The purity of conservatism can't be soiled

Yep.

I'm seeing a lot of this lately. Movement conservatives are getting ready to write the history of this era as liberalism once again failing the people. Typically, the conservatives were screwed, as they always are. They must regroup and fight for conservatism, real conservatism, once again. Viva la revolucion!

There is no such thing as a bad conservative. "Conservative" is a magic word that applies to those who are in other conservatives' good graces. Until they aren't. At which point they are liberals.

Get used to the hearing about how the Republicans failed because they weren't true conservatives. Conservatism can never fail. It can only be failed by weak-minded souls who refuse to properly follow its tenets. It's a lot like communism that way.

Digby's certainly on to something. Something similar occurred to me while having a conversation with a staunch Republican the other day, although it was less about the purity of the conservative movement, and rather about "real Republicans." He was telling me about the triumph of Republican politicians, using, not any of the current crop in Washington, but "the only New York City mayors who got anything done" -- La Guardia, Giuliani, and Bloomberg -- all Republicans.

It didn't seem to matter to him when I pointed out that La Guardia was a fervent supporter of FDR and that Bloomberg -- as every Democrat in New York knows -- only became a Republican to avoid a costly Democratic party primary in 2001.