We must regrow a true Conservative movement to displace the Party of Sedition (Part II)

Conservatives respect processes that devolve from the law, including the Constitution. But it is the Reactionary who is focused on original intent.

Originalism is a theocratic sentiment. To regard ancient texts as the embodiment of enduring truth assumes an omniscient mind at the origin. This is neither rational nor reasonable, whether it be applied to old men in a middle eastern desert 2500 years ago or "founding fathers" 250 years ago.

Reactionaries may be, but need not be, theocratic, but originalism suits their desire to block all change, to retard progress, to reject all proposals for renewal. Hence, they are rhetorically aligned.

There is no valid role for originalists in politics or on the Courts. Their rightful place is in the academy, to teach us the role of our origins in our intellectual history. It is fair to wish to know what we once thought, but not to force us to never evolve.

There is no valid role for reactionaries anywhere in a functioning society. Truth is never their goal. Rejection of all proposals for change, independent of merit, is their MO. Sometimes this goal is subsumed in a fervent antigovernment or anti-regulation bias; sometimes it is well disguised. But it has no productive role.

There is a valid role for true Conservatism, however. In a functioning society, Progressives are unrelenting in the advancement of a vision for, and strategies for achieving, a just society, and Conservatives are useful in demanding to see the feasibility study, the implementation plan, and the financing. Conservatives trust the tried and true, understand there are sometimes unintended consequences. Conservatives help us avoid costly mistakes or ill-planned ventures that signal more virtue than they achieve.

Of course, there are few Conservatives left in the GOP. Even their SCOTUS appointees are largely reactionary or originalist or both. The GOP spends with reckless disregard for the consequences. Their rhetoric is reactionary, often authoritarian. Until recently, the GOP was predominately fascistic (wedding reactionary and corporate interests) until the pragmatics of evolving and rational corporate leadership (Coke, Delta, MLB) prevented them from drinking the insurrectionist, Jim Crow (i.e., Confederate) Kool Aid. When fascism tears apart, the next stage is usually tyranny. When secession and tyranny blend, we have sedition and treason. This is where they are now.

While the current GOP is to be feared and ostracized, this cannot be allowed to confuse us. An organization with a visionary must have a disciplined chief financial officer to survive. A just society needs powerful Progressives but it also needs skeptical Conservatives. Fiscally responsible conservatives (almost unknown for a generation) would raise the top marginal tax rates far higher than Biden will propose. Eisenhower was at 90% and even Reagan at 50% for seven of his eight years. We need the Lincoln Republicans now more than ever.