Our movement is at a crossroads, and the question before us is simple: What does it mean to be a conservative in America today?
For years, we have been told what we are against — against the left, against wokeism, against decline. But opposition alone does not define a movement, and it certainly does not define a moral vision.
We are not here to cling to the past or wallow in grievance. We are not the movement of rage. We are the movement of reason and hope.
The media, as usual, are eager to supply their own answer. The New York Times recently suggested that Nick Fuentes represents the “future” of conservatism. That’s nonsense — a distortion of both truth and tradition. Fuentes and those like him do not represent American conservatism. They represent its counterfeit.
Real conservatism is not rage. It is reverence. It does not treat the past as a museum, but as a teacher. America’s founders asked us to preserve their principles and improve upon their practice. That means understanding what we are conserving — a living covenant, not a relic.
In 2025, conservatism means stewardship — of a nation, a culture, and a moral inheritance too precious to abandon. To conserve is not to freeze history. It is to stand guard over what is essential. We are custodians of an experiment in liberty that rests on the belief that rights come not from kings or Congress, but from the Creator.
That belief built this country. It will be what saves it. The Constitution is a covenant between generations. Conservatism is the duty to keep that covenant alive — to preserve what works, correct what fails, and pass on both wisdom and freedom to those who come next.
Economics, culture, and morality are inseparable. Debt is not only fiscal; it is moral. Spending what belongs to the unborn is theft. Dependence is not compassion; it is weakness parading as virtue. A society that trades responsibility for comfort teaches citizens how to live as slaves.
Freedom without virtue is not freedom; it is chaos. A culture that mocks faith cannot defend liberty, and a nation that rejects truth cannot sustain justice. Conservatism must again become the moral compass of a disoriented people, reminding America that liberty survives only when anchored to virtue.
We cannot define ourselves by what we oppose. We must build families, communities, and institutions that endure. Government is broken because education is broken, and education is broken because we abandoned the formation of the mind and the soul. The work ahead is competence, not cynicism.
Conservatives should embrace innovation and technology while rejecting the chaos of Silicon Valley. Progress must not come at the expense of principle. Technology must strengthen people, not replace them. Artificial intelligence should remain a servant, never a master. The true strength of a nation is not measured by data or bureaucracy, but by the quiet webs of family, faith, and service that hold communities together. When Washington falters — and it will — those neighborhoods must stand.
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This is the real work of conservatism: to conserve what is good and true and to reform what has decayed. It is not about slogans; it is about stewardship — the patient labor of building a civilization that remembers what it stands for.
We are not here to cling to the past or wallow in grievance. We are not the movement of rage. We are the movement of reason and hope.
For the rising generation, conservatism cannot be nostalgia. It must be more than a memory of 9/11 or admiration for a Reagan era they never lived through. Many young Americans did not experience those moments — and they should not have to in order to grasp the lessons they taught and the truths they embodied. The next chapter is not about preserving relics but renewing purpose. It must speak to conviction, not cynicism; to moral clarity, not despair.
Young people are searching for meaning in a culture that mocks truth and empties life of purpose. Conservatism should be the moral compass that reminds them freedom is responsibility and that faith, family, and moral courage remain the surest rebellions against hopelessness.
To be a conservative in 2025 is to defend the enduring principles of American liberty while stewarding the culture, the economy, and the spirit of a free people. It is to stand for truth when truth is unfashionable and to guard moral order when the world celebrates chaos.
We are not merely holding the torch. We are relighting it.
The elections today are undoubtedly important, especially the one taking place in New York City — where the entire city risks falling to socialism at the hands of Democrat voters.
Gen Z is reportedly coming out in droves for Mamdani, with early voting data recording 117,042 adults ages 18 to 29 casting ballots in the election. This is 16% of the vote share, which is higher than previous elections for this age group.
Democratic socialist Mamdani is favored to win and would be the first Muslim mayor and first Asian American mayor of the nation’s largest city.
BlazeTV host Stu Burguiere wonders what a Mamdani win would mean for the Democrat Party as a whole.
“The question is, is he going to be the face of the party?” Burguiere asks.
“I think the answer to that is the Democrats don’t actually want that. They don’t like his package. They like the fact that he, you know, can come out, and he’s packaged as a very, you know, happy-go-lucky candidate that’s saying important things about affordability,” he explains, adding, “But they do not want this to happen.”
“What conservatives need to do if Mamdani does win is to step back and say, ‘Holy crap, that’s the face of the party.’ That’s who they’re running against. You know, the guy you’re saying is a moderate in that swing-state election. Actually, he’s Mamdani and that will be true more often than it is not,” he continues.
There is one man running against Mamdani who Burguiere believes would do a great job, but unfortunately, the odds are not stacked in his favor.
“I’m a New Yorker. I was born in New York, but I have very little sympathy for New York City. They were the ones that picked Mamdani. They were the ones that showed Cuomo that he has a chance of winning, which helped him in the race. They’re the ones that are ignoring Curtis Sliwa, who’s been just a good guy who likes the city and should be the next mayor,” Burguiere says, noting that while he’d “be the best one,” the other two are essentially the same to him.
“I don’t really care honestly who wins out of Cuomo or Mamdani,” he says, adding, “I think they both suck and they both do incredible damage to the city. It’ll be worse than it is now because of these two people.”
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In 2018, I was canvassing for a Republican candidate in a local race here in Portland, Oregon. A bunch of us were knocking on doors in the suburbs, seeking out Republicans by using data printouts that indicated which households were aligned with which party.
But those printouts were not always correct. People had moved. Or there were split households. Sometimes the homeowners had changed parties.
In the early 1900s, the color red was the color of communists, subversives, and anarchists.
As the election grew near and we shifted into maximum efficiency mode, our field boss sent out the word: Only go to houses flying the American flag.
That was the easiest way to focus on the most loyal Republicans. In 2018, the two most common flags you saw at people’s houses were the Pride flag (Democrats) and the Stars and Stripes (Republicans).
(The “We Believe in Science” signs had not yet proliferated.)
The funny thing was, we door-knockers were already doing that. I certainly was. I loved canvassing mostly because I liked meeting people. And the best people were always the ones with a big American flag hanging majestically beside their front door.
Fast-forward, and I’m at a recent No Kings protest. These protests had drawn huge crowds of leftists and progressives. I wanted to see for myself what these demonstrations looked like.
Imagine my surprise when the first person I encountered was a small elderly woman with a kind face and a big bundle of American flags.
These were 8" by 12" flags. The kind little kids might wave at a parade. She approached me and offered me one.
Naturally, I was confused. Was she a Republican? No, she wasn’t. She explained that these were Democrat flags now. The left was taking the flag back. Progressives were patriotic too!
They were? I thought to myself. Since when?
But I was in enemy territory, so I just smiled and took a flag. She showed me the little note that was attached. (Of course, the left can’t give you an American flag without adding their own anti-Trump commentary.)
The note said: “MAGA is trying to claim the American flag as exclusively their own. It is time we reclaim our flag. It is our national promise of freedom, and rightfully belongs to ALL Americans. Wave it proudly.”
I carried it with me as I watched the Trump derangement parade later that day. Multiple American flags were flown. By leftists.
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This isn’t the first time the left has tried to steal symbols or images (or flags) from the right. They also stole the color blue.
Throughout Europe, in the 1800s, revolutionaries and malcontents were associated with the color red. Monarchs and aristocrats were represented by the color blue.
In the early 1900s, the color red was the color of communists, subversives, and anarchists. During the Russian Revolution of 1917, “The Reds” overthrew the czar and started a civil war.
In China, when Chairman Mao Zedong instigated his own revolution in 1949, the flag, books, and symbols were always colored bright red.
This made sense. The color red suggests anger, revolt, defiance.
While blue — the color of the sky — is the color that indicates calmness, stability, order.
So what did the American left do as they consolidated their power in the late 1900s?
They switched the colors! With the help of their allies in the media, the left managed to STEAL the color blue from conservatives.
So now we call Republican states “red” and Democratic states “blue," which is the reverse of what the colors should be.
Never mind that the Democrats are still the party of chaos and upheaval. They wanted the prestige of the color blue. They want people to think of them as rational, calm, regal. So they changed the colors to favor themselves.
Regarding this theft of our flag: Does the left think we don’t remember five years ago? During the BLM riots, they were burning the flag all over the country.
In Portland, during the “Summer of 100 Riots,” they burned the flag as a nightly ritual.
Think back even further: The left has been burning the flag since the Vietnam War. It’s one of their most predictable political reactions. If anything happens that they don’t like, the American flag goes up in flames!
And aren’t these the same people who tore down the statues of our founders, who created that flag? Founders like George Washington?
In Portland, leftists toppled a large statue of George Washington. They left the statue right where it fell, with George Washington face down in the mud!
And these people think the American flag belongs to them? That they are now the patriots? That they should be anywhere near our beloved Stars and Stripes?
I don’t think so.
The good news is, it probably won’t work. Even if their strategists decide to embrace the flag, your average Joe anarchist won’t be able to help himself. They see an American flag, and they reach for their lighter.
But either way, we must reject this movement. Don’t let them have the flag. They don’t deserve it. They haven’t earned it. And they don’t love it. Not like we do.
While Jasmine Crockett’s supporters believe she has what it takes to run for Senate in Texas, BlazeTV host Stu Burguiere points out there may be some potential complications that could throw a wrench in those plans.
“There’s been a scandal here, a scandal there. No big deal,” Burguiere comments, before pulling up an article from the Washington Free Beacon titled “Inside Jasmine Crockett’s Secret Stock Portfolio and Failed Attempts To Become a Marijuana Magnate.”
“Twenty-five undisclosed stocks in Crockett’s portfolio include her ownership of shares in Amazon, Johnson & Johnson, AstraZeneca, General Motors, Uber, DuPont, ExxonMobil, American Airlines, AT&T, Aurora Cannabis, Ford, and ‘Corporate Cannabis’ and ‘Stocks Worldwide,’ the records show,” the article reads.
“Crockett also reported in her last Texas financial disclosure owing debts of at least $110,000 — none of which she divulged in her first congressional financial disclosure covering the same calendar year,” it continues.
The article reports that it’s “unclear if Crockett still owes the debts she reported in her last Texas financial disclosure.”
Crockett reported owing at least $46,580 to both the Texans Federal Credit Union and Wells Fargo at the end of 2021, and reported owing between $18,630 and $46,580 to an individual named Ben Babcock.
“Crockett’s debt to Babcock may have stemmed from a home she appears to have rented while serving in the Texas state legislature. Crockett’s Texas financial disclosures show her debt to Babcock steadily increased from 2019 through 2021,” the article reports.
“This is just a thought, and I don’t know if you’ve had similar experiences, but this is how it’s been consistently through my life. When I’ve rented apartments and homes from various landlords, what they’ve expected is me to pay the rent monthly,” Burguiere comments.
“Apparently not the case with Ben Babcock, who is, like, totally fine with just this thousands of dollars in debt just building up,” he says.
And according to the article, when Crockett appeared on ‘The Breakfast Club’ earlier this year, she “brought up — and laughed off — internet reports that she is worth $9 million but said she may be in line for some very lucrative fees from long-running civil rights cases she worked on before entering government.”
“If House ethics rules prevent her from taking her cut, Crockett told ‘The Breakfast Club’ hosts, she’ll quit Congress, take the money, then run again.”
“This is why I love her so. This is why she should absolutely run for Senate in Texas, because she’s the only person who’s honest about this stuff,” Stu says, before homing in on Ben Babcock.
“I’m very fascinated about this Ben Babcock character who’s so generous because I have a mortgage payment. I would love to just not pay it. It would be awesome,” he continues. “Maybe Ben Babcock could give me a house for free too.”
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Maine Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner may be a self-proclaimed communist, but that hasn’t garnered the usual love and support from left-wing media outlets that many of his comrades have received.
In an exposé of the candidate, NBC News homed in on old Reddit posts written by Platner where he detailed his path to communism, writing that he “got older and became a communist” and is a “vegetable-growing, psychedelics-taking socialist these days.”
“After the war, I’ve pretty much stopped believing in any of the patriotic nonsense that got me there in the first place, and am a firm believer that the best thing a person can do is help their neighbors and live a loving life,” he added.
In a post from 2021, Platner wrote, “Bastards. Cops are bastards. All of them, in fact.”
When another user on Reddit claimed in 2020 that “white people aren’t as racist or stupid as Trump thinks,” Platner responded that as someone who lives in “white rural America,” he was “afraid” to tell the poster that “they actually are.”
But that’s not all. In posts from 2013, Platner “minimized challenges faced by military members in reporting sexual assault and encouraged people not to use substances in order to avoid being raped.”
The real reason for this exposé of one of their own, BlazeTV host Stu Burguiere explains, is that Platner had once gotten a Nazi tattoo removed.
“This is a guy, by the way, who was in the military, knows a lot about military history. There’s zero chance he did not know this was Nazi imagery,” Burguiere says. “But he says he was drunk 18 years ago and was unaware of its extremist association.”
“Let me just give you a little bit of advice, if I may, for just a moment to Graham,” he adds. “You know, sometimes you make a choice to consume enough of a substance to lose your self-control. If you don’t want to be in a compromising situation, act like an adult.”
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