“This brings up the question of what, exactly is, the aim of modern Conservatism?

As far as can be told it is a hodge-podge of economic conservatives, social conservatives, small government conservatives, big government conservatives, business conservatives, freedom from government conservatives and those who just generally take a look at the goings on by Liberals and shake their heads for various reasons. To put it simply, Conservatism has no moorings to hold on to after Ronald Reagan, and had some big problems actually trying to adhere to any even when he was in office. This mish-mash has led to a strange admixture in which nearly anyone can say they ‘have conservative values’ but not have any MEANING to that.

And if you think the Conservatives and the Republican Party have problems, the Liberals and Democratic Party have had it for decades.”

I have never seen Jacksonianism fitting in with traditional Conservatism, unless you count wanting a ‘just the basics, no frills, please’ sort of government a Conservative ideal. Which, apparently, is appealing to No Party, but to a large swath of We the People:

“The Jacksonian Party asserts that wanting a small, simple and honorable government that the common man can understand and question so as to hold it accountable is something that is neither Liberal nor Conservative in its outlook. What it does do is assert that the Nation State is the highest form of representation of a People and that the rights and liberties enjoyed by the People are protected by that National government. ”

This huge and multi-limbed thing that got developed and grown during the mid to late 20th Century ill serves Us today. The modern threats are more closely akin to those in the 19th and the Republic has the toolbox and toolkit necessary to address these things. The response today would be more highly distributed because this is a powerful Nation with prosperous People, but that makes allowing the People to fight for the Republic in an orderly way not only necessary but a survival trait for the Republic. We ignore the older tools and means at the very peril of Our freedoms, Our liberties and Our lives. In an era when Nation States are no longer the main threat, and the enemies of the Union seek to use every weakness and every minor advantage to bring down the Nation, the Nation *must* use its tools to survive and stop the flow of goods and services to those enemies.

I actually, place Honor at the top of things with all activities flowing from it. I do not mind if creditors with low credit are not available, the system is free to shift and change over time to make what works at a low cost and profit margin an always open niche for competition if it is allowed to have that opening. My foreign and domestic policy outlooks, along with interim and long-term energy policies are those that use the tools the Federal Government has and puts them into the hands of those that are the most inventive and most needed for doing these things. The entire industrialized base for this Nation is now hampered by physical and energy constraints, along with mineral wealth constraints. By encouraging a move from these constraints in the long haul, America gets a new and vibrant frontier that will ALWAYS be open, so Free People can exercise freedom with known risks and due rewards.

No other political party wants to do these things: protect the Nation, hunt down Our enemies, reward Friendship of those that have given it to us and align Our foreign policy to that, and give the People the tools necessary to do the hard work in helping to defend their Nation and hold just rewards and bounties available. This is something I believe is now *feared* by the majority of political parties.

And yet, it is how a Republic of Free People remains Free.

I personally have gotten sick of the lack of action on anything but wedge election issues by all elected officials. I will not be voting for a single incumbent for the next few years.