Yes, you did read that headline correctly. Why does Glenn think that people need to stop calling themselves "conservative"? Earlier this morning on radio, Glenn spent the entire first hour of the show discussing the history of the Republican party. What has happened over time, is that the people that have called themselves conservatives, aka, the Lindsey Grahams and John Boehners of the world have given the name a bad reputation. Those people have all called themselves conservatives, so now, when you use the word, as Glenn put it, "all of a sudden people say...if you are a conservative, I don't like you. I don't like your policies." This is why it is so important to point out the difference.
If you say you are a conservative, people are tieing you to the Republican party. But Glenn argued that you need to be more specific, saying "I'm a consersative whatever. I'm a conservative Republican. Or I'm a conservative Libertarian." Why is that second word so important? As Glenn said, "Right now, if you just say conservative, it is synonymous with progressives."
Watch more of his theory below:
Rough Transcript Below:
GLENN: Okay. So here is the argument on why it's important. And, again, generationally. Tell me what liberal means.
STU: I mean, as far as what I -- like -- I mean, because I know what the classic liberal --
GLENN: Right. Classic liberalism. In 1918, if I would have asked you, tell me what a liberal means. Small government. Man stands up for himself. Keep the government out of things. Blah, blah. I'll bet you. I haven't done in research. But I will bet you that when the progressives started just calling themselves liberals, the liberals were like, oh, that's not what it means and everybody knows that's not what it means. You do it long enough, and it becomes that.
STU: Uh-huh.
GLENN: So what's happening right now is the John McCains of the world, the Lindsey Grahams, the John Boehners. The Orrin Hatches have all said, I'm conservative. You say that long enough for a long period of time, all of a sudden people say, no, Pat, you're not a conservative. And if you are a conservative, I don't like you. I don't like your policies. That's why you have to say, there's a difference. Because there is an x and y-axis. The x and y-axis is -- the x is size of government. Left and right. Anarchy and totalitarianism. Then it's conservative and not progressive, but -- what would you call it? Anti-conservative. I don't know what you would call it.
STU: Used to be a liberal.
GLENN: Yeah, it would be called liberal. So not classic liberal. So conservative and liberal.
STU: Right.
GLENN: That's your y-axis. So you have to -- because we're in this time period where everything is confusing. I don't want to identify -- look what she said when Bruce Jenner said, I'm a conservative. Will you call John Boehner and Mitch McConnell?
PAT: Well, he said I'm a Republican. He said I'm more conservative -- he said I'm a Republican.
GLENN: Can you play it? I think he started with -- I think he started with --
PAT: He said at first, I'm conservative, but I'm a Republican.
DIANE: Did you cheer the president? The first president ever to say the word transgender.
BRUCE: He actually was the first one to say the actual word transgender. I will certainly give him credit for that. But not to get political, I've just never been a big fan of him. I'm kind of more on the conservative side.
DIANE: Are you a Republican?
BRUCE: Yeah.
PAT: He says, yes, I'm a Republican.
BRUCE: Is that a bad thing? I believe in the Constitution.
STU: It is interesting though. The two things he identifies as is conservative and I believe in the Constitution. She says Republican, and he agrees with it. But it may -- and it would be interesting to see what his actual views are. I imagine people will dive into them after this interview.
GLENN: I doubt they will. Because it won't help their case. They're just going to smear him. They'll just smear him.
STU: Yeah, they have a weird -- I don't know if they know how to attack this. Because they don't want to make a conservative into a hero. But they do want to make a transgendered person into a hero.
GLENN: Then if they can't smear him, they'll forget him. They just won't do any other stories on him. He's just not interesting anymore. He says, I'm a conservative. She says, you're a Republican? He says, well, I believe in the Constitution.
Will you call John Boehner?
STU: Yeah, would you call John Boehner, Mitch McConnell, and ask them to be active in this issue?
GLENN: So you say you're a conservative, you're automatically tied to the Republican Party. So you have to say, I'm a conservative, whatever. I'm a conservative Republican. Or I'm a conservative Libertarian. I'm a conservative constitutionalist. Are you a Republican? Will you call John Boehner? No, I believe in the Constitution. But right now, if you just say conservative, it is synonymous with progressives. Just the way that the liberals -- they did it to the liberals. I can guarantee you the liberals said exactly what we said. That doesn't mean anything. That's the opposite. Progressivism is the opposite of classic liberal. It will never change. And look what happened.
