There were a couple paragraphs in the latest “DPOC Weekly Update” that made me say, “Yes – that’s what I’ve been saying for many years now. Duh.” I don’t know if Ada wrote this or not – it came out under her name, but she’s on a European vacation right now. In any case we print that letter below, with the two paragraphs in bold.

Point being, the word “conservative” is a respectable word, which is not only NOT a useful insult to use against our political enemies but also doesn’t accurately describe most of today’s Republicans. It means cautious, respectful of tradition, it means keeping government and government spending to a minimum, respecting the law and Constitution, not overburdening the people with too many regulations or taxes, and preserving maximum liberty. And defending our environment and neighborhoods. Americans WANT to vote for politicians who are actually conservative.

If Ada’s, and Democrats’, memory goes back ANY distance, we know how important it is to have true conservative allies, allies like former Anaheim mayor Tom Tait, who fought for OC’s first district elections, who fought against subsidies for Anaheim’s biggest businesses, who streamlined regulations allowing small businesses to thrive. Tait who earned such (sometimes begrudging) respect from OC Republicans that they called him “the soul of the OC GOP.”

If there are still some conservatives who find it conservative to agonize over women being able to have abortions, over the normalization of gaiety, over it being uncool to quote “God” overmuch in democratic spaces, over the enfranchisement of the disfranchised, well, they’re wrong and it just shows how needed we liberals are to hold the line on those things. But an actual conservative opposition Party would be one we could work with, and is necessary for balance in this topsy-turvy world.

(Yes, Republicans managed to make “liberal” a dirty word over the decades, but that’s the world’s loss, and we obviously haven’t managed to do the same thing with “conservative” and there’s no use or point trying.)

Let’s start with the no-brainer: Donald Trump, the very pimple-head of America’s slowly-dying white supremacy, is NOT CONSERVATIVE. And anyone who supports him and the radical authoritarianism he promulgates is not conservative either.

School boards who waste endless public money pursuing their culture wars, defying state laws, and bleeding public education money for the profits of the shittiest charter schools, are not conservative. Making it harder for Americans to vote is not conservative. Bleeding public money for the profits of big corporations, and letting them pollute at will, is not conservative. And blowing precious money on the perpetuation of the parasitic consultant class is not conservative. And conservatives should oppose those things.

Edmund Burke, the grandfather of conservatism, had a lifelong friendship and rivalry with the radical democrat Tom Paine, as they both supported America’s independence from tyrannical Britain. They broke over the excesses and violence and intemperance of the French Revolution, and Burke was right.

And whoever wrote the DPOC letter below is correct – the smug, hateful MAGA fascists running Surf City right now are NOT CONSERVATIVES:

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DPOC Weekly Newsletter

Extremists on the March in Huntington Beach

Dear Democrats,

The extremist majority on the Huntington Beach City Council is pushing ahead with their radical culture war instead of doing anything to actually help the community.

Last fall, the Council established a community review board with unchallengeable authority to decide which books are and are not “appropriate” (by their standards) to be stocked in HB libraries’ children’s sections. Our Democrats on the Council, Rhonda Bolton, Dan Kalmick, and Natalie Moser pointed out several practical flaws in the plan negatively impacting library operations.The extremists went ahead anyway voting in lockstep four-to-three.

Another four-to-three vote directed the staff to solicit proposals for privatizing the City’s public libraries. Workers who have given their careers to serving the community face losing pay, benefits, even their jobs.

There were clear signs Huntington Beach residents aren’t going to sit still for this. The resistance is forming including Huntington Beach Public Library supporters, labor, community groups, and Surf City residents! They packed the council chambers Tuesday night.

Moving forward, we must be clear in our messaging when discussing extremists like Council members Tony Strickland, Casey McKeon, Pat Burns, and Mayor Gracey Van Der Mark. None of these individuals should be referred to as “conservatives” or even “ultra-conservatives.”

These extremists bear no resemblance to conservatives who once argued that the government should stay out of our lives. Huntington Beach extremists aim to have the local government involved in every aspect of civic life but on their terms.

We Democrats are looking forward to collaborating with grassroots activists and organizations to bring responsible, transparent, and effective city policies back to Surf City.

Take a look below at the events we have coming up…

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Final note to the “Central OC Dems” and their repeated call to “Focus on Facism” at their General Meeting: It’s spelled “Fascism.” Or is that just me being conservative with the English language? Vern out.