That’s funny, because from where I stand, I see most conservatives being a whole lot more comfortable with the notion of an “imperial presidency” these days under Trump than they were under Obama. On issue after issue, what once looked like principled opposition from the GOP now looks like hypocrisy.
Fiscal responsibility? National debt has exploded under Trump. Former House Speaker Paul Ryan, the main GOP guy who cared about this stuff and had plans to fix it, has long since left the building.
Obama’s drone strikes on terrorists in various countries? Remember when Rand Paul stood up on the Senate floor and filibustered against that practice for a couple days?
Well: Trump looked at that, said “hold my beer,” and assassinated a high-ranking official of a sovereign country without a declaration of war, an AUMF or anything. Republicans, with few exceptions, cheered him all the way and instantly turned their fire on Democrats whom they accused of treason and more for daring to question this decision.
Your thesis is so out there may as well be from outer space.
Conservatives want to use the full power of the presidency to advance right-wing causes and “own the libs” first and foremost.
This idea of the GOP as a party truly committed to principles of limited government and fiscal responsibility died with Ron Paul’s failed presidential runs in ‘08 and ‘12 and and Rand Paul’s failed run in ‘16. Who won that last race? A constitutionally illiterate doofus who vowed to build a wall and lock up HRC.
If there were more folks like you in the GOP, then it might return to the principles that once attracted me to it. (Ironic, huh? We’re supposed to be mortal enemies!)
I realize you don’t claim to be a Republican yourself, but if you really and truly weren’t, then I feel like you’d be attacking the GOP a lot harder than you do over these issues.
Instead it’s “Leftist this, Leftist that” all day long.