MK ULTRA Victim

"America First Populism" has nothing to do with conservatism.

Maybe around 2015 or 2016 you could credibly claim that "MAGA" was the logical continuation of the Ron Paul Tea Party, grassroots conserva-tarian movement, but the longer that "MAGA" goes on the more it becomes clear that it is fundamentally empty.

At present, "MAGA" is filled with liars and sociopathic grifters like Laura Loomer, Kari Lake, and Brenden Dilley. (If you still believe that George Soros endorsed Ron DeSantis, know that Trump and his toadies lied to you and they have no problem doing it again.)

All of these Trump sycophants were abject failures as political candidates, so they should have been cast off by whatever movement spawned them, but they weren't. Instead these epic meme warriors are held up as major influencers and commentators by the people who just a few years ago were applauding Trump's "you're gonna get so tired of winning" line. And they are heralded by "MAGA" solely because they drink Trump's bathwater, because at least at present "MAGA" is nothing but a Fan Club for Donald Trump. It's an embarassing and completely unserious excuse for a political movement.

It's really remarkable to watch "MAGA" in action over the past few weeks in particular. After the 1st debate (which MAGA Grifters insisted was irrelevant but constantly reacted to anyway), there were multiple Democrats on their back heels, like Jen Psaki. Whatever else you want to say about the Republicans on stage, they wisely ripped into the Dems for supporting unrestricted late term abortion, which is not only morally reprehensible but deeply unpopular at the national level, so Dems like Psaki had to go on defense and lie through their teeth. Prominent Dems could easily be pressured into explaining themselves on what restrictions they agree with, if any.

But that golden opportunity to go on offense was wiped out because Trump himself, being petty, petulant and yes - not a conservative - couldn't help but rip into DeSantis on the national stage by sliming Florida's Pro Life law as a "terrible thing". And naturally, the ever-so-conservative "MAGAdonians" fell in line. Trump threw Dems a completely unearned life preserver instead of joining in to pressure them on late term abortion at the national level, and he also gave them untold amounts of free ad material ("look! even Trump thinks Republicans are too extreme!"). Next year, Florida has a crucial referendum on abortion, and if it goes the wrong way, it would be impossible for a red legislature to undo. In fact, Donald the "conservative swamp drainer" was openly talking about some sort of vapid deal that he wanted to make with Dems if he were re-elected. So yeah, thanks for that one, Donald.

And now "MAGA World" is melting down because Trump was correctly criticized for reckless spending and money-printing, at least on par with Dubya and Obama. I'm supposed to sit here and pay no mind to the fact that Trump enthusiastically added trillions to the debt? Not happening.

I was marching with the Tea Party while Trump was still cutting checks to Hillary Clinton and Charlie Rangel, so Trump and the rest of his throne-sniffing yes-men can sit down and shut up with their bleating. Trump did add trillions to the debt (while getting cucked by Fauci), and if that doesn't bother you then can take "fiscal responsibility" out of your vocabulary.

Let's look at another core tenant of American conservatism - 2nd Amendment Rights. Did you enjoy Donald's bump stock ban? If you're about to say that you don't care because you didn't have one, pause and familiarize yourself with "incrementalism", because that's precisely how the American left had gradually nibbled away at the 2nd Amendment. Your gun rights weren't undermines overnight, and Trump signaled that he is more than ready to compromise when it comes to the 2nd Amendment. Pretty stunning, given how his Fan Club constantly pretends to hate "RINOs" who are too close to Dems. But I guess Trump sharing a table with Diane Feinstein and openly calling for the circumvention of the 1nd, 4th, and 5th Amendments doesn't count as RINO-y. Reality is that had his statement come from the mouth of any other politician, he would have been ripped by "MAGA" as a dirty, sellout, traitor. In fact that, it sounds like something that Robert Francis O'Rourke would openly agitate for. But because MAGA is only a fan club and not a movement with any kind of first principles, his words don't matter.

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The perfect encapsulation of MAGA, at least at the moment, is watching Trump take the stage and unreservedly defend an actual RINO, Lindsey Graham , before a chorus of jeers, because Trump preposterously wants his help to negotiate with Dems. And as always, "MAGA" mostly doesn't care, just like they don't care that Trump whiffed on the border wall, just like they don't care that he won't answer for his record in real time on a debate stage. Trump is either a coward for not explaining why he capitulated to Fauci, and/or a delusional narcissist if he believes that he committed no errors.

And you're clowning if you believe that a man who is too cowardly, delusional, and narcissistic to spend 2 hours on a debate stage is going to charge back into DC and scatter the CIA to the winds or whatever. If you're not already upset with Trump "the swamp drainer" for hiring punks like Chris Wray and Mark Milley and giving laughable reasons for doing so, I doubt there's anything he could say or do that would give you pause, if you still purport to be conservative at all.

PS: Trump went out of his way to endorse Kevin McCarthy for Speaker while a handful of conservatives were actually trying to squeeze concessions from him. Completely incoherent for "MAGA conservatives" to cheer for his ousting.