Joe has never called himself a liberal; in fact he goes out of his way to state that he is a conservative. Yet like many on the Bulwark, he understands the threat posed by men and women like Trump, Hawley, MTG, etc. I say he is squarely in the tradition of people like John Adams, Winston Churchill, Joe Ball and Dwight Eisenhower, men on the center right and right who understood that liberal democracy is the best protector against oppression. No true conservative could support authoritarianism because ultimately that form of government will not result in a limited government and protection of individual liberties. In fact it will do the opposite.
The people like Trump and his merry band of misfits really are not conservatives, they are traditionalists; they do not seek to limit government, but to impose upon people their own views on morality, social hierarchy and even economics. In that sense, they are more in line with the old right of Europe of the late 1800s and early 1900s, the people who led the old European empires in to WWI and then WWII. Sadly, I think that this fire must burn out before people will learn. Unfortunately, many young people will be forced to suffer for the errors of their parents and grandparents (just like WWI and WWII).
Well sure, if you compare them to Fox and Friend or The Five then Morning Joe is a beacon of liberalism.
Joe has never called himself a liberal; in fact he goes out of his way to state that he is a conservative. Yet like many on the Bulwark, he understands the threat posed by men and women like Trump, Hawley, MTG, etc. I say he is squarely in the tradition of people like John Adams, Winston Churchill, Joe Ball and Dwight Eisenhower, men on the center right and right who understood that liberal democracy is the best protector against oppression. No true conservative could support authoritarianism because ultimately that form of government will not result in a limited government and protection of individual liberties. In fact it will do the opposite.
The people like Trump and his merry band of misfits really are not conservatives, they are traditionalists; they do not seek to limit government, but to impose upon people their own views on morality, social hierarchy and even economics. In that sense, they are more in line with the old right of Europe of the late 1800s and early 1900s, the people who led the old European empires in to WWI and then WWII. Sadly, I think that this fire must burn out before people will learn. Unfortunately, many young people will be forced to suffer for the errors of their parents and grandparents (just like WWI and WWII).
Trump supporters have so denigrated the word "liberal" they no longer even know what a "liberal democracy" is. They think it is an oxymoron.