Conservatives being played

I cringe every time I hear someone refer to the current administration as conservative. Conservatives don’t apply tariffs (they believe in free trade), budget record deficits (they seek a balanced ledger), or expand the power of the president (they’re all for small government).

The days of Barry Goldwater, Gerald Ford and John McCain are gone. What we’re left with is oligarchs, plutocrats, and de facto fascists who pretend to be conservative to appeal to a right wing, mostly male, base. It’s to the shame of that base that they’re gullible enough to not see the difference.

Ronald Reagan was the first phony conservative to pull the wool over the reactionaries’ eyes. He established the tradition of spending more than we take in followed by every president since except that spend-thrift liberal Bill Clinton.

My grandmother, a Herbert Hoover Republican, had no use for Reagan. “We should never elect an actor president,” she said, “They’re trained to fool the people.”

Fred Malo Jr.

Carbondale