Is conservatism fractured?

[avatar4321]

It seems no matter where I go online I see different people denouncing others as not being true conservatives. Everyone has their own definition of conservatism and each group has their viewpoints on certain issues.

I see lots of people claiming the conservative title only to see thousands of others who are also claiming the conservative title denouncing them.

Do we really have a conservative movement in America or is no matter how conservative someone is are there going to be other conservatives denouncing them as liberal?

[musicman]

I don't think conservatism is fractured; rather, the Republican Party is. The GOP has been - for at least forty years - home to two distinct entities: conservatism, and pure capitalism (think Goldwater conservatives, and Rockefeller Republicans; update the terms, if you like, with the respective qualifiers, Reagan and Bush).

It has been an uneasy alliance at best. Sooner or later, an issue was bound to emerge that would blast it to bits. It has; that issue is immigration. Many conservatives feel - and certainly not without justification - that the ideals they hold dear are laughable and insignificant to the Bush Republicans. The GOP IS fractured, and it couldn't have come at a worse time. The Party has to try to heal this rift in a matter of months; I, personally, don't think they're going to be able to do it.

[Hugh Lincoln]

Sooner or later, an issue was bound to emerge that would blast it to bits. It has; that issue is immigration. Many conservatives feel - and certainly not without justification - that the ideals they hold dear are laughable and insignificant to the Bush Republicans. The GOP IS fractured, and it couldn't have come at a worse time. The Party has to try to heal this rift in a matter of months; I, personally, don't think they're going to be able to do it.

Yes, immigration is a splitter, and as the Ron Paul ascendancy shows, so is War For Israel in the Middle East, aka the Bush "War on Terror."

Before WWII, true conservatives wanted to keep the U.S. out of war in Europe. The liberals wanted us in. You know the rest.

These folks understand what's really going on:

http://theoccidentalquarterly.com/archives/vol3no4/toq-editnote3-4.html

http://theoccidentalquarterly.com/

"Conservatism" as a movement was basically hijacked by Jews who wanted to wage eternal war in the Middle East against Arabs while promoting open borders, affirmative action, gay 'marriage', MTV, abortion, lax morals, divorce, multiculturalism, etc. on the domestic front. Sometimes known politely as "neocons." This gang, obviously, currently dominates. Bush is their puppet, but Jews like Arlen Specter, Joe Lieberman, Michael Chertoff, Chuck Schumer, Richard Perle, Paul Wolfowitz, etc. are pretty much running the U.S. and whatever's left of "conservatism." Now we're set to have a Jew, Michael Mukasey, as our new AG. So much for subtlety. Why not just burn the Stars and Stripes and hoist a Star of David down at the local courthouse?

Conservatism is as dead as a doornail. White nationalism will take its place.

[JackDaniels]

Republicans used to be Conservative.

Goldwater. Bob Taft.

Then, a group of far left followers of Leon Trotsky, who happened to have a visceral hate for the Soviet Union, invaded the Republican Party in order to fight the Cold War. They kept their far left social beliefs, but were held together with Conservatives based on a common vision for fighting the Cold War.

After the fall of the USSR, the communists within the GOP had nothing to keep the cohesion together, and the neoconservatives, which is what these hawkish communists are called, began to branch out on their own, and be very successful in taking over the Republican Party.

(Former Communist) Neo-Cons include:
Irving Kristol
Bill Kristol
Norman Podhoretz
Richard Pearle
Charles Krauthammer

Others were long time Conservatives, who changed allegiances to the Neo-Cons in the 1990's
Dick Cheney
Donald Rumsfeld
etc.

Some real Conservatives are still around, like Pat Buchanan and Ron Paul

To say there is not a split in the Republican Party is wrong. However, the balance of power is always shifting.

[PostmodernProphet]

Do we really have a conservative movement in America

the phrase presumes movement.....have you seen any motion lately?

[Little-Acorn]

Conservatism is the idea that society works best (not perfectly) with a limited government, much smaller than the one we presently have, which confines its activities to only certain areas that private people or groups cannot handle.

No, conservatism isn't "fractured", any more than green is "fractured" by the presence of red. Many colors simply aren't green, and many political philosopies simply aren't conservative.

Needless to say, there aren't many conservatives around - most have some odor of big government to them. Such people are common in the Republican party, and completely fill the Democrat party. The Republican party is thus fractured - but conservatism isn't.

[5stringJeff]

The better question, I think, is what defines a "conservative" in today's political climate. I would say that a belief in small government and more personal freedoms is a conservative.

[JackDaniels]

The better question, I think, is what defines a "conservative" in today's political climate. I would say that a belief in small government and more personal freedoms is a conservative.

I would completely agree.

That's why there are very very few conservatives in the Republican Party right now