We keep hearing about the values and principles held by true conservatives, and as we watched the Republican debates it seemed from the beginning each member seeking the nomination wanted to be seen as the most conservative. Even the eventually winner sought to covet that title which further clouded its meaning.
What defines a true conservative, what principles and values do they hold, and which ones comport well (agree with) the vision for our nation described in the Preamble to COTUS?
Do the actions of the current Congress comport with the words in the Preamble, or do some conflict? Do the opinions and policy statements (few as there were) by those who sought the nomination comport or conflict with the mission to
"...form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity"?
It is a subjective topic, as many who I dont think are conservative claim the title, and I dont consider myself a conservative in the American sense of the word and yet people call me a conservative all the time, and a liberal, and a commie and a Mother....never mind.
I tried to get a thread going on this topic and the link is in my sig if you want to go into that.
Basically the most common use of the word conservative means 'reactionary' and they prefer the time of their childhood to the latest Progressive changes to society. Thus we have different kinds of reactionaries, some of whom want to get rid of Social Security, some are segregationists, some are anti-feminist, some are mostly pro-life, etc, each having the hallmarks of a reactionary movement of a particular year.
But some are NeoConservatives, and that is an intellectual outgrowth of leftwing ideology but applied to conservative axioms. They have PAx Americana as their most distinct goal, but the pay lip service to the entire range of reactionary groups, with no intention of doing anything other than syumbolic gestures as they strengthen their political/donor network.
A very few conservatives are conservatives in the classic liberal, western European Christian context. We are loyal to eternal values that transcend our time and universe, and simply try to apply those values to whatever nation we happen to be passing through.