The Things We Used to Believe

Trygve Olson is a strategist, pro-democracy fighter and a founding Lincoln Project advisor. Subscribe to his Searching for Hope Substack.

It started, like too many things do these days, with a Facebook comment.

Someone I’ve known a long time — someone who used to knock doors for the same candidates I did — wrote that I must be “a liberal with TDS.”

At first, I had to look it up. Trump Derangement Syndrome. It’s become the shorthand on the right for dismissing anyone who asks hard questions or still believes the Constitution means what it says.

But that exchange got me thinking. If believing in limited government, the rule of law, states’ rights, the First, Second, Fourth, Fifth, Fourteenth, and Twenty-Second Amendments, separation of powers, and basic decency makes someone a liberal with TDS — then maybe the words “conservative” and Republican don’t mean what they used to.

So I wrote down some questions for anyone who still considers themselves conservative or Republican. Questions about what we used to stand for, and what so many seem willing to ignore now.

Ask Yourself — And Here’s What I Believe

Do you believe that threatening to invade an ally like Denmark to seize Greenland is somehow “conservative”?

I believe Reagan was right — and so were Presidents of both parties who understood that America’s strength comes from standing with free nations, not bullying them. We led best when we led by example.

Do you believe in the rule of law — that law enforcement should need a warrant before entering an American’s home — or are you comfortable with government agents acting above it?

I believe the Constitution doesn’t take a day off. Freedom starts with limits on power.

Do you believe in states’ rights — or only when the state agrees with your politics?

I believe in local control and accountability. A government big enough to dictate what books your child can read is big enough to dictate what you can believe.

Do you believe in fiscal responsibility — or has borrowing against our children’s future become acceptable as long as the red team is signing the checks?

I believe debt is not conservative; it’s cowardice postponed.

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Do you believe in free markets — or do you now cheer for tariffs and corporate handouts because someone called them patriotic?

I believe real capitalism rewards work and innovation, not political loyalty.

Do you believe in accountability — or have you stopped asking questions because it’s your own side holding the secrets?

When Donald Trump, JD Vance, and others promised to release all the Epstein files, they had bipartisan support. Congress even passed legislation requiring it. The President signed it. And yet — nothing.

I believe when the powerful protect themselves and each other instead of telling the truth, it’s not conservative or liberal. It’s corruption. And silence from those who said they’d expose it is complicity, plain and simple.

Do you believe that truth matters — or are you content being told that your own eyes are lying to you?

I believe truth is not liberal or conservative; it’s the oxygen democracy breathes.

Do you believe that a free press is the enemy of the people — unless it’s the press that says what you want to hear?

I believe Reagan — and presidents of both parties — were right when they said the press isn’t our enemy, it’s what keeps us free. A free press challenges power; it’s supposed to make the comfortable uncomfortable. The founders didn’t protect it because they loved reporters. They protected it because they feared unchecked power.

Do you believe in American strength through alliances — or are you fine watching us cozy up to dictators while mocking the allies who stood with us after 9/11?

I believe we lead the world best by example, not intimidation.

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Do you believe the Second Amendment comes with both rights and responsibility — or has freedom come to mean the freedom to look away from innocent blood on American streets?

I believe rights and responsibility rise and fall together. I even believe you should have a legal right in states with concealed carry to take your registered gun to a protest and that doing so isn’t grounds to be shot by law enforcement if you are being responsible.

Do you believe in character — or have we traded decency for performance?

I believe integrity is still a conservative value, even if it no longer gets applause.

Do you believe in faith — or just in performative religion used to bless political power?

I believe faith without humility becomes idolatry.

If this is what it means to be a conservative and a Republican — to believe in law, liberty, restraint, truth, and character — then count me in.

But if those words no longer describe the movement that claims them, then let’s at least be honest about one thing:

It’s not that I left conservatism. It’s that conservatism left what it used to mean.

That doesn’t make me a “liberal” and in fact many reading this likely believe differently than I do — but that isn’t derangement that is what being an American (and used to be what I thought it meant to mean to be a consecrate and a Republican).

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What I Still Believe About America

I don’t believe any one of us — or any party — has a monopoly on what’s right or wrong, good or evil, or even good ideas.

Having spent much of my life working in politics I will share a secret — the moment a politician or pundit tells you otherwise, they’re not defending America — they’re trying to own it or simply taking 30 pieces of silver to advocate for thing they don’t believe because they think those who support them are actually fools. And that’s the opposite of what our founders, or conservatism itself, ever stood for, or atleast I thought it did.

The American idea — the one I grew up believing in — is built on humility: that truth can come from debate, wisdom can come from dissent, and progress often comes from the person you least expect.

You and I both know that the country we love is better than the cynicism being sold to us. We were raised to respect law enforcement, to obey when someone with a badge told us what to do — but also to expect accountability from those who wear it. That’s not contradiction. That’s balance. It’s what keeps freedom honest.

I’ve seen what happens in places where people stop believing they can question power — in Belarus, in Ukraine, in Russia. When fear replaces faith in one another, democracy dies in silence.

So when I say this isn’t who we are, I don’t mean that America’s perfect. I mean that the cruelty, the corruption, and the cowardice being paraded as “strength” — that’s not who we are as a people. That’s not what we were taught to be proud of.

If being a conservative or a Republican now means embracing that — embracing lies over truth, vengeance over virtue, and power over principle — then count me out.

Because the America I still believe in doesn’t belong to any one man or movement. It belongs to all of us who still believe that freedom and fairness live or die together.

The America That Was Great — And Can Be Again

The irony is that these values — the rule of law, states rights, accountability, humility, and shared truth — are what made America great in the first place.

They built communities where neighbors trusted one another, where leadership meant service, and where the truth wasn’t something you negotiated.

You don’t have to abandon what you believe to see what’s gone wrong. You just have to remember what you once believed — and why you believed it.

Because the greatness of America has never come from any single man.

It’s come from our shared belief that no one — not a president, not government officials, not a party, not a movement — is above the law, or beyond the truth.

That’s not derangement.

That’s patriotism.

That’s who we were

That’s what we should all strive to be.