Inigo Montoya’s famous words, originally meant for the word “inconceivable” has broadened into a meme that can most aptly be applied to various political jargon, because too often the broken promises of lying politicians has rendered words devoid of meaning. In Conservative circles, the word “principled” has been abused by phonies. In leftist circles, the word is applied to actors who pretend to be Conservative to elevate their credibility when they bash Trump or Conservative policies. One seemingly consistent usage is the word’s lack with regards to Donald Trump.

Pragmatism

A more politically correct dichotomy used by the media in the Republican Civil War was pragmatic Republicans vs ideological, anti-establishment Republicans. Pragmatic was used back in 2016 to describe RINOs like Chris Christie, because pragmatic is a campaign buzzword for RINO. Principled is the candidate signal to the voters that they are real Conservatives. But over the election cycles, “principled” has become nothing more than a campaign buzzword.

To credit Glenn Beck and Steve Deace respectively, “principled” is as devoid of meaning in political campaign as “common sense solutions” or “waste, fraud, and abuse.” And let’s not forget “balanced budget amendments” and “supporting veterans.” Politics is filled with many words that sound nice but mean absolutely nothing. Political media and punditry is as well and the word “principled” has been misapplied more than accurately applied.

Who is Principled?

Better question: what are our principles?

Perhaps the ambiguity surrounding the word “principled” stems from so many on the real or pretend right not knowing or being able to articulate the Conservative tenets. Conservatism is premised around the fallen and corrupt nature of man. Mankind cannot, by means of social experimenting or removing governance, perfect itself. The central tenant of Conservatism, stemming from the core premise of fallen nature, is the belief that government exists solely to protect natural rights, the inalienable rights of life, liberty, and property, where in a state of nature the violation of these rights would be unnavigable.

Every Conservative position stems from the core statement above. The Pro-Life position is the proper Conservative position because it demands the government to protect the right to life for unborn children. Being pro-gun is likewise an extension of the natural right to life and a recognition that fallen men given power will eventually succumb to tyranny. The bolded statement is a vision statement for Conservatism. Socialism violates the right of property. Progressivism operates well outside the scope of Conservative governance, as does social democracy.

Principles are like Nationalism

If flip-flopping is viewed as pragmatic, a consistent stance is considered principled. Principle defined by Merriam-Webster

“a comprehensive and fundamental law, doctrine, or assumption”

Nationalism is an incomplete ideology. It can be paired with socialism, which is what fascism is. It can be paired with Conservatism, Progressivism, Populism, Monarchism, and endless isms except its opposite: globalism. Whether Nationalism is good or bad is wholly dependent on whether your country sucks or not. Being a Nationalist for South Africa is not equivalent to being a Nationalist for the United States. Being principled is only good if your principles don’t suck.

Bernie Sanders is probably the most principled member of Congress. He believed in socialism before it was cool and has a voting record that strongly corresponds to his beliefs. But similarly Mitch McConnell is principled because he has never wavered from his core beliefs in self-enrichment and perpetual power. The only people in Congress, or politics, who aren’t principled are those who don’t have their own thoughts. Everyone else is principled and it’s a matter of whether their principles suck or not. So instead of arguing who is and who isn’t principled, we should instead be articulating what our principles actually are.

We are currently forming the American Conservative Movement. If you are interested in learning more, we will be sending out information in a few weeks.

Announcing the second annual celebration of the 2nd amendment and the gear that protects our lives and our liberty.

Gun Pride Month is the annual celebration of the life-saving tools of freedom. It’s that time of year when those of the pro-liberty right, liberals, conservatives and Libertarians, come out to show their pride in the kit that protects our lives and liberty. It is the second year of a celebration that is growing by leaps and bounds.

Never Forget, even for an instant, that the one and only reason anybody has for taking your gun away is to make you weaker than he is, so he can do something to you that you wouldn’t allow him to do if you were equipped to prevent it. This goes for burglars, muggers, and rapists, and even more so for policemen, bureaucrats, and politicians. – L. Neil Smith

Standing for the common sense human right of self-defense

Leftists love the divide and conquer approach in attacking liberty. What began with the ‘first they came for the gun owners’ morphed into other targets of the national socialist left. This is why we the patriots of the pro-liberty right must band together and refuse to be silenced by the mobocracy of the left.

Other groups of people have claimed whole months, so why shouldn’t the over 120 million innocent gun owners do the same? This is to show the liberty grabber left that we will not be shamed into silence on social media. We are the armed patriots of America and we aren’t going anywhere, so the nation’s socialist-left had better get used to that fact.

As Tom Knighton of Bearing Arms stated it in his article on the celebration: Make July ‘Gun Pride’ Month!

Gun control activists are lashing out, trying to create a world where gun ownership is socially taboo. They want us silent because if people know we exist, they might be interested in our thoughts on gun control. They might seek us out and get facts about guns and how they’re used for self-defense 2.5 million times per year, a number supported by CDC research.

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Not only that, but we get to spend the month of Independence Day celebrating the ultimate proof that we are truly independent. Let’s start showing our support for gun rights by using the hashtag #GunPrideMonth on pictures of us using our firearms responsibly posted to social media. Let’s start printing t-shirts and posters. Let’s come up with new ideas to remind people that we’re gun owners and we’re Americans, for crying out loud!

Guns are the linchpin of liberty

Guns are the only physical manifestation of the Bill of Rights. Without the government-restraining right of firearm ownership, the Constitution is only a piece of paper to be ignored by those who lust for power. Authoritarian socialist regimes of the past and present have also had Constitutions or other foundational documents that purported to protect human and civil rights. But, without the basic human right of self-defense, those rights were meaningless.

It’s no coincidence that the liberty grabber left’s first attempts at censorship began with the subject of the self-defense. What began with the banning of a few 2nd amendment, pro-liberty channels and pages has expanded to other voices. As has always been the case, the left and its socialist national agenda of societal slavery has always been inferior to the agenda of economic liberty and freedom of the conservative right.

The left has a fever, and the only prescription is more gun confiscation

Guns put the teeth in the Bill of Rights, a restraint the power-hungry can’t ignore. This is why we have created this celebration and why it is catching fire among the patriot community. The plain fact is the liberty grabber left cannot abide the ability of the people to ‘resist’ a governmental monopoly on the use of force. As is the case in other realms, they cannot be honest as to why they want certain people to be disarmed. Hence, they have to couch their obsession with stepping-stones to gun confiscation ‘Intergalactic Background Checks’ etc. in terms of ‘safety’ or reform.

We’ve already documented and detailed what is just a sampling of the instances where the national socialist left has demanded gun confiscation. It used to be that the left would only make these strident demands against liberty in the context of a mass murder tragedy, but now they have lowered to bar to calling for this from the mere rumor of the report of something happening of this nature.

The Takeaway

It is patently absurd to collectively punish millions people for the crimes of a few. Is it fair to treat certain people as second class citizens simply because they have certain items of hardware? That is the flawed injustice of the left in going after the basic human rights of innocent gun owners.

It is time for the 120+ million innocent gun owners to stand up and be counted. The liberty grabber left has made it clear they want to punish millions with a never ending stream of new regulations and requirements that will do nothing except punish the innocent, followed by outright gun confiscation. It is time to show our pride in defending liberty and saving lives in the process.

We are currently forming the American Conservative Movement. If you are interested in learning more, we will be sending out information in a few weeks.

There was a time when I got much of my news from the Drudge Report. It seemed to be conservative, and while it also liked to mix in conspiracy theories, Hollywood news, and an unhealthy dominance of Tom Brady fan stories, it generally got the stories right.

Today, the news aggregator is nothing like it once was. Today, it’s doing three things that should make America-loving patriots absolutely furious.

Contrary to popular belief, it’s not conservative

I remember during the heights of the hoopla regarding the Georgia and Alabama abortion laws, the Drudge Report seemed more annoyed than anything else. The stories about the laws were generally left-leaning – partially neutral in their reporting but with a noticeable bias against the laws. They didn’t post any of the unhinged responses from leftist outlets like Vox or ThinkProgress, but there was no commentary in favor of the laws, either.

Scan the headlines today. There are some that are right-leaning, but there are plenty of missed opportunities to spread a conservative message. The site seems to be against illegal immigration, though not nearly is much as there once. As the border crisis ramps up, coverage of it seems to be ramping down.

They love mainstream media sources

Which news outlets oppose America the most? Washington Post, the New York Times, and CNN are among the worst offenders. Which sites does Drudge link to the most? See previous list.

Sure, they link to Washington Examiner, Townhall, and Breitbart, but those links are scattered among TMZ garbage and Axios progressive news. The funny part is many of the outlets that get the most traffic from Drudge are sites that have attacked him. WaPo ran a very unflattering report on Matt Drudge himself. He blasted them for it. Today, you can still find plenty of links to them littered across his site.

The site is quietly becoming anti-Trump

I never thought I’d see the day when Drudge Report would turn against the President. The site was one of his biggest supporters during the primaries, even attacking other GOP candidates in favor of Trump. But things have changed. It’s hard to find a pro-Trump link on the site at any given moment, but you’ll find plenty of links attacking him.

They use anti-Trump news sources in links about the President, as if trying to shift sentiment away from him and in favor of a Democratic candidate. Pete Buttigieg has been the recipient of the most positive press on Drudge among Democrats. It’s puzzling.

There are alternatives for conservatives who are tired of Drudge Report’s shifting perspectives. This is no longer a conservative news source. Perhaps it never really was. Today, it’s as anti-Trump as they come.

We are currently forming the American Conservative Movement. If you are interested in learning more, we will be sending out information in a few weeks.