Real conservatism has never been tried. It's not the aspect of Trump's rise to power and the MAGA movement that irks me the most, but it certainly is an aspect that irks me: the nearly-constant description of Trump supporters, Republicans, and Trump himself as "conservative". It's everywhere, everyone does it, left and right, Democrat and Republican. And I get it, of course. The GOP certainly used to be the more conservative of the two parties. Its legacy contains great conservative presidents, such as Lincoln and Reagan, and was the consensus home of conservative thinkers including Russell Kirk, Thomas Sowell, Milton Friedman, and William Buckley's National Review. Even now, Republican politicians often hearken back (at least verbally) to traditional conservative policies such as limited government, the rule of law, and the free market. But that Republican party has perished at the wake of Trump's ascension. The Republican party of today is not conservat...