(noun) Those who want to turn back the clock of the Republican Party to its pre-1980 libertarian roots of self-defense, constitutionalism, and shrunken government

This is the sad story of a cruel saga…

To understand where I am coming from, you need to be acquainted with the roots of conservatism. American conservatism did not evolve to conserve “social norms.” This is a common misconception. In fact, this only holds true for neoconservatism (new conservatism) which made a name for itself in the 1980s with the Christian Right and the Moral Majority movement. While I hold President Reagan with high regard and believe that he was a conservative for the most part, I say “pre-1980″ because of the emergence of the neoconservatives during this time. (more…)