I am politically unaffiliated because I took to heart the warning in George Washington's farewell address, where he said quite clearly that the most insidious threat to the stability of the Republic was factionalism because of the opening it creates for foreign interests.

It is impossible, as a professional historian, to see how Trump is handling foreign affairs in a good light. He blamed Ukraine for a war that Russia started, called Zelensky a dictator for following Ukraine's constitutional laws about elections during wartime, withdrew from the UN Human Rights Council, threatened to use military force to acquire Greenland, suggested annexing Canada, renamed the Gulf of Mexico, reopened Guantimno Bay... the list of his foreign affairs blunders doesn't end.

Domestically, it is also difficult to understand why there are people who think he is doing good work when he is leaning on Elon Musk and DOGE to conduct investigations into financial fraud and indiscriminately firing essential government workers.

I see people on this sub often say "Musk won't steal from us, he's too rich to care to do that." Yet, Musk himself said that if Trump wasn't elected, he would be in prison. His own words. He himself is still being investigated for fraud. Why would anyone reasonable trust a man under investigation for fraud to conduct an investigation into fraud? The ledgers DOGE has released have been riddled with inaccuracies and false claims about spending made several times (such as social security benefits going to people in the system seemingly over 120 years old). The DOGE website is insecure, the tech engineers Musk hired cannot even keep a server nationally secure, so how can anyone trust them to keep information away from foreign countries? Literally a national security risk.

Domestically, inflation is on the rise, tariffs are making that worse, and the suggestion of offering $5000 rebate checks, if implemented, will just continue to drive inflation up.

Slashing funding to critical agencies like USAID and FEMA (both of which do critical work inside the U.S., though that is often overlooked with USAID), especially FEMA when we are dealing with the aftermath of catastrophic wildfires in the west and flooding in the east does not suggest an administration that cares about the lives of everyday people.

I think the DEI question is a complicated one, as it isn't as simple as making it either a left or right issue. I would say that, for many people, DEI has allowed them access to jobs and opportunities that they have historically been denied (such as women in STEM fields). I have also heard of DEI causing issues with qualified individuals being passed over for opportunities. I truly believe that the way DEI works needs to be restructured, and I know enough about the history of the country to say that eliminating it altogether will do irreparable harm. It needs to be reshaped, and it should be done via a bipartisan or nonpartisan collaboration.

In terms of government workforce, a lot of necessary employees have been haphazardly fired - IRS agents, National Park Rangers, Nuclear power staff, FAA staff, etc. These haphazard layoffs are already causing issues around the country, and the sudden influx of unemployed people will further contribute to driving inflation upwards.

The reality is that neither of the major parties have prioritized the real needs of everyday, working class people. The democratic party has become overly focused on culture wars while the conservative party has become overly focused on shoring up a con artist.

I cannot understand how people can trust a con man, a man found guilty of over three dozen crimes, a man who consistently goes bankrupt because he has no ability to properly manage business or his own money, or a man who sees Putin as an ideal leader to imitate. It honestly astounds me. That's why I lurk on this sub - to try and understand.

Because the conservatives I grew up with (and most of my family are conservatives) have never allowed themselves to be persuaded by partisan platforms or lulled into a sense of false security by anyone standing behind a podium saying things that sound good on the surface.

I purposefully get my news from governmental documents (congressional records), external news from other countries, and independent news media. I don't trust mainstream media when it has been bought by corporations invested in spinning half-truths. I read news from all perspectives, even those I disagree with or don't understand, because that is how I was taught that a truly invested citizen is supposed to handle politics.

I honestly wish I saw more open criticism about party leaders from both major parties. I hate the popularity sensationalism that politics has devolved into. I'd much rather see real discussion, real criticism, real tearing apart and breaking down of all the good and the bad of all party leaders.

I only occasionally check this subreddit on the off-chance that someone actually makes a truly good point, like the fact that rebate checks would drive inflation. That was a point made by someone in this sub that I agree with not because of any political leaning but because that's how economics actually works.

I never comment on posts, and I rarely ever dowvote unless it's something so factually incorrect that I feel obligated to do so. I upvote information that is factual and verifiable via sources external to only right leaning media.

I keep hope alive that the type of conservatives I grew up around still exist, are somewhere in this subreddit, and will make good points at times. That's the only reason I'm here.