trump look better. As a christian, which I am, we should be better. Let’s pray for our new President and hope he has the country’s best interest at heart.

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Excellent article, just a few thoughts.

Some Christians have chosen to worship an idol, a Golden Calf (or, in this case, an Orange Calf) in the form of Donald Trump. Anyone who professes love and adoration to him is loved and adored by him, whether it's Qanon, the mob of white nationalist populists of Jan.6, or any of the alt-right conspiracy theory click bait crap on the internet. He has never disavowed any of the nut-jobs who think he's their savior and in fact basks in the glow of their idolizing of Him.

"Our side" used to be better than this.

People's judgement, whether on the Left or the Right, has reached an all-time low.

(Not the people on here, of course...)

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Can it not be said that Qanon is an Anti-Christ? Look how the faithful have been deceived.

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I would like to move on and see the discussion be forward-looking. I understand trying to figure out out "lessons learned", but I don't think it is worth hashing over this kind of stuff. I honestly don't know what a kraken is. It sounds like I shouldn't need to.

I am mostly interested in what I can do as an individual. I am a business person and I have a family, but I see my business winding down and will be empty nest. Trying to figure out what is next and how do I leave a legacy to children and grandchildren that includes living in a free and open society. I feel like that is going to take more than a politician, but will take lots of people on the ground and in the cities.

That said - we do need a good leader who knows how to fight, inspire and win. I think any leader that stands up for smaller government, more liberty, sanctity of life and strong international relations which doesn't always put America at a disadvantage is going to get even more push back than Trump did.

Democrats fight like hell and they don't fight fair. They don't care if half the country disagrees with them. They don't really care about unity, they care about putting their policies in place whether I like it or not. That is a whole lot easier than convincing people they don't need government especially after they are hooked on it.

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That last paragraph is right on!

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I am a TRUE minority. A Black female conservative. I have no avowed loyalty to any political party, but vote across party lines for my preferred candidates in each office. More often than not, I vote for the Republican candidates. Right now, I can not see myself voting Republican again. I voted for Trump in 2016, but not in 2020. I don't hate him, but I do believe he has emboldened those who would perpetuate bigotry and hatred in America, and that, I can not excuse or condone. I never imagined that people who claim to be conservative could carry out mutiny on our nation's capitol. I have been afraid and ashamed to call myself a conservative. The conspiracies need to stop. The election is over. Joe Biden won. I don't love Biden any more than I love Trump. Quite frankly, for the last 12 years, I have felt there was not a presidential candidate who shared my views and values, and I have voted for my perception of the lesser evil. Erick, I often agree with your views, and now, more than ever, I wish that both sides could come together and get off our high horses for the betterment of the UNITED States of America.

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With you on the sentiment, except, I did not vote for Trump ever. Did wish him well once he won, and I am relieved that he lost.

And talking about minorities...... hispanic, male, immigrant, catholic, married, conservative... and each day seems like it is harder to show pride for who I am, or run the risk of being attacked for it.

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People are quite annoyed by the professional oligarchs in Congress. I believe that many people went in to have a sit in to protest. The zealots in their costumes did their preplanned mayhem. Everyone gets blamed for doing much less than the Democrats have done over the years.

Listen to Dr. King's instructions to his marchers. They were told to be non violent or stay home. The annoyed in both parties should do the same to show our displeasure.

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Move on Erick or you are no better than the propagandists left wing media. Why don’t you revisit the Russia hoax that Hillary Clinton is still lying about in order to deflect from her wrongdoing? Visit the fact that American does not have equal justice under the law and justice is not blind. Kristian Saucier a US Navy sailor was sentenced to prison for unauthorized retention of national defense information. Hillary Clinton did much worse with her unsecured server and fax machine when she sent classified information on those devices yet we only see the little man going to jail. Instead you want to continue to talk about a very small group and put all Trump supporters under one umbrella. We know their is a deep state. We know they lie to us and send our tax dollars to foreign countries for stupid gender studies while Americans in blue states lose everything they have worked for. Shame on you for not voicing this catastrophe to the air waves.

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Jesus said the truth would make us free. Even as dishonorable as trump was, the Lord used him to assure--through the Court-- our freedom to worship. So that's a good thing.

Conservative is one thing. Faith is another. Conservatism is ultimately rooted in 18th-century enlightenment and mercantilism. Lean on Heritage and Hillsdale for that continuing emphasis.

But the gospel of Christ is where the true liberty is found. And that saving message is potent enough in the hearts of men and women to put qanon back in its place, the dumpster.

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Carey, NO. ONE can guarantee our religious freedom except us. It’s very possible for us to lose that freedom under a wave of secularism. I suggest you read Rod Dreyer’s new book “Live Not By Lies”. In it, Mr. Dreyer writes about a coming “soft totalitarianism” which would crush most of our essential liberties. https://www.amazon.com/Live-Not-Lies-Christian-Dissidents/dp/0593087399

I agree with you that through Christ we get true freedom. I also know that the Lord helps those who help themselves.

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I'll take a look at it, thanks. Now that we've gotten rid of Trump, we can get back to authentic conservatism.

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And what does authentic conservatism look like? Are you saying you want the same old John McCain and Mitt Romney republicans that don’t do crap for the real working people of American like keeping Obamacare when they had the chance to get rid of it.

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Carey, while we're seemingly all in some way ready to move on from Trump, let's not, in our haste to do so, cast aside the things he did which, if managed properly, can only help the Republicans going forward. First, there's the fact that in 2016, and to a lesser degree in 2020, Trump brought out new GOP voters from people in their 30s, 40s, and beyond who either hadn't voted in a long time or never at all. These voters need to be kept in the fold for 2022 and beyond. Secondly, Republicans received a greater percentage of the Hispanic and especially African-American vote than they had in any election in recent memory.

There's a reason for those two things, and it's that "authentic conservatism" is not the country club/Chamber of Commerce/National Review variety which has been the mainstay of Republican electoral politics for many years; conservatism IS an ideology which, if presented properly, actually appeals to more working people and small business/entrepreneurial/union workers (excluding public employees' unions) individuals than you might think. This is particularly attractive when the Democrats seem eager to abandon those voters for the elites populating the upper tier of American business, and pay less attention to those who do the work which gets the elites their money. Not since Reagan have we seen that dynamic in the GOP, and it wasn't as pronounced as it was now. The phrase, "Trump appealed to the forgotten American" is a truth which the Republicans, in their haste to cast Trump and all his works aside, would be advised not to forget. While Democrats were quick to try to equate Trump's "America first" rhetoric with the 1930s movement of the same name, it didn't work, because what Trump meant by that was not the isolationism of the 30s, but rather a recognition that the interests of America and her people must come first, before all else. That truth is also increasingly lost on Democrats who race to embrace any and all multinational solutions to AMERICAN problems, often leaving - or appearing to leave, which is essentially the same thing - the interests of American citizens behind. It's no surprise that the neocons, having been rejected by first the voters and then by Trump in response to the voters, raced to embrace the Democrats, who have assumed the role of the Party of Endless War; a role which, as I see it, is a consistent loser.

The fact remains that the new Congress has the smallest Democrat House majority (11 seats) in at least 20 years, and in the Senate, they can't afford to lose even ONE vote on any issue to move their agenda forward. Frankly, I'd rather be Kevin McCarthy or Mitch McConnell than Nancy Pelosi or Chuck Schumer these days. We'll see if the GOP can manage this going forward, but if it can - admittedly a tall order - it has gone a long way towards being in the position to wrest control of both Houses of Congress away in 2022. It's best to make the conservative movement one of Main Street and not Wall Street; Reagan knew that, and so does Trump. Now, will the Republican Party leadership?

We'll have to wait and see; but if it does, things aren't as dire as they may seem, although judging from the first 4 days, Biden will, at the risk of appearing authoritarian in the process, rely on the executive order even more than did Obama or Trump - which may be a good campaign issue going forward.

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Thank you, Paul, for this very informative reply. I can see that you follow these issues more closely than I do. Certainly Trump had the right approach for some of the policies and approach you mention. His approach to foreign affairs has proven useful in some of the issues you mention.

His directive to move our Israel Embassy to Jerusalem was his best accomplishment. Also, his three Court appointments will be helpful for a long time to come, in assuring freedom of religion.

But Trump was maliciously divisive. He never attempted to lead all the people; he chose to perform for his own supporters. This defect in his leadership has injected such malice and enmity between Americans that it threatens the E Pluribus Unum basis of our nationhood.

I value Justice higher than Conservatism. We need justice to keep domestic peace in this country. What a rogue cop did to George Floyd was unjust. Breonna Taylor's death was a result of unjust no-knock warrants. Freddie Gray, Michael Brown, Jacob Blake, Armand Arbory--all these deaths were inflicted because Justice is not valued by comfortable citizens who pay no attention conditions on the other side of the tracks.

When poor urban people try to draw attention to injustice and the need for police reform, they receive no regard, no respect from comfortable conservatives and republicans who couldn't care less about the issues that make life intolerable for poor people.

We in our paneled houses--and I am one of them--need to open our hearts to our fellow citizens of lesser means. As the prophet Amos declared: Let Justice roll down like the waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.

If Mike or Mitt or Marco or Ben or Paul had won the GOP nomination in 2016, all of this would have surely worked out very differently and maybe we would still have a Republican majority in the Senate and a Republican in the white house.

I grew up in Jackson Miss in the 1950's, and I got a close-up view of these race issues from a very young age. The injustice goes back a long way.

In 1865, Congress passed the Homestead Act, the purpose of which was to provide a new start for the emancipated slaves. The simplest description of that Act was "40 acre and a mule." But it never got a foothold down in Dixie, because the Klan and good ole boys and the erection of Jim Crow regs in 1876 prevented any help for Negroes.

And now we are still paying the price for having never corrected the 3/5 inequality that was built into our national foundation.

But this last Trumpish phase is all over now; its time for "conservatives" to rebuild the Republican party. I am willing to retain my membership, which I never did forsake, but not beneath the rude leadership of a bully who instigated a massive, destructive, lawless assault on our Capitol.

Trump shonuff did show his true colors in that last desperate attempt to hold on to power.

Now it is morning in America. Excuse me for saying it but, Joe's inaugural speech was like a breath of fresh air compared to what we've been hearing from 1600 PennAve in these last four years.

Show me Mike, or Mitt or Marco or Ben or Paul and we can start to reconsider what Republican leadership must look like in 2024.

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I find it funny how easy it is to call Trump dishonorable. Biden is honorable? Kamala is honorable? Hillary and the others? No, they get excuses made, but Trump, he's dishonorable.

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Erick - spot on

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To stop the voice of anyone because you don’t agree with them or think they are bad for the conservative movement is a breach of free speech. People have to be told truth and convinced otherwise. Shutting peoples voice down you don’t agree with is a dangerous precedence. Unfortunately, the media and big tech are doing that to the true conservative movement and allowing only what they want people to hear to be released (ie Q). That has never worked well in history. The Chinese underground church is flourishing. Make people aware of the Q’s untruths and preach truth. We will still win more people with love and doing good than trying to destroy them. It’s a spiritual battle.

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So you are saying you spotted 2 nut jobs on the drive to the ATL...only 2? I must not be watching the correct channel or going to the correct websites...seems all the talk I hear about this qBS is mainstream media and here.

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Absolutely agree! Thankfully, the Q crowd is so nutty they are easy to spot. Now that her district in Georgia is alerted to her strange beliefs, I am hoping they will boot her out next election. Alas, that's almost two years in the future.

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