> What I do not understand is why the party is \settling* for Donald Trump.*

I'll tell you why. For a long time the GOP elected politicians who would talk a good game, promoting conservative ideas, but when it came to conflict with the Democrats, they would roll over and do whatever the Democrats wanted. Trump was the first GOP politician to aggressively take on the Democrats, and refuse to surrender on any point. Trump is a fighter.

> Not only does he not embody boilerplate Republican ideals (such as wanting to limit the power of the federal government

Conservatism has moved on from this small government idea. Now the idea is that government needs to do what it does well, and that some big government programs (such as social security and medicare) are now so established and beneficial we should defend them.

> or wanting to spread democracy by opposing authoritarian regimes while kowtowing to strongmen he admires for good PR),

In general, conservatism is opposed to regime change to install democracies, thinking it beyond our power to do.

> His administration's policies are reliably challenged in court because he never learned what the president's legal powers are.

So are every adminstration's. Are you forgetting that when Obama relied on his pen and phone, that was challenged in court as well?