Conservatives and Conspiracy Theories

There are two types of conservatism anymore:  there’s the conservatism that advocates individual liberty and limited government (in other words, “real” conservatism–in the American sense of the word, of course) and there is the fake conservatism of Muttonhead Limbaugh, Redstate.com, and Fox News, which holds that the only truly conservative principle is support for empire.

The first type of conservative, the real conservative, almost invariably supports Ron Paul once he works his way through the silly propaganda of the second type of conservative.  The second type of conservative believes his own propaganda, and detests the only candidate who is pro-free market and pro-limited government, and who indeed espouses a truly right-wing foreign policy of non-interventionism.  The second type of conservative is a born-again Wilsonian, and paradoxically holds that this very left-wing view of foreign policy is the primary evidence of his own conservative credentials.

Adherents of Type II Conservatism mock and deride Type I Conservatives as “conspiracy theorists” for pointing out the obvious fact that our government is a nasty piece of work whether one considers domestic or foreign policy.  Now, Type II Conservatives have shown themselves to be every bit conspiracy theory loons they accuse their philosophical betters of being.  They are saying that there is a “Ron Paul-Mitt Romney” team-up to destroy the “real” (that is, left-wing Wilsonian) conservatives in the race: Santorum and Gingrich.   The evidence offered for this silly theory is that Ron Paul is “only attacking Santorum and/or Gingrich”, while “leaving Romney alone.”  In asserting this theory based on such flimsy evidence, Type II conservatives reveal themselves to have no capacity for rational analysis.  That Ron Paul is attacking Santorum because the contest at this point for anyone not named “Romney” is to emerge as the lone “not-Romney”, and that therefore he needs to push Santorum and Gingrich out of the race, after which he can focus his resources on taking Romney on, never occurs to Type II conservatives.  A convoluted theory that Ron is acting as Romney’s surrogate in order to get his son the VP slot, or for a speaking slot at the convention in Tampa is more readily believed than that Ron is strategically using his limited resources. 

But what can one expect from those who embrace left-wing ideology and genuinely think that it is hard-core conservatism?

Some rational discussion of this Type II Conservative conspiracy theory:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V9WeqvXy3Ew&feature=player_embedded