Incidentally, you might want to add one more contradiction to the “patriotism” claims of Conservatives: fiscal responsibility. Like defense against foreign enemies (certainly a valid justification for any government), monetary discipline should be a characteristic of any state philosophy. Only the type and degree and tactical methods are open to partisan debate, but the principle itself is self-evident.

Both Liberals and Conservatives are liable to be extravagant with other people’s money, but the former tend to err by plowing too much of that money back into the nation itself in the form of welfare spending and public works. The latter prefer to keep it to advance and consolidate their own financial position. Although both sides are certainly capable of corruption, the Left does everything it can to hide its greed and fraud, recognizing them instinctively as crimes; the Right is proud of their transgressions, and simply re-define them as civic virtue and the entitlement of their perceived moral and intellectual superiority.

In a way, we owe a debt of gratitude to the Trump Administration and how it has exposed the truth behind its motives and those of its supporters. In the past, greed and avarice has been concealed by the pious humbug and sanctimonious hypocrisy of Conservative morality and self-righteous indignation. After the full record of this administration is exposed, they’ll never be able to get away with that again. It may just turn out that becoming a weak, second-rate, and bankrupt nation is not too much of a price to pay to learn the truth about ourselves.