Conservative Doublethink

I spend a fair deal of time attacking the Left. Regressives have become an easy target, so it's only fair that I point out some glaring errors of the American Right. After all, Libertarians and Republicans aren't exactly buddy-buddy. We don't forget which party routinely works to deny us our names on ballots. I've linked an article from the National Review. The Review is a conservative magazine. Even better yet, it's what I refer to as [i]loyalist[/i] - which is to say that it's rooted in the establishment. This article is important to my point - don't forget about it. The Review (and many American conservatives) have been trying to cope with the rise of Trump. One by one, their men have fallen. Cruz was beaten - Kasich, too. Desperate, they resurrected the presidential bid of Mitt Romney, hoping that he would take up the fight against Trump. (http://www.nationalreview.com/article/435800/mitt-romney-third-party-campaign-president-urgently-needed) The necromancy didn't work. The dead Romney-beast didn't stir. So the loyalists fell back to stand behind Paul Ryan, their next man-at-arms. He held out for a while, but has officially endorsed Trump. It's rapidly becoming a version of the Nuremburg Trials, with Trump rooting out the party members that still refuse to support him. The loyalists are drafting cases for their defense. My favorite loyalist doublethink comes from the National Review. I'll lay the two statements side-by-side and we can laugh at them together. (http://www.nationalreview.com/article/436320/donald-trump-conservatives-nevertrump-was-not-inevitable) [quote]Now imagine what would have happened if Trump had looked at conservative and Republican voters and the ideas, platforms, and goals that have motivated them across the country — in races from the local to the national — over the past several decades, with an eye toward making himself minimally acceptable to most conservatives.[/quote] [quote]But alongside the sizzle, some steak as well: concrete and consistent pledges to work with conservatives on key issues, seriousness on foreign affairs, a health-care plan he could describe in more detail than just “lines around the states,” and a sustained effort to convince voters that he was genuinely converted to advancing the pro-life cause and overturning Roe v. Wade. And just as important, no unforced errors: No defending Planned Parenthood and promising not to overturn the abortion laws, no praising single-payer health care and Obamacare mandates, no throwing his own tax-cut plan under the bus, no blaming George Bush for 9/11.[/quote] The first step to conservative doublethink is to define Trump as "non-conservative." (linked at the top) [quote]Ryan also jeopardized the party’s long game. Ryan understands better than most that the biggest hurdle for conservatives is how their motivations are perceived. If someone starts out thinking you’re greedy, mean-spirited, or bigoted, they’re not going to listen to your 10-point plan. Ryan has been fighting that perception all his political life.[/quote] [quote]Trump often embraces that perception, proving conservatism’s harshest critics right. For example, the Left says conservatives support “wars for oil.” Trump says that “taking the oil” of Iraq and Libya should be a top priority.[/quote] The second step is to cry about how Trump disparages the conservative image. Loyalists, if Trump is so clearly [i]not[/i] a conservative, then why are you so concerned with the image of your apparently unrelated principles? Your brand should remain safe if he isn't a conservative. So which is it?