“It’s All a Life” is the title of Stuart Stevens’s book on the GOP. Stevens managed Republican campaigns, and while I haven’t read his book, I believe the basic point is that the Republicans never believed in conservative principles or values. I tend to agree, and I guess we can thank Trump for exposing this. The list of these principles and values is long, but in this thread I’m focusing on the claim that the GOP values cutting government waste, fraud, and abuse. I believe this was one of the primary rationale for the cuts by Elon Musk and DOGE, but I want to highlight one story that indicates that Republicans don’t really care about waste, fraud, and abuse. The story is about the DOJ dropping the case against a man accused of vandalizing the Reflecting Pool. I’ll put a gifted link below, and I’ll try to explain why I think it proves my point later.