The Dirty Little Secret Ideology of Conservatives
The Trump Presidency validates Schlesinger’s grim thesis that conservative ideology is a masquerade of excuses obscuring a yen to plunder and rob.
By
David Gottfried
Many of my readers are probably familiar with Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. He was, for all intents and purposes, the Kennedy family scribe. I did not dislike Schlesinger. He was, as dutiful scribes go, fairly honest, and his prose sang the songs of post war liberalism quite mellifluously. But he was, still, just a scribe with nary an original nor provocative idea in his brilliant but slightly uninspiring mind. As a subordinate and as a scribe, it was his job to sing the praises of the Kennedy boys, and in his books, Irish eyes were always smiling.
But his father had a few real zingers of ideas. One of
Schlesinger Sr.’s sizzlers was an expose of the ideology of American conservatives. In this essay, I posit that the most recent developments re tariffs prove the accuracy of Schlesinger, Sr’s analysis.
Schlesinger, Sr. held that conservatives did not believe in or stand for anything other than the maximization of their own personal wealth. They claim that they believe in many different things: In the 50’s and 60’s, they believed in Freedom and the twilight battle against communism. In the 80’s and 90’s, they believed in family values. And of course they have regularly sung odes to joy to their perennial favorite, private enterprise and untrammeled competition, except of course when they want a friend in government to give their company special favors.
However, the Trump presidency has proven the validity of Schlesinger Sr’s. cutting and lucid critique. Republicans don’t give a damn about anything but their wallets.
Do Republicans care about Freedom? Of course not. They were happy to let Trump destroy Zelensky and bow down to Putin.
Do Republicans care about the rule of law ? That’s a joke. Some republican congressmen likened the January 6 rioters to ordinary tourists.
Do Republicans care about a sane and sagacious analysis of the facts. Of course not. Donald Trump is rather like the Tzarina of Russia who relied on a crazed Russian priest, Rasputin, for political and military strategy. Like Russia’s Tzarina, Trump got rid of national security and intelligence experts the day after he met with Laura Loomer, a right-wing loony tune who alleges that 9/11 was an inside job.
Trump will also rely on messianic mercurial misfits, like RFK Jr., who will preside over a holy regression into the Middle Ages in his effort to erase modernity. That man has such bad health habits that he has a dead worm smack in the center of his brain. And he is supposed to be the Tzar of the nation’s health.
Do republicans care about courage? They make jelly fish appear to be resolute he-men with spines of steel. Indeed, almost every single republican in Congress has spat on and denigrated every principle the republican party has held dear since 1945.
Ergo, Schlesinger Sr. was right. Republican conservatives are moral mice who “gargle in the rat race choir.” (Bob Dylan)
However, there is one thing they do believe in: Optimizing their asset balances. Accordingly, Senator Chuck Grassley and Ted Cruz and a few other new born Republican puppies have dared to challenge the Dowager Donald on tariffs.
It’s nice to see them express some selfhood and independence on tariffs. But their failure to do as much as squeak like a mouse when Trump lionized Putin and castigated Zelensky underscores the sheer cowardice and moral vacuity of the supposedly “Grand Old Party.”
This one is a zinger! Tells the raw truth about the Republican Party and what they believe.
Hey David another interesting point...Thank you for sharing, its a thought-provoking essay on Schlesinger analysis of conservative ideology and your observations regarding its validation through the Trump presidency.
Your comparison between the Schlesinger perspectives; the dutiful Kennedy scribe versus his father's more incisive political analysis provides an interesting framework for examining political consistency. The elder Schlesinger's thesis that conservative ideology often masks wealth maximization motives certainly deserves consideration, especially when examining policy shifts that seem to contradict stated principles.
Your examples highlighting perceived contradictions between traditional Republican values (freedom, rule of law, fact-based governance...) and various actions during the Trump era raise important questions about ideological consistency across the political spectrum. The tariff opposition you mention from figures like Grassley and Cruz does illuminate interesting fault lines within the party.
While your critique is forceful, I wonder if we might consider that both major political parties experience tensions between stated ideals and practical governance. Political inconsistency isn't uniquely conservative, progressives face similar challenges between ideological purity and pragmatism.
I think the most valuable aspect of your analysis is the prompt to examine all political movements with a critical eye toward the gap between rhetoric and action. This skepticism serves democracy well when applied universally.
The challenge exist across the political spectrum. The question is how we might encourage more ideological consistency in our political discourse. Or do we tear it all down and start anew, kinda like Trump is attempting now.