Here’s a fact that’ll make you rush to your bathroom mirror and scrutinize your gray hairs and crow’s feet: Over the last 72 hours, we’ve officially been closer to 2050 than 2000! July 2 was the tipping point.
Time flies. Doesn’t matter if you’re having fun or not: The days may be long… but the years?
They’re traveling at warp speed.
So much has changed over the last 25 years. From politics to culture to technology to business, this was truly the Age of Disruption. If you were the “status quo” in the year 2000, you’re almost certainly irrelevant today.
Think about it: A quarter of a century ago, there was no 9/11. No “endless foreign wars.” No War on Terrorism. The internet existed, but it was confined to our homes. (And tied up our phone lines. Curse you, AOL.) Nobody was running around with iPhones, connected 24/7 to social media — which didn’t exist yet, either.
Today, our big technological fear is artificial intelligence gaining sentience and enslaving all of humanity — or, perhaps, the mass hypnosis of American youngsters via TikTok. Scary, dystopian stuff. But back in 2000, we were worried about Y2K and our clocks not working — which almost sounds quaint by comparison.
If you wanna know how long ago the year 2000 was, consider this: ‘N Sync’s “No Strings Attached” was the top-selling album of the year. ('Nuff said.)
But the political transformation has eclipsed ‘em all. Both parties have undergone such extraordinary shifts in tone, tenor, and policy, they’re scarcely recognizable. It’s telling that each of the V.P. selections in the 2000 election — Dick Cheney and Joe Lieberman — were excommunicated by their own party.
And in all probability, the world of 2050 will be even wackier.
But before we can project the future, we’ve gotta catch out breath and assess where we are today. You can’t build a roadmap for the next 25 years until you determine your current location. And that requires introspection.
So who were the top 25 conservatives over the last 25 years?
It’s more challenging to figure out than you might think, because one man’s conservative is another man’s moderate. The definition for “conservative” under George W. Bush isn’t the same as today, but it’s unclear where to draw the line: In 2025, are “MAGA” and “conservative” essentially interchangeable? What about social traditionalists? Or right-leaning Tech Bros?
For the purpose of this list, we’re gonna delve in deliberate irony… and be liberal with the definition of conservative: Anyone who championed a right-of-center cause, policy, ethos, or belief is hereby eligible.
In the comments section, let us know your thoughts — the iconic names that deserve inclusion. We’ll be announcing the winners later this summer.
For your consideration (in alphabetical order):
- Samuel Alito
- Steve Bannon
- Glenn Beck
- Andrew Breitbart
- George W. Bush
- Tucker Carlson
- Ann Coulter
- Ted Cruz
- Ron DeSantis
- Matt Drudge
- Dinesh D’Souza
- Franklin Graham
- Greg Gutfeld
- Sean Hannity
- Victor Davis Hanson
- Laura Ingraham
- Alex Jones
- Megyn Kelly
- Michael Knowles
- Charlie Kirk
- Charles Krauthammer
- Mark Levin
- G. Gordon Liddy
- Rush Limbaugh
- Dana Loesch
- Mitch McConnell
- Elon Musk
- James O’Keafe
- Bill O’Reilly
- Candace Owens
- Sarah Palin
- Katie Pavlich
- Tony Perkins
- Jordan Peterson
- Dennis Prager
- Ralph Reed
- John Roberts
- Mitt Romney
- Marco Rubio
- Christopher Rufo
- Michael Savage
- Antonin Scalia
- Ben Shapiro
- Thomas Sowell
- Mark Steyn
- Clarence Thomas
- Donald Trump
- JD Vance
- Matt Walsh
- Jesse Watters
If your favorite isn’t on the short list, don’t fret: Our nominating process is run by PJ Media readers. If you think Joe Rogan, Brian Kilmeade, Karl Rove, or anyone else deserves inclusion, make your voices heard in the comment section. Even if they’re tarred by scandal (cough, Mel Gibson) or mostly aligned with left-of-center causes (cough, J.K. Rowling), if they’ve been warriors for at least one important conservative issue, they’re eligible.
This oughta be interesting…
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