Conservative Republican definition

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RUSH: Folks, this is a little Inside Baseball, but it's important because he who controls the language ends up winning the debate, and it might seem like a small thing, but I have learned and I have been given to understand that the "establishment Republicans" hate the term. They don't like being called "establishment Republicans, " and they are trying to change the term to "establishment conservatives" and in the process co-opt the definition of "conservative" and conservatism. It's not something that you'll notice if you watch cable news or even read. You have to be able to see the stitches on the fastball, you have to be able to read between the lines, and you have to know some stuff going on behind the scenes (and, of course, I am in a position to know these kinds of things).

So don't doubt me on this. The establishment Republicans are the establishment Republicans. The Republican leadership is the Republican establishment, meaning the elites. They
hate it and they are in the process of trying to redefine who conservatives are and what it is - and if they succeed, the conservatism that you and I hold dear will no longer be the definition of conservatism. If they succeed, the current thinking of the Republican establishment will be what is called modern day conservatism. Don't doubt me on this. It sounds like a small thing, but in a daily ebb and flow you'll not even see any news about this, but it's in important because it's crucial who controls the language, who controls the way words are defined.

You and I know that the establishment Republicans don't like conservatives. They didn't like Reagan. They were embarrassed of Reagan. They were embarrassed of us. They didn't like the Moral Majority, they didn't like the Christian right, they don't like the pro-lifers. They don't like the social conservatives at all. They're embarrassed by us, in many ways, with their other buddies, the establishment Democrats - which combined gives us the Washington establishment, and they very much prefer to be members of that club than ours. But they know that it doesn't help them to be called "establishment Republicans." So they're trying to take the term "conservative" and co-opt it and define it as they behave, write, speak, and even vote on matters of politics.