Cheney’s policy positions and voting record put her away out to the right, but at least she seems to have principles and a back bone, unlike the vast majority of Republican politicians.
Cheney is a fascinating example of how you can support every conservative policy and still be considered a RINO for suggesting that Trump shouldn’t be in charge. She’s proof that you can’t be a Republican today without kissing the ring.
You’re exactly right. She’s not a moderate, she’s hard right. Staunch Republican in every way except support for a criminal. But because of that, she’s not really a Republican to them. Crazy.
She doesn’t have principles, she just doesn’t like Trump. She’s a conservative, so her only priority is herself. Trump is bad for Liz Cheney. Supporting Harris is good for Liz Cheney.
I think what they’re saying is that Cheney is the dying breed of old school, self-serving Republican while the modern day ones are the crazy, theocratic-dictatorship doomsday cult style.
Conservativism is, and always has been, exactly the same. There are no objectively conservative values. Conservativism is defined by first defining the Self, and then drawing a circle around the Self to identify the policies and positions most important to the self. These policies and positions are negotiable at any time, and anything done or said by a conservative that benefits the Self is good. Anything said or done by the Other in opposition to the Self is bad. This includes taking any policy position that doesn’t necessarily help the Self directly, but does not hurt the Self and drives voters or donors to support the Self.
There has never been a Conservative for whom these guidelines did not apply. Not one. They dress their views in stoicism or austerity or nationalism or xenophobia or bigotry, but they are always at their core a form of malignant narcissism. That’s why Conservatives get abortions, raise taxes, support immigration, support government handouts, increase government spending, promote federal power, or find themselves on the progressive side of any particular issue when it is good for them.
It’s how they can lie or cheat or steal or kill, and claim to occupy the moral high ground. They commit these sins in the name of the Self, and the Self is good, so their actions are good. When the Other does those same things tomorrow, they are evil because the Other is evil because they are not the Self.
That’s it. There’s no additional logic, no metrics or thresholds or tolerance or foundational beliefs. Just Me.
A conservative friend of mine was a bit shaken when I told him he shouldn’t be wishing for elections to come soon in Canada because the Conservatives will probably get elected and that I know we’re probably both losing our governmental job the day they get in power and that contrary to him I don’t have a kid to feed. Hell, he’s probably more likely to lose his job than I am and he knows it. He didn’t say a thing for the rest of the day.
I view conservatism as a kind of nostalgia for how the world was when we were too young to understand it. Conservatives are generally frightened by the complexities of society, frightened by change because they don’t know where that change comes from and they don’t understand how that change can improve things. They want a simple world with simple rules, so they rely on religion, authoritarian leaders or any social order that will treat them like children because deep down they don’t want to be responsible adults.
So that might be coherent with you point that they are self centered: like young children, they think of themselves first and never really grow up to realize that they are part of a world where they need to coexist with diverse people.
That being said, if conservatives like Cheney announce they will vote for Harris, it can only help: maybe it will convince other Republicans to do the same. But I don’t see this as a change of allegiance for Cheney, she’s still Republican.
Me too, and her endorsement. Maybe some more conservatives follow her lead and recognize that Harris winning is in their own best interest. That’s good for everyone.
The Conservative oligarchs support Trump because he’s captured the definition of Conservative identity and laid bare the grift. He is the most pure narcissist to have ever ascended to the top of their party, and to deny him now is to risk drawing his ire. Those who oppose Trump are cast out, and become the Other. They are no longer protected by the machine, and must either retreat from politics and the public eye, or languish in the cold long enough to start making amends through groveling and humiliation.
Cheney’s policy positions and voting record put her away out to the right, but at least she seems to have principles and a back bone, unlike the vast majority of Republican politicians.
Cheney is a fascinating example of how you can support every conservative policy and still be considered a RINO for suggesting that Trump shouldn’t be in charge. She’s proof that you can’t be a Republican today without kissing the ring.
You’re exactly right. She’s not a moderate, she’s hard right. Staunch Republican in every way except support for a criminal. But because of that, she’s not really a Republican to them. Crazy.
She doesn’t have principles, she just doesn’t like Trump. She’s a conservative, so her only priority is herself. Trump is bad for Liz Cheney. Supporting Harris is good for Liz Cheney.
I think what they’re saying is that Cheney is the dying breed of old school, self-serving Republican while the modern day ones are the crazy, theocratic-dictatorship doomsday cult style.
Conservativism is, and always has been, exactly the same. There are no objectively conservative values. Conservativism is defined by first defining the Self, and then drawing a circle around the Self to identify the policies and positions most important to the self. These policies and positions are negotiable at any time, and anything done or said by a conservative that benefits the Self is good. Anything said or done by the Other in opposition to the Self is bad. This includes taking any policy position that doesn’t necessarily help the Self directly, but does not hurt the Self and drives voters or donors to support the Self.
There has never been a Conservative for whom these guidelines did not apply. Not one. They dress their views in stoicism or austerity or nationalism or xenophobia or bigotry, but they are always at their core a form of malignant narcissism. That’s why Conservatives get abortions, raise taxes, support immigration, support government handouts, increase government spending, promote federal power, or find themselves on the progressive side of any particular issue when it is good for them.
It’s how they can lie or cheat or steal or kill, and claim to occupy the moral high ground. They commit these sins in the name of the Self, and the Self is good, so their actions are good. When the Other does those same things tomorrow, they are evil because the Other is evil because they are not the Self.
That’s it. There’s no additional logic, no metrics or thresholds or tolerance or foundational beliefs. Just Me.
It has always been thus.
Talking about conservatives being self centered…
A conservative friend of mine was a bit shaken when I told him he shouldn’t be wishing for elections to come soon in Canada because the Conservatives will probably get elected and that I know we’re probably both losing our governmental job the day they get in power and that contrary to him I don’t have a kid to feed. Hell, he’s probably more likely to lose his job than I am and he knows it. He didn’t say a thing for the rest of the day.
I view conservatism as a kind of nostalgia for how the world was when we were too young to understand it. Conservatives are generally frightened by the complexities of society, frightened by change because they don’t know where that change comes from and they don’t understand how that change can improve things. They want a simple world with simple rules, so they rely on religion, authoritarian leaders or any social order that will treat them like children because deep down they don’t want to be responsible adults.
So that might be coherent with you point that they are self centered: like young children, they think of themselves first and never really grow up to realize that they are part of a world where they need to coexist with diverse people.
That being said, if conservatives like Cheney announce they will vote for Harris, it can only help: maybe it will convince other Republicans to do the same. But I don’t see this as a change of allegiance for Cheney, she’s still Republican.
I’ll still take her vote
Me too, and her endorsement. Maybe some more conservatives follow her lead and recognize that Harris winning is in their own best interest. That’s good for everyone.
Principles you don’t like are still principles.
Cheney supported Trump in 93% of her votes, including voting against his first impeachment. She doesn’t have principles, she has ambitions.
Lots of the GOP vote for Donald but don’t like him.
Preservation of democracy (which is self-serving for a politician) is a principle.
The Conservative oligarchs support Trump because he’s captured the definition of Conservative identity and laid bare the grift. He is the most pure narcissist to have ever ascended to the top of their party, and to deny him now is to risk drawing his ire. Those who oppose Trump are cast out, and become the Other. They are no longer protected by the machine, and must either retreat from politics and the public eye, or languish in the cold long enough to start making amends through groveling and humiliation.
No idea why you’re being downvoted here, you’re absolutely correct.