Extremists are Not Conservatives by Definition, They’re Just Evil…by Definition

Let’s begin with definitions of the terms I’m using:

Political conservative: (in a political context) favoring free enterprise, private ownership, and socially traditional ideas. Relating to the Conservative Party in the UK or a similar party elsewhere. (Oxford)

Free enterprise: freedom of private business to organize and operate for profit in a competitive system without interference by government beyond regulation necessary to protect public interest and keep the national economy in balance. (Miriam Webster)

Extremist: someone who has beliefs that most people think are unreasonable and unacceptable: a group of extremists (= people with extreme opinions) (Cambridge)

Evil: profoundly immoral and wicked.

It’s time to stop mincing words and to use our words accurately while giving rightful labels to behaviors. Here goes: This Trump crap is a movement to turn this country authoritarian to ensure White male rule in the wake of changing U.S. demographics. When you view people as “other” or opposing teams of race, color, nationality, or lifestyle, you set up war among humans. As the country’s population becomes majority non-white, the extremists want to get rid of voting, individual rights, and knowledge before it’s too late. Some want to get rid of people who don’t look like them. The play is to control wealth, power, and access to education. The figure is Trump and his piss boys (remember the Mel Brooks’ movie, "History of the World, Part 1"?), holding the bucket for him to leave his mark on America. The stench is maddening. The concept is immoral.

The documents in the toilet

Europeans refer to a bathroom as the toilet. That’s where some national security documents were found at Trump’s place. The United States Speaker of the House, when asked if this was a good look for Trump responded, “I don't know — is it a good picture to have boxes in a garage that opens up all the time? A bathroom door locks."  My response to that is, “I don’t know---is it appropriate for a Speaker of the House to ignore the fact that Trump refused to return documents, unlike Biden and Pence? And is it a good look for the Speaker to give what will likely be added to the list of dumbest answers in American history?

But it’s important to note that Kevin McCarthy is not embracing conservatism, he has sold his soul to extremists to become speaker. A commitment to tradition would suggest national security documents placed in the toilet is wrong.

Presidential candidate, former prosecutor, and former Trump ally, Chris Christie appears to take the line of a conservative in his interview responses to the Trump indictment by refusing attempts to support or justify Trump’s alleged actions. [The Department of Justice released on Friday an unsealed federal indictment of former President Donald Trump, with 37 felony counts related to the mishandling of classified documents, obstructing justice, and making false statements].  Christie told CNN, the indictment was “a very tight, very detailed, evidence-laden indictment, and the conduct in there is awful.”

Another presidential hopeful, Ron DeSantis, has turned Florida into an incubator for a war against free speech and constitutional rights. From a distance, it seems he's modeling Nazi Germany of old. In an anti-conservative move, DeSantis is taking on free enterprise by targeting one of the world’s largest media and entertainment companies. As governor, he has attempted to control Disney’s land use and self-governing because the company spoke out against Florida’s so-called, Don’t Say Gay legislation. The answer to your logical question is, “I have no f..cking idea.”  In training sessions, I used to use an analogy for 1950s denialism of the happy housewife ironing while the house is burning down. In reality the housewife was not happy ironing, she had a bottle of gin in her apron pocket, and couldn’t care less about the house, her prison. I assume DeSantis wants to pretend there are no gay people in Florida or he just wants them to be considered a non-entity. It wreaks of denialism to me. In my view, the anti-woke governor could use a caffeine hit and wake the hell up. And for his information, woke = awareness, the anti-denial.

The State of Florida and several of its school districts are being sued for removing or banning books about LGBTQ identities and the issues of race and racism. I compare this one to Clark Kent wearing glasses to hide his identify as Superman. Does DeSantis’ Florida really believe you can make people and their issues disappear by removing books? This is extremism---and cray-cray. It has however created an opposite effect by catapulting poet and activist Amanda Gorman’s book sales. Following a Florida school banning “The Hill We Climb,” sales have skyrocketed for the presidential inauguration poem and for her poems, “Call Us What We Carry” and “Change Sings,” according to Variety. Her work has taken over Amazon's best-seller list.

This leads us to Texas…

And the evil twins of Texas politics, Governor Greg Abbott, and Lt. Governor Dan Patrick. Trump called Patrick his pipeline to Texas. Sad. In a move to wrestle the blue out of Houston, state Republican leaders have pulled voter suppression tactics from the dirtbags of the 1940s, 50s, and 60s. Harris County has to contend with a “Republican-dominated state Legislature, which is trying to exert more control over voting there. Lawmakers are pushing dozens of new election bills, including limits on polling places, felony penalties for illegal voting and a mechanism for the state to order new elections when voting problems occur in Texas counties with more than 2.7 million people, a category that includes only Harris County.” (-Texas Republicans Push New Voting Restrictions Aimed at Houston, David Goodman, New York Times, May 2023)

Time was, conservative Republicans waved the law-and-order banner. But now, they are against the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Department of Justice and other “traditional” standard bearers for law and order.

Extremists are also using the term, double standard for a privileged white male who has spat in the face of American Democracy and seems to believe laws don’t apply to him. Who has a history of not paying his fair share of taxes, not paying bills, and then suing those he owes as a tactic, as well as bragging about his ability to break laws, including sexual assault? I personally believe Trump will be known as one of the most maniacal and mentally disturbed people to ever worm his way into the White House. He is the face of illogical extremism.

I don’t recall today’s extremists using the term double standard when it factually applies to the mistreatment of Black Americans, women, liberals, people of color, Indigenous Peoples, the aged, and the disabled.

But before knowing the contents of the indictment, Republicans in Congress defended former President Donald Trump after his criminal indictment made the news. Speaking out publicly before learning the details is not conservative, it’s extremist. And attempting to link that to some double standard is lunacy.

As this latest Trump drama plays out, let’s hope to all gods and things holy that this will end his reign of dangerous crazy and we can move on to the real issues of this country; protecting democracy, living peacefully among people we may not look like, and returning to values like quality (and accessible) healthcare, public education, living wages, and the creation of jobs.

As for the extremists, it's like in those movies when the screaming woman falls down while her group is running from the monster….leave ‘em, we can’t go back!