It was a brutal year for the conservative movement, which at long last came crashing down after dominating American politics for nearly 30 years. One small consolation for at least some leading thinkers on the right is that they began to demonstrate perceptiveness that by and large eluded them in preceding years. Here are the top twelve insights of prominent conservatives in 2008:
[From TPMCafe | Talking Points Memo | The Top Dozen Insights of Conservatives, 2008]
You can read all that if you like, it’s amusing in its cluelessness, but a commenter sums up their core principles thusly:
Conservatives are for government smaller than liberals define it.
Conservatives are for taxes lower than liberals set it.
Conservatives are for regulation lesser than liberals define it.
Conservatives are for what non-Christians are against.
Conservatives are for what non-whites are against.
Conservatives are for what non-heterosexuals are against.
Conservatives are for what non-Americans are against.They don’t have to define what they really believe. They just have to wait for liberals to say something and they’re against it. And if the answer isn’t clear enough, the rhetorical geniuses of the conservatives movement will be happy to fill in the blanks.
[From TPMCafe | Talking Points Memo | The Top Dozen Insights of Conservatives, 2008]
The word reactionary comes to mind.