Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’re probably aware that shock jock/Breitbart writer Milo Yiannopoulos will was supposed to be speaking at CPAC (see update here).

You know, the “Conservative” Political Action Conference.

As my colleague Patterico pointed out here, controversy surrounding Milo is at an all-time high because of comments he made essentially advocating sexual relationships between men and young boys. Obviously, this is entirely unacceptable.

In the era of Trump, though, the GOP really doesn’t care. Clicks and attention are all that matter, regardless of whether someone speaking at a conference about conservatism is a conservative, or even a decent person. Also prevalent in this time is the idea that “winning” means everything, no matter how you get there or who the victor is at the end. One would hope this attitude would have been rejected by the Right, but one would be wrong.

After 8 years of Barack Obama, the GOP was so eager to win that they decided to support an inexperienced reality star to carry the torch over the finish line. Trump won, so who cares, right?!

Well, we should care. 

Trump’s victory was/is a slippery slope. We shall see if he does things worthy of praise. If/when he does, we should praise those actions. However, electing Donald Trump was another step toward giving actual credibility to people like Milo who, as he is right now, has no place in conservatism. Period. Don’t expect the higher-ups involved with CPAC – like Matt Schlapp – to care, though.

Jonah 1st amendment is dead on campus. Conservatives should fight back. As radioactive as milo is he is fighting back. https://t.co/grkdlGNBt3

— Matt Schlapp (@mschlapp) February 20, 2017

Guys, radioactive Milo will fight for free speech on college campuses, so he is one of us, and we should promote his platform! That’s really what I’m hearing. It’s weak.

Republicans have an intense desire to be seen as the cool kids who are hip with the times. We’re often chided for being pearl-clutchers by the other side. Because of this, too many succumbed to peer pressure and supported a presidential candidate who entertained first and foremost. What comes after that is the promotion and acceptance of people like Milo. With him, the GOP feels cool and edgy, something they’ve never been known for.

We should care more about being principled than being edgy. And if Milo is what the norm will be and what’s considered “winning”, then I don’t mind losing.

In fact, I’d rather.