Kevin Drum responds to my assertion that "hating liberals was always important to conservatives, but of late, it has become the central organizing principle of American conservatism.":
I've never bought this. Conservatives have opposed public broadcasting pretty much forever, right? As for climate change denialism and opposition to net neutrality, they basically belong in the category of "let corporations do anything they want." This has been a Republican totem for a long time too.
Modern conservatives have a few simple guiding principles. Keep taxes on rich people low. Let corporations do whatever they want. Toe the Christian right line on social issues and the NRA line on gun issues. Support military action overseas if a Republican president proposes it. Oppose spending on poor people.
This explains about 90% of what you need to know. Pissing off liberals is a nice side benefit, but you really don't need it to explain Republican positions.
True enough, but that doesn't explain the shift in conservative beliefs about climate change. Nor does it necessarily explain the choices conservatives make about what they're going to focus on at a particular moment.
There's something else to keep in mind: the GOP, like the Democratic Party, is not a monolith. John Boehner didn't issue an order saying, "Now, my minions, is the moment we can finally take on NPR! When Garrison Keillor's head sits on a pike outside the Capitol, the hippies will tremble in fear at last!" I seriously doubt that defunding NPR was his first choice for what the Republicans ought to be doing. But a lot of the lower-ranking members of the House are very excited by it, which just goes to show that some Republicans are more highly motivated by liberal-hatred than others. And there are a lot more of those that are in Congress than there used to be. There may be limits on their institutional power, but one thing they can do is get attention for their cockamamie ideas.
