Brad and Dan discuss three stories from this week that show American conservatism is over – and what is taking its place is a right-wing totalitarianism that should scare us all.
They begin by discussing new material on House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy who it seems is willing to hold the country hostage by not raising the debt limit in order to get what he wants in the form of cutting certain government programs. Brad and Dan use this to delve into the shift from classical conservative ideals to radical burn-it-down-ism over the last two decades.
Brad then provides a brief profile of Arizona GOP gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake. She is the perfect example of how the contemporary American Right operates on the basis of grievance and revenge, rather than conservative principles. She is also a frontrunner to be Trump’s VP pick if he runs in 2024.
They finish with the most important story of the day – an article from the Federalist that argues the following:
Put bluntly, if conservatives want to save the country they are going to have to rebuild and in a sense re-found it, and that means getting used to the idea of wielding power, not despising it. Why? Because accommodation or compromise with the left is impossible. One need only consider the speed with which the discourse shifted on gay marriage, from assuring conservatives ahead of the 2015 Obergefell decision that gay Americans were only asking for toleration, to the never-ending persecution of Jack Phillips.
The left will only stop when conservatives stop them, which means conservatives will have to discard outdated and irrelevant notions about “small government.” The government will have to become, in the hands of conservatives, an instrument of renewal in American life — and in some cases, a blunt instrument indeed.
This isn’t conservative. It’s a call to a totalitarian government.
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