In my web-site journey of values I have explored, from my American-conservative point of view, the essential difference between conservatives and liberals, the urgency of maintaining our values in difficult times, what a code of conduct might look like, whose fault all this political heartache might be, and what we conservatives must do to right the capsizing vessel that was once the United States of America. I even wrote a short piece for any Democrats bold enough to read my stuff suggesting that supporting Donald Trump today is just as okay as supporting Martin Luther King was in 1965. These are a lengthy and tedious read to make points I think are important. I even summarized all of it in a few paragraphs.

     This essay has one message: support principles over personalities.

     While I look at any Clinton, Obama, Biden, Harris, or Pelosi and see character far short of Trump, or any of the conservative Republicans for that matter, it really doesn't matter. Values should be front and center in the political-decision process and there is a clear-cut difference between left and right. From 1789 and 1791, from the 1820s, from 1854, and ever since then, the right-wing, conservative, Republican effort has been all about the primal sanctity of human life, liberty, and property, the idea that these rights are basic and universal enough to be beyond the reach of church or state. During all that time the left-wing, progressive, Democrat effort has been about the subjugation of those basic rights for some greater good from slavery and eugenics through socialism and now some kind of racial justice.

     The rest of the world (97% of the land area, 95% of the population) has been comfortable with suppression of basic human decency from tribal Africa and slavery through religious crusades and socialism. For 120 years, 1790 to 1910, the United States of America upheld and expanded the rights of human life, liberty, and property as outside the reach of church or state. Our little ideological island, three percent of the world's land area, five percent of its population, stood alone venerating the individual human spirit above institutional oppression. We weren't always right, we weren't always perfect, but we went from patriarchal colonial slavery to all Americans being able to participate in economic and political life. People from all over the world sacrificed a great deal to come here for all the right reasons.

     The importance and sanctity of these principles of human life, liberty, and property and their independence from church or state come down from the Magna Carta on 1215 June 15 to our Declaration of Independence on 1776 July 4 and our Fourteenth Amendment on 1868 July 9.

     As satisfying as first principles are, especially to Ayn Rand's Objectivists, I also believe in evidence. The historical cost of theocracy has been staggering and socialism is the same poison without religion, also with terrible cost. The leap from well-meaning redistribution of wealth and social policy to unimaginable horror happens often and quickly. (Do you really think the people screaming and dying feel better because American progressive Democrats passionately care about the causes that made these things happen to them?)

     I can look at the history of American conservatism from 1215 June 15 through 1788 June 21 and be proud of its accomplishments. I don't have to rewrite history to be proud of Jefferson, Washington, Lincoln, Churchill, King, Reagan, Thatcher, and Trump. I see two stumbles in my lifetime, neither enough to tempt me to wander left. The justified fear of communism created a spasm of tyranny in the McCarthy trials where people exercising no more than their freedom of speech were suppressed and blackballed. Another consequence of that spasm was an inappropriate return to religion adding "Under God" to our Pledge of Allegiance (minor) and a "pro-life" movement advocating federal-government intervention against abortion (major) where religious-right conservatives spew liberal-style flames on Facebook and make us all look silly and stupid. To his credit, Donald Trump's position on abortion is the correct one for the presidential office, that abortion is a state-level issue with no federal-government position at all.

That Donald Trump is a businessman makes me feel better. I would do business with him, but I would have a small army of lawyers, attorneys, and barristers to make sure every I is crossed and every T is dotted. But being a businessman is not enough. With President Trump jobs increased, not shitty minimum-wage jobs but real making-things jobs, factory jobs, jobs that make me proud to be an American. Crime went down. My red, yellow, brown, and black friends said they felt safer driving at night, the racial climate was less scary. The poorer half of America found their savings increasing.      During the Democrat reign from 2007 through 2014 median family net worth, a measure of economic health of the poorer half of America, went down by half. It certainly doesn't take a genius with amazing powers of observation to see that things haven't gone well since 2021 amid a rising tide of anti-Jewish, anti-Israel hate. (With a name ending in "berg" I'm not buying green bananas these days.)      In short, we know what a Trump presidency or a Harris presidency would be like from recent experience.      This should be enough historical evidence to support my more-esoteric views based on values and principles.

     I don't support Donald John Trump because he is less terrible than gangs of Clintons, Obamas, Bidens, and Harrises. I support Donald Trump because his party and his administation supported the principles and values that make people's lives better, not just in the past and present, but for the future.

     That Democrats have acted like brutish beasts from lashings and lynchings in the 1800s and gulags and gas chambers in the 1900s to multiple mindless impeachments and indictments along with a stolen election certainly should count. On the other hand, it shouldn't surprise anybody that the party without values or principles has acted without decency and honor both in history and in our lifetimes.

     Please choose values, choose principles, choose honor, and choose decency, even if you don't like those representing those attributes. Stand for Republicans over Democrats in the 2020s because it's the right thing to do as it was in the 1900s and the 1800s.