If ‘Woke’ Puritanism Is the Disease, Trump’s Amoral Populism Isn’t the Cure

[Hoodat]

I haven't bashed "conservatism".

Oh yes you have.  Repeatedly.

I ridicule those who place more value on and insistence that "conservative" policies only count if they come stamped with the word and are carried by a self-identified and Reagan cult-approved conservative politician.

Yet no one here is doing that.  Go figure.  See what happens when you make shit up as you go?

So, I'll ask again:  What in the MAGA/America First agenda isn't conservative?

Funding Planned Parenthood
Blocking the sale of US Steel to Nippon
Amnesty for illegals who self-deport and then get fast-tracked right back in.
Getting rid of the debt ceiling limit
Supporting continuing resolutions
Ditching Free Trade agreements
Advocating for Protectionism


Now having said that, I repeat that I am ecstatic that Trump did not listen to people like you this time around and has given Elon Must free reign to target waste, graft, and abuse in the Executive Branch and has been willing to use his Executive authority to end it.  But for some reason, that's not good enough for you (especially since you never supported doing that from the start).

[DCPatriot]

Let's back up step, shall we?  Conservatives here have been urging Trump (or any other Republican) to slash spending and balance the budget - this Conservative in particular.  The response I've gotten from you and DC has been that Trump can't do that because he'll lose the next election if he does.

But once Trump steps into office, he takes his cue from Javier Milei, brings on Elon Musk, and begins doing exactly that - using his Executive authority to begin cutting out waste, fraud, and abuse.  And Conservatives have cheered it on, even with you two on the sideline.  Yet now you want to come forward and take credit for Trump actually doing something Conservative even though you were dead set against it?  Not a chance.

What a load of crap!  You're GD right I'll take credit for whatever President Trump accomplishes because I'm not a phony supporter like you and your Boyz here on the forum.

Said that he only had 24 months in which to increase his majority in both Houses or else he becomes a enuch. 

Never anticipated "DOGE" to be born.  And neither did you.  You had scary nightmares about Pres. Trump up until weeks before the election and had sat on the fence until your hemorrhoids started to bleed.

[Hoodat]

What a load of crap!  You're GD right I'll take credit for whatever President Trump accomplishes because I'm not a phony supporter like you and your Boyz here on the forum.

Four months ago, I stated that Trump needed to hit the ground running and use his Executive authority to take a chainsaw to every government agency.  Your response?  You said that would be foolish, and that the only thing Trump needed to concentrate on was winning the 2026 midterms.  But hey, if you want to take credit for Trump doing what I said he needed to do while you  opposed it, then have at it.  It's your integrity on the line here, not mine.

Never anticipated "DOGE" to be born.  And neither did you.

Are you high?  I've been calling for it since I first joined this forum.  I just didn't anticipate that Trump would suddenly believe that spending was out of control, especially after his first term.  The issue now is not whether you or I anticipated DOGE to be born.  The issue is that you have opposed DOGE during the entirety of your Trump lovefest.  And even now, I don't hear you cheering it on nearly as loudly as us deficit hawks.  I realize that standing on principles like that conflict with your deification complex.  But I really don't give a damn.  So keep on with your hypocrisy and take credit for Trump doing the exact opposite of what you said he should do.  I'll take the balanced budget and be thrilled with it.  If he pulls it off, he'll be the greatest President since Ike.

[Right_in_Virginia]

Funding Planned Parenthood
Blocking the sale of US Steel to Nippon
Amnesty for illegals who self-deport and then get fast-tracked right back in.
Getting rid of the debt ceiling limit
Supporting continuing resolutions
Ditching Free Trade agreements
Advocating for Protectionism

Your ilk is now toxic *and* desperate. 

[DCPatriot]

Your ilk is now toxic *and* desperate. 

   @Right_in_Virginia

[Hoodat]

Your ilk is now toxic

Your ilk is in denial.  Every item on that has documentation supporting it, each of which have already been presented to you.  Like I said, 'denial'.

The amazing thing here is that I have been one of Trump's most vocal supporters regarding DOGE.  Yet that still isn't good enough for you.

[DCPatriot]

Your ilk is in denial.  Every item on that has documentation supporting it, each of which have already been presented to you.  Like I said, 'denial'.

The amazing thing here is that I have been one of Trump's most vocal supporters regarding DOGE.  Yet that still isn't good enough for you.

"Amazing" my white dimpled a$$! 

What self-respecting Conservative wouldn't be a supporter of DOGE! 

You're a Johnny Come Lately on the Trump Bandwagon.

[roamer_1]

What self-respecting Conservative wouldn't be a supporter of DOGE! 

Me. It's smoke.

That is not money saved. That is money turned back to the agency or to the general fund, where it can be spent any other way.

And since it is ordained by EO, the minute the Dems are back in power (which may be no more than 2 years from now) All of those things can (and will) come roaring back - And probably with funding to cover this dearth and more...

And DOGE will be kept, with its summary authority in all things, and turned inside out to become the very antithesis of its inception.

Mark my words... Because its coming.

[DCPatriot]

Me. It's smoke.

That is not money saved. That is money turned back to the agency or to the general fund, where it can be spent any other way.

And since it is ordained by EO, the minute the Dems are back in power (which may be no more than 2 years from now) All of those things can (and will) come roaring back - And probably with funding to cover this dearth and more...

And DOGE will be kept, with its summary authority in all things, and turned inside out to become the very antithesis of its inception.

Mark my words... Because its coming.

See?  Always with a need to appear the smartest one in any room.  Even the Briefing Room!

LOL!  You're in a league by yourself, my friend!   

[Hoodat]

"Amazing" my white dimpled a$$! 

What self-respecting Conservative wouldn't be a supporter of DOGE!

Conservatives support DOGE because making drastic cuts to federal spending IS Conservative.  You don't support DOGE because it's Conservative.  You support DOGE only because Trump is  doing it.  If Trump were doing the exact opposite like he did in his first term - handing Planned Parenthood $2 billion in taxpayer money, pushing Fauci BS, or running up $8 trillion in new debt, you would be supporting that too (since Trump was the one doing it).  Come to think of it, you DID support all that leftist bullshit.  Because sucking up to Trump is more important than standing up to principle every time.

You're a Johnny Come Lately on the Trump Bandwagon.

I'm not on the Trump Bandwagon.  I'm on the Conservative Bandwagon.  Perhaps you are the Johnny Come Lately here.  Supporting Conservative ideals for the first time in your life (albeit weakly).

[Hoodat]

Me. It's smoke.

That is not money saved. That is money turned back to the agency or to the general fund, where it can be spent any other way.

I am really hoping for something good at the end of the fiscal year.  But your cynicism is well supported by history, @roamer_1 .

I have long said that Congress lacks the discipline to balance the budget, which is why it is up to a President to refuse to spend the money.  Trump is actually doing that (for now) which is totally out of his character to do.  We'll see what happens the last week of September.

[roamer_1]

See?  Always with a need to appear the smartest one in any room.  Even the Briefing Room!

LOL!  You're in a league by yourself, my friend!   

It is simple to foresee. You need only look at his first administration, or any number of iterations through time.

Them that don't know history are doomed to repeat it. And here we go again.

[roamer_1]

I am really hoping for something good at the end of the fiscal year.  But your cynicism is well supported by history, @roamer_1 .

I have long said that Congress lacks the discipline to balance the budget, which is why it is up to a President to refuse to spend the money.  Trump is actually doing that (for now) which is totally out of his character to do.  We'll see what happens the last week of September.

I really do hope that the end of the fiscal year shows something more than modest savings, @Hoodat  . But it won't.  We are so terribly over budget and out of control that modest savings are incidental.

Even several trillion in savings (which will in no way happen) is pissin on a forest fire, and to add insult to injury, since any savings are built out of EOs, those savings will be ... WILL BE fleeting.

Because the Democrats will come to power again. You can bet money on that. And every EO will be overturned again, just like last time.

NONE of it matters without a Congress, jealous of its powers. THAT is where the emphasis, and thereby the effort must be spent. Until that, it is likely all for naught. A waste of time and energy.

[jmyrlefuller]

Conservatism since Buckley has certainly always had a streak of populism in it. But it still tried to defend things that liberal populists attacked: capitalism, corporations etc.

Now IMO it's indistinguishable from 1980's/90's liberalism: pro-tariffs, anti-"big pharma" etc. etc.

It was always funny to me that Trump's proposals are largely indistinguishable from those that the Democrats themselves ran on in 2006, and now the Democrats are running with the same argument globalist Republicans ran on, including the embrace of trickle-down economics ("tariffs are just passed on to the consumer!").

It just shows how absolutely disingenuous most of the politics surrounding fiscal policy truly are. (Foreign policy, too, if you think about it.) Really the only thing that actually drives solid and consistent ideological divides are the ones where government, at least in theory, should have the least influence: social issues.

[roamer_1]

It was always funny to me that Trump's proposals are largely indistinguishable from those that the Democrats themselves ran on in 2006, and now the Democrats are running with the same argument globalist Republicans ran on, including the embrace of trickle-down economics ("tariffs are just passed on to the consumer!").

It just shows how absolutely disingenuous most of the politics surrounding fiscal policy truly are. (Foreign policy, too, if you think about it.) Really the only thing that actually drives solid and consistent ideological divides are the ones where government, at least in theory, should have the least influence: social issues.

I think that's right.