Keep in mind, though, that while most of those actually bandying the term about don't believe that it represents anything real, a LOT of the people who listen to those propagandists do believe it. Conservatives, including the Orange Turd, don't get thrown off social media platforms--or sued--or have their mikes turned off--because of what they say. Oh, no. It's just the "culture" that's doing that to poor them.
As you know, conservatives have always believed in the vast "liberal conspiracy" that encompasses several galaxies and has mystical magical power over everything and everyone. They thank their Gawd that brave, stalwart individuals such as Rush Limbaugh and Tucker Carlson have broken loose from the liberal conspiracy's crushing grip and bless us all with the absolute divine truthy truth every day.
"I didn't kill that cop; the vast left-wing Deep State network did." As you say, the theory allows virtually every right-wingnut to evade personal responsibility. Until the guys with the arrest warrants come knocking, anyway.
And yes, a major driver of modern-day conservatism is that old white guys feel their power shrinking and their dicks shriveling up, and can see the day, not too far in the future, when the country will be run by someone else altogether and they will become irrelevant. And that absolutely terrifies the living shit out of them, even though it's actually nothing to be afraid of. Conservatism is, in its essence, a longing for the days when they could still get it up.