Why would anyone proudly call themselves a conservative?

[Jamaal510]

4. These people who represent America's modern RW are not true conservatives.

There's nothing conservative about today's GOP or the rest of the political Right. They don't care about conserving anything. As a matter of fact, most of them want to totally eliminate things such as the EPA, Affirmative Action, Roe v. Wade, gay rights, and progressive taxation. A more honest label for them would be the "Regressive Party", as Robert Reich coined it. All of their stances mirror what life used to be like back in the Gilded Era.

I would argue that many self-proclaimed progressives and Democrats follow more closely the dictionary definition of the word "conservative" than most self-proclaimed conservatives and Republicans. Just compare the presidencies of Clinton and Obama with Bush ll and Reagan. While UE and the deficit lowered under Democratic presidents, those things were actually raised under Republican presidents. When it comes to national security, there were no wars we were involved in under Clinton, while Obama has drawn down both wars Bush ll started. And of course, we can't forget about Reagan's Cold War. Republican presidents have been nothing but reckless war-mongerers, and they were the true out-of-control spenders.