They've always been pretty awful. The "liberal media" often served to plaster on a veneer of civility on the part of conservatives, given how they served as gatekeepers for so very long.

I suspect the mask is off largely because of that gatekeeping being basically gone. Cons tell everyone who they are.

I'd always laugh when people like David Brooks would act like Rush Limbaugh was some kind of fringe element among Republicans. I grew up in a deeply red area and that rings so unbelievably ridiculous. I can bet you most Republicans have no fucking idea who David Brooks is but probably listened to Limbaugh (and his many imitators) every chance they got.

In my view, conservatives == Republicans == "maga" (just a rebranding and basically a cult of personality around Dump, but with all the same culture war bullshit. Sure, they now lap up stupid shit like tariffs, but we'll see if they snap back on that later).

Oh yeah, not directed at you per se. People just need to remember who and what the conservatives are. At 80, donnie may not be around much longer, but we'll still be stuck with the conservatives after he's gone.