Trump Steadfastness on Kavanaugh Wins Over Some Never-Trump Conservatives
“I’m grateful because Trump has not backed down in the face of the slipperiness, hypocrisy and dangerous standard-setting deployed by opponents of Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination”
Some of Trump’s harshest critics have been people on the right who identify as “Never-Trump” conservatives.
But his record on the economy, judicial appointments and foreign policy is starting to change the minds of some. And Trump’s steadfast defense of Brett Kavanaugh sealed the deal.
There are people who will probably never change, Jennifer Rubin of the Washington Post comes to mind, but who knows what the future holds?
Matthew Continetti, editor in chief of the Washington Free Beacon is not only a frequent critic of Trump, he is Bill Kristol’s son-in-law. Here are some highlights from his most recent column:
Trump’s Remarkable Week
Can we pause for a moment to consider what has transpired in the last seven days?
TRADE: Earlier this week, the Trump administration announced it had reached an agreement with both Mexico and Canada to revise and rebrand the North America Free Trade Agreement as the United States Mexico Canada Agreement…
ECONOMY: The Trump Bump continues, with Friday bringing news that unemployment has reached its lowest level since 1969. Consumer confidence is high, and data from the manufacturing and service sectors indicate continued growth…
JUDGES: Susan Collins’s announcement that she will vote to confirm Judge Brett Kavanaugh practically guarantees he will be seated on the Supreme Court in the coming days. Kavanaugh’s elevation will secure a five-vote majority of originalist and textualist judges on the high court for the first time in modern memory…
Donald Trump is putting the finishing touches on one of the most remarkable weeks of his presidency. For Republicans, it doesn’t get much better than this.
Erick Erickson of RedState fame, has been steadfastly Never-Trump, but he is also changing his tune. He writes at Townhall:
Trump 2020?
I have wobbled back and forth on the idea of supporting President Donald Trump in 2020. I opposed him in 2016 and voted third-party. The candidate I supported, Evan McMullin, has, like so many others, abandoned all his values as his hatred of Trump poisons his conscience. I dare say the worst mistake in my life was not when I climbed a mountain only to remember I was scared of heights, or when I played with a scalpel that nearly cut off my finger as a kid. It was voting for McMullin…
I find myself in an odd position where, for the first time, I see myself, one of the original so-called “Never Trump conservatives,” voting for Trump in 2020. I have inevitably concluded at times that Trump would do something to push me away from him. He has not disappointed on that front, from tariffs to character issues. But now I do not see how anyone else can offer a more compelling alternative to the president. Each time the president does something I do not like, his opponents play a game of “hold my beer.”…
Trump is neither an ambassador for my values nor the articulate champion of my principles I would prefer. But he is a safe harbor in a progressive storm that seeks to both destroy my values and upend our constitutional republic….
There is much in the present political age about which I am uncertain. But there is one thing about which I am absolutely certain: President Trump is not my enemy, and too many progressives view me as theirs.
Even Bret Stephens, resident Trump-hating conservative at the New York Times, is coming around:
For Once, I’m Grateful for Trump
For the first time since Donald Trump entered the political fray, I find myself grateful that he’s in it. I’m reluctant to admit it and astonished to say it, especially since the president mocked Christine Blasey Ford in his ugly and gratuitous way at a rally on Tuesday. Perhaps it’s worth unpacking this admission for those who might be equally astonished to read it.
I’m grateful because Trump has not backed down in the face of the slipperiness, hypocrisy and dangerous standard-setting deployed by opponents of Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Supreme Court. I’m grateful because ferocious and even crass obstinacy has its uses in life, and never more so than in the face of sly moral bullying. I’m grateful because he’s a big fat hammer fending off a razor-sharp dagger.
The last few weeks have been stressful, but the American right hasn’t been this united in years.
Just in time for the midterms, too.
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Comments
Worse than Hitler!!!!
Everyone, but especially gutless, rudderless, unprincipled political meanderers, loves a winner.
NeverTrumps jumping on the band wagon now, but they will drop him like a hot potato at the first opportunity. I’ve lost trust in them and will never trust them again.
The Jennifer Rubin at the Washington Post is the evil-twin of Jennifer Rubin (see Star Trek s1/e5)
Rod Dreher at the American Conservative penned a moving essay that touches on an angle that only a few conservatives have brought up, as a potent rebuttal to the Dumb-o-crats’ patently idiotic and totalitarian “believe all women!” and “why would a woman accuser lie?” posturing — the lynchings of myriad black youths and men in the first half of the twentieth century, almost always in circumstances in which a white woman had falsely claimed that she had been raped by the accused.
I can understand why some conservatives were wary of invoking this dark chapter in American history in defense of then-Judge Kavanaugh, but, I think it’s a perfectly legitimate and powerful reminder of the predictably tragic consequences that ensue when mob vigilantism is melded with a total disregard for due process and evidentiary foundations.
The Dumb-o-crats need to read more history and read/watch less HuffPo, WaPo, Daily Kos, the Atlantic, New Yorker, MSNBC, CNN, etc.
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/dreher/after-kavanaugh-destruction-who-is-safe/
Oh yeah, I’ve been trying to refer people to “the Scotsboro Boys” case, one of the most important legal cases of the first half of the 20th century. “to Kill a Mockingbird” was not based on this case, but it explored the issues that this case brought into the forefront of public thought.
To Democrats today, Atticus Finch is now the Bad Guy.
So have I. The response boils down to “that’s because white men were involved.”
Thanks guy jones for the link, even better than this current article!
You’re welcome. There’s so much interesting content out there on this watershed moment — it’s hard to keep up with it all.
Jeebuz Krist on a pogostick, our punditry is stupid.
I’m grateful because ferocious and even crass obstinacy has its uses in life, and never more so than in the face of sly moral bullying.
I wonder what this turkey would have said about Churchill. Or George Washington. Or Ulysses Grant. “Ferocious obstinacy” doesn’t just have some uses, it’s vital to effective leadership. Without it, the Presidency is just a pretty pedestal, something which tells a mundane politician that he’s finally “made it.” To Trump, a man who already has wealth, power, worldwide recognition, mansions (far away from the unattractive and disease-ridden swampy bogland we now call Washington DC) and a huge personal jet, it’s just another job. And he works at it energetically and efficiently, just as he tackled his earlier jobs. Unfortunately, such a person may be a one-of-a-kind; a Presidency which is something better than the usual constant waffling and steady walking-back of campaign goals may be hard to replicate in future.
I’ve always been in mind of Lincoln said when Grant’s many critics brought a list of their complaints and demanded that Lincoln fire him. Lincoln said simply “I cannot spare this man; he fights!!!”
Unlike Lincoln previous commanders, Grant did not flinch, he did not run away from a fight, he did not back down in the face of powerful opposition. He fought, and he didn’t stop fighting until he won. When you’re in a war, there is no other kind of man to have.
I think of that and I remember all the pretty house conservatives of the msm along with the never trumpers this last couple of weeks, saying “oh he’s so controversial, we should drop him and find someone else, it’s just too divisive.” NO. That was not the answer to FIGHT for your people is the answer! Trump knows that, and he also knows that you never win if you never fight.
I’m glad they’re on board. We’re in a hard fight and I’ll take every vote. I’m not sure I’m ready to forgive. And I’m damn well not going to forget how they lorded their supposedly superior morality and ‘true conservative’ credentials over the rest of us.
They don’t amount to a lot of votes. There was a time when they were influential over many more of us than they do today. But they proved themselves to be hard-line purists who were forever culling the herd with their moralizing, virtue-signalling intolerance. Today, you can see by how our resident NeverTrumpers treat the rest of us that nothing has changed.
These guys lost MOST of their herd, Now they want to get back into the conversation that they themselves threw us out of. How many here were kicked out of RedState? How many times? For what? Quoting Kavanaugh: “You sowed the wind, now reap the whirlwind!”
There is no humility or contrition with these guys. They’ve been forced to attack our growing strength from the outside with their dwindling herd. Now we are going to let them in to attack us from within? More Raggies? More Milhouses? Do you think they will ever change?
Case closed. They are pariahs who, all like traitors in all times, offer nothing of value to anyone. You can’t be partly honest or sometimes pregnant.
That should read “You can’t be partly pregnant or sometimes honest.”
“”forever culling the herd with their moralizing, virtue-signalling intolerance.””
Sort of like Roy Moore…….
To these neocon “conservative purists”, no one is ever pure enough to be allowed in their club. So they keep culling the herd of the impure….. and losing elections. Their game is to win by tossing out “impure” and thus “insincere” votes.
The “impure” and thus “insincere” non-conservative Trump has been on a winning streak with the very biggest conservative issues because of his strong support from us “impure” and “insincere” voters.
Read the comments above. They are still at it.
How inane.
Your game plan is to nominate and support blindly nutters, liars, creeps, and cranks.
Sure.
“Your game plan is to nominate and support blindly nutters, liars, creeps, and cranks.”
Nah, we’re not nominating you.
Because Trump, like Reagan, had a real “day job” before jumping into politics. He sold a product… himself… and as with any good sale, there is service after the sale. He delivers.
Trump didn’t really play center stage on this… off stage and let the Senators do their job. He still had to take hits and his unmasking of Ford’s storyline was needed to remind people how shallow it was.
Well, the Right were not only survivors (new Dem term) but victors. That feels good after years of stagnation and disappointment. We have to WIN the mid-terms to continue to Make America Great(er) Again.
Trump’s “day job” included fraudulently raking in egregious cash flow from obviously illegal sources such as Trump University, All County Building Supply & Maintenance and self-dealing raids of outside donations held in Trump’s Charitable Trust – just to name a few.
Oh look, the paid commie commenter is back with more of the same lies.
The bigots (i.e. sanctimonious hypocrites) will have to wait for another twilight to hunt babies… I mean, warlocks.
Where the fuck have these so called big brains been these last two years???
It’s almost as if the only real reason these dumb fucks are coming about is ONLY because Trumps successes are now so glaringly obvious that they can’t be ignored!
We don’t need allies like these because I guarantee you the first manufactured outrage chance they get they will jump right back on the never trump train!
Yup. I still consider myself “Never Trump”, and I certainly don’t like everything he’s said and done as president, but he’s done so many good things, and above all he’s been blessed with an opposition that keeps pushing the definition of “insane” to every newer and more unimagined heights. Every time you think you’ve seen the most insane thing possible, they manage to top it the next time. And every time they do that they drive me, and I’m sure many like me, straight into his arms. Because if they’re against him, I don’t want to be with them. I don’t know whether I’ll vote for him in 2020, but for now when I think “Never Trump” I find myself adding “for some values of ‘never'”.
It’s great to know that the NeverTrumpers are crumbling. Admitting they were wrong is a step in the right direction. But as a political force, they have nothing left to offer us. They are every bit as toxic as the radical left.
If they want to play along for awhile hoping to regain some modicum of influence, good luck with that. But what they did to conservatism in the mortal fight for freedom when the battle was engaged is unforgivable. You can’t be sometimes honest or partly pregnant. When we were fighting to win a war, they chose to stab us in the back foolishly believing their would be another battle where they would take control of the helm.
This post-defeat change of heart is what connivers always do when desperate to stay in the game. As we’ve seen on these threads, even THIS thread, our own resident NeverTrumpers continue to attack us and stab us in the back. Let’s not make it that easy.
This is why we hang traitors (or used to). They bet everything on succeeding with their treason. You don’t get a second chance. You bet everything and lost. Now hang.
Hate defines you. You are nothing but hate. Your contempt for virtue is telling.
Since you are such an anal pedant, I should point out that the comma and period are always placed inside the closed quote.
No, they are not. They are not part of the quote, so they do not belong there. Those who put them there are wrong.
In the United States, periods and commas go inside quotation marks regardless of logic.
“In the United States…”
Have you ever been here, commie?
Erickson’s column (at least the parts quoted here) represents my feelings
Nobody cares about your feelings.
That article is a good one; I had read Erickson in the past when he was at Redstate, and then was beyond disappointed in him when he went so far down as to brag about voting for the Egg McMuffin in 2016. (who later proved he was a complete moral cretin when he cheated his staff out of all of the money he had promised to pay them) I have long thought that Erickson was moral, but extremely misquided and a bit full of his own sense of moral superiority. He spent a lot of effort condemning his fellow evangelicals for supporting Trump, claiming they had sold out their faith.
Finally, now he looks at them and says “oh, I’m sorry. I finally get it.” They just saw the dagger of the left aimed directly at them before he did. It was also gratifying to see him finally admit that voting for the Egg McMuffin was the greatest single mistake he had ever made in his life.
With Erickson, Podhoretz, and Brett Stephens all coming around due to this fight, it’s fair to say that the NeverTrump movement is dead. thanks, chuckie schumer! We couldn’t have done it without you!!!
And where of where is the great one, Bill Kristol? If we had listened to him, there’d be a 6-3 liberal majority on the Supreme Court — with liberals Justices making justices White and Powell look like the Klan — and our freedoms of religion, right to bear arms, free speech and other liberties gone forever. How he even shows his face in public is beyond me. Maybe he should pick up Cher, Debra messing, Kathy Griffith and head for Venezuela right now!
I think Bill Kristol is out sailing the 7 seas looking for a land where he is still relevant. Ahoy!!!!
Rags will never embrace his destiny.
“president mocked Christine Blasey Ford in his ugly and gratuitous way at a rally on Tuesday. ”
Brett Stephens is still lying about Trump. He hasn’t had a wake up call, this isnt about Trump, this is about NeverTrumpers clawing to be relevant.
When France was liberated, all of the Nazi collaborators suddenly reimagined themselves as freedom fighters for the Resistance.
But they’ve already shown us who they really are. Do not trust them, do not turn your back to them.
He wasn’t even mocking her so much as giving a condensed version of her testimony, kinda like ‘Readers Digest’
That is mocking her.
To a Leftist.
No, to anyone with a brain. Perhaps that excludes you.
I can’t think of a Supreme Court nomination in history that presented the sponsoring POTUS with fewer choices.
In fact, T-rump had ONE choice, and that was to back this fine nominee.
When the Deemocrats pulled their character assassin bullshit, it had ramifying effects all through the American judiciary and Duh Donald’s administration. Withdrawing became literally impossible.
T-rump would have committed a very bloody, catastrophic suicide if he did anything BUT support Kavanaugh. For one thing, The Federalist Society virtually to a member would have denounced him, properly. It would completely demoralize every even marginal conservative. It would make the confirmation process essentially gutted.
Duh Donald did two good things in this episode (maybe another one or few will come to light over time): He nominated a good (not perfect) nominee to the post, and he mostly STFU.
He deserves that much credit. But he’s no hero here. And there are some in this saga.
rags rote:
He nominated a good (not perfect) nominee to the post, and he mostly STFU.
You, OTOH, proposed a horrible plan for Nov 8 and won’t STFU.
It’s worth pointing out that, despite your virtue signalling about how outraged you are at the way Kavanaugh was treated, you had absolutely NOTHING to do with getting him selected. It was President Trump and the Trump voters who made it all possible – against your wishes.
Had we done what you proposed, there would be no Gorsuch, no Kavanaugh; there would be Garland and RBG/Soto/Kagan II. And stupid people like you told us that would be an improvement.
But, what the heck! I’m a liar, my ideas are bullshit, and my name is Piglet. There! Saved you a post; my gift to you on this great day.
“And stupid people like you told us that would be an improvement.”
I never said any such thing. And I’m far from “stupid”.
You do lie. Regularly. As here.
It’s the logical outcome of your call to defeat Trump on Nov 8. When Trump supporters said that court appointments were a reason to vote for him, you persisted in your call to defeat him, claiming that defeating him was better for conservativism. Quit lying – you did it, you own it. Man up and admit the truth.
You had a stupid plan – ‘I won’t vote for any collectivist thug’. If your plan was so smart, who would have won if he was defeated?
My only “plan” was not to give my vote, which I value, to either collectivist, lying, narcissistic thug.
You just chant the same bullshit over and over. And you lie constantly.
rags rote:
My only “plan” was…
That’s why your plan was stupid. The election was for 4 years and your plan was for one day. After Nov 8 you had no plan – not a clue. The only consequence you planned for was being able to say that you didn’t vote for him. To hell with everything else – all that mattered was that you would feel good.
I did address your points. And I whipped your butt. I pointed out that the virtue signalling and Trump bashing in your post was a cheap attempt to deflect from the fact that you had nothing to do with Kavanaugh’s appointment. That’s a fact you haven’t addressed. I pointed out that Hillary would have been making the appointments if you had convinced others to vote as you did. That’s a fact you haven’t addressed. I pointed out that your ‘plan’ was woefully inadequate for a 4 year election. That’s a fact you haven’t addressed. I pointed out that your plan was narcissistic and only met your needs. That’s a fact you haven’t addressed. Your problem is not that I didn’t answer your points, it’s that I answered them all too well.
Well… You’re dancing a victory dance I see…!!!
No. You have done your same old trite bullshit.
Deflect.
Personal attack.
And lie.
Duh Donald did JUST exactly as I said. For that he deserves some credit.
He had NO choice, however. He’s not a hero. There are some.
If you were honest, you could name some. But you are not.
He led to victory. Your way led to defeat.
Your argument that Trump supported Kavanaugh only because he had to is just one of many possible explanations for his actions. That it could have been that way doesn’t mean it had to be that way. The fact is that you can’t know what was in his mind, and your statement that “He had NO choice, however” cannot be proven. And you have offered no proof. As such, it is just speculation by a biased critic. Your well known and well established Trump hatred, proven by 2 years of incessant attacks on him and his supporters, have destroyed your credibility as an unbiased observer. Nothing you say on the topic can be accepted at face value. Unless you can prove that he supported Kavanaugh ONLY out of self centered motives, you have no case.
You are too funny…!!!
“Your argument that Trump supported Kavanaugh only because he had to is just one of many possible explanations for his actions.”
No, that’s a lie. I very clearly said that history has never presented a POTUS with so few choices in supporting a Supreme noninee. Which is obviously true.
“That it could have been that way doesn’t mean it had to be that way.”
Well, no. Duh Donald could have committed suicide and murdered his administration. Good on him he didn’t…
“The fact is that you can’t know what was in his mind, and your statement that “He had NO choice, however” cannot be proven.”
First, I don’t pretend to, or need to, read T-rump’s mind. Second, I don’t need to prove obvious facts on the ground. You are either bright enough and honest enough to get them or you are not.
“And you have offered no proof. As such, it is just speculation by a biased critic.”
Well, what I said is all true. Or do you think that T-rump really had the option in political reality to withdraw BK’s nomination? That”s a defensible position. Make it if you can.
“Your well known and well established Trump hatred, proven by 2 years of incessant attacks on him and his supporters, have destroyed your credibility as an unbiased observer.”
Well, no attempt to be an “unbiased observer” on my part would avail with a pack of liars. You invert reality. I post much of anything, and you knee=jerk to attack. You and several others here. You all are not likewise attacked by me. I’ve never attacked you for voting your conscience, but you constantly do me, and lying in the bargain. I DO push back at mewling poems of adoration, as any real American should.
“Nothing you say on the topic can be accepted at face value. Unless you can prove that he supported Kavanaugh ONLY out of self centered motives, you have no case.”
First, I never ask anyone to accept anything on face value. Indeed, I encourage everyone to “look under the hood” at everything. Second, another repeated lie about what I did say. People can read what I did say. You either are too stupid to read or so dedicated to dishonesty that you can’t deal with it.
You are one of the most dishonest people ever to post here, which is an amazingly terrible position to hold, Ms. Pelosi.
Let’s be clear, “Ragspierre” told us Trump would nominate his sister or someone like her.
“Ragspierre’s” plan was for Clinton to be elected. In a race with two choices, not voting for the one opposing Clinton helps Clinton, and “Ragspierre” knows it.
So does everyone that thinks.
Of course, that’s just a lie.
I truthfully related T-rump’s position on his sister as a wonderful supreme.
You can find the quotes for yourself. But you won’t.
Of course you continue to lie about it. You implied President Trump would nominate his sister or someone like her. A decent brother would say kind things about his sister. YOU tried to sell that as his SCOTUS preference. It was a lie then, and you’re lying now.
rags rote:
“Your argument that Trump supported Kavanaugh only because he had to is just one of many possible explanations for his actions.”
No, that’s a lie. I very clearly said that history has never presented a POTUS with so few choices in supporting a Supreme noninee. Which is obviously true.
You wrote “I can’t think of a Supreme Court nomination in history that presented the sponsoring POTUS with fewer choices.
In fact, T-rump had ONE choice, and that was to back this fine nominee.”
Then you doubled down with “He had NO choice, however.”
By your own words, my statement is proven true and you prove yourself a liar.
Then rags rote:
“That it could have been that way doesn’t mean it had to be that way.”
Well, no. Duh Donald could have committed suicide and murdered his administration. Good on him he didn’t…
Now you show that you are intellectually dishonest and not interested in a real discussion. Instead of admitting the possibility that he could have acted because he felt it was the right thing to do and that Kavanaugh was worth fighting for, you trivialize.
Then rags rote:
“The fact is that you can’t know what was in his mind, and your statement that “He had NO choice, however” cannot be proven.”
First, I don’t pretend to, or need to, read T-rump’s mind. Second, I don’t need to prove obvious facts on the ground. You are either bright enough and honest enough to get them or you are not.
Another lie because you did claim that you know that the only reason he fought was because he had to. Since there are other, non trivial reasons that explain his actions, you had to read his mind or lie.
Then rags rote:
“And you have offered no proof. As such, it is just speculation by a biased critic.”
Well, what I said is all true. Or do you think that T-rump really had the option in political reality to withdraw BK’s nomination? That”s a defensible position. Make it if you can.
Again the lie that his only choice was to surrender or act from base motives.
Then rags rote:
“Your well known and well established Trump hatred, proven by 2 years of incessant attacks on him and his supporters, have destroyed your credibility as an unbiased observer.”
Well, no attempt to be an “unbiased observer” on my part would avail with a pack of liars. You invert reality. I post much of anything, and you knee=jerk to attack. You and several others here. You all are not likewise attacked by me. I’ve never attacked you for voting your conscience, but you constantly do me, and lying in the bargain. I DO push back at mewling poems of adoration, as any real American should.
Your antiTrump bias is well documented and destroys your credibility.
Then rags rote:
“Nothing you say on the topic can be accepted at face value. Unless you can prove that he supported Kavanaugh ONLY out of self centered motives, you have no case.”
First, I never ask anyone to accept anything on face value. Indeed, I encourage everyone to “look under the hood” at everything. Second, another repeated lie about what I did say. People can read what I did say. You either are too stupid to read or so dedicated to dishonesty that you can’t deal with it.
You expect people to accept your opinions at face value and when they look under the hood, you attack them. The knee jerk here is you in re anything Trump. As you have demonstrated again and again, anyone who disagrees with you becomes a ‘liar’.
Then rags rote:
You are one of the most dishonest people ever to post here, which is an amazingly terrible position to hold, Ms. Pelosi.
The opinion of a proven liar like yourself is of no concern to me.
As always, I love the image of you slobbering over a keyboard, you both twisted around an axle, lying like wet dogs.
False praise. What might have been sensible (but incorrect) analysis on your part is soured by your childish name-calling (t-rump, duh donald) of the man you pretend to praise.
Oh btw, I’ve been checking in on Democrat Underground to bathe in their tears. Guess what they call our President? T-Rump. Just like you. Imagine that.
There’s nothing “false” about anything I said. I never pretend.
BTW, I checked with people who refer to Duh Donald as “Hitler”. They’re just like those who compare French collaborators with thoughtful critics of your cult leader.
Told you all. Rags is going down as a miserable sot who holds his principles high to the tune of his throbbing blood pressure.
Two things, lightweight…
I’m far from “miserable”. I am a bon vivant in my own modest little sphere. One of the things that makes me happy is living according to my principles. You should get some and try it.
I’m not a “sot”. You’re just calling names ’cause you are challeged mentally.
I’ll still attend your funeral.
No. You won’t.
“I’m not a “sot”. You’re just calling names ’cause you are challeged mentally.”
LOL, you really said that?
“You’re just calling names ’cause you are challeged mentally.”
Yep, read it again.
Speaking of mental midgets…
Erick Erickson, not interested. Never trusted guys with 2 first names and I’m not quite sure what to think of his parents 😉 Erickson seems to think he is still relevant 🙂
“Sexual McCarthyism”
“… findings discovered that the #MeToo Movement was making US companies terrified to hire women—and whose report titled “#MeToo Is Having Unexpected Consequences For Working Women”, …”
” “Our research shows that some 64% of senior men avoid solo interactions with junior women because they fear rumours about their motives,” she says.
And that was before the #MeToo revolution.”
http://www.whatdoesitmean.com/index2677.htm
Erickson and Stephens are merely opportunists, taking positions based on their personal interests. That is what they did when they chose to launch irrational attacks on Trump because he was not establishment. These people are no asset to whatever side they choose, as in George Will. Winning them over is not beneficial. Later they will backstab.
Exactly. These are the same people who were telling us to vote for Democrats in November in order to save the GOP. So they issue what seems like a planned joint series of statements about having been “kinda” wrong about Trump and suddenly they save their credibility? Crocodile tears. They have been rendered utterly discredited as Trump rolls on victory after victory.
Where is the humility? Where is the contrition? Listen to the pompous defiance still infecting their self-righteous defiance! They haven’t surrendered. They are still talking to us like inferiors who just got lucky. Now they want to get back into the fight over who controls this train.
They offer nothing but more of the same obnoxious arrogance and intellectually bankrupt ideas that rendered them irrelevant. The best we should offer them is “Go away and we will forget we ever even heard of you!”
They did not take positions based on their personal interests. To accuse them of it is just as bad a slander as what was slung at Kavanaugh. They did not attack Trump because he was not establishment, they attacked him because he was not — and still isn’t — a conservative. He has no principles, doesn’t even realize they exist, cares only about “winning”, and will say and do literally anything if he thinks it will let him “win”. That he has so far decided in many instances that doing right would let him “win” is no indication that he’ll keep on doing right; the moment he decides a right position is a “loser” he’ll drop it and choose the “winning” wrong.
Apparently, Milhouse thinks a conservative is someone who talks a big conservative game, but always, always finds a way lose to the D party.
So, yeah, by that definition President Trump is not a conservative, he’s just an American winner.
Forgot about that whistle d*ck, George Will. He and Lib Ken Burns must be holed up working on the next revisionist documentary for PBS 😉
I voted for Trump — a bit reluctantly; as I told people at the time, “I went to the voting booth, held my nose, colored in the oval, then went to a church and prayed, and then went to a bar and drank.” But there are some people who are NeverTrump, I was NeverEverHillary, and so Trump was my choice, one that I made freely.
Am I ever pleased, more and more so every day. Yes, Trump has the morals of an alley cat. But he just might be the best politician we’ve had the last half-century, clearly better than Bill Clinton and better (perhaps) than even Reagan.
He reads people. He reads the situation. He doesn’t act until he does, and then he acts decisively. He knows how to project himself into a situation. He’s a super retail politician — he kisses the babies, shakes the hands, and does the rubber chicken. He makes his speeches interesting (mechanically he’s not a great speech-ifier) and he has that magic ability, when giving a speech to 2,000, to make every one of those folks think that he’s talking directly to them.
He’s blessed with the type of opposition he has, and as other people have said, he’s using the red laser pointer to make them react like cats.
I am impressed with his political chops. I’m impressed with his vision on trade and foreign policy. I’m pleased that he’s cutting bureaucracy — now if he’d only follow suit and cut spending some.
So he’s been better than I dared hope, and I voted for him. I can’t imagine who the Democrats would put up in 2020 that would tempt me, so the Donald will have my vote again in 2020 — this time with less reluctance.
I would bet this isn’t permanent. It is grudging respect given after one incident. It will be forgotten or overridden by their other absurd concerns like “tone.”
It’s because “one of theirs” was the victim.
It’s never been Trump or Never-Trump for me … it’s entirely “I don’t want to live where liberals run the show”. My vote is my most powerful non-lethal weapon to preserve sane government.
Look, you have always had two distinct groups within the “conservative” collective. One was the true conservative who actively worked to advance smaller government, greater freedom for the masses and economic growth [aka Goldwater Conservatism]. Then you had the other part of the “conservative” camp, those who were get-along conservatives who seemed to be much more comfortable with espousing conservative ideals while reaping the benefits of working with liberals, than actually putting their butts on the line. Most conservative “thinkers”, those continually writing opinion pieces decrying the antics of liberals, before they drove over to share cocktails with the same people that they trashed in their op-eds, are in the second group. These conservatives maintained their power by allowing the libs to continue to lead and then stand on the sidelines selling their works, decrying the libs, for money. These were the conservatives who supported both Bushes, Romney, McCain and Bob Dole. They were Republicans, but hardly Conservatives. The were all part of the Establishment and worked tirelessly to advance the goals of that group, as the expense of the rest of the nation.
What happened in 2016 was that the real conservative Republicans joined with independents and conservative Democrats and voted against the Establishment. The voted for the only man who was a political outsider AND who promised to deliver the desires of the working class in this country. The election of Donald J. Trump threatened the livelihood of the Establishment “conservatives” and they went to war with him. Now, they have almost NO influence with the more conservative elements of the country. These former “conservative” pundits now turn up on such news channels as CNN and MSNBC. How “conservative” can they possibly be?
Mac – Do you really believe that we get Goldwater Conservatism from the out-of-control spending of the Trump Dynasty and less government from his interference in Free Markets which is raising inflation and consumer prices?
First, the Goldwater Conservatives have been begging the Establishment Republican party for all of those things for the last 30 years. The elected Republicans run on a platform granting all of those wishes. And, then they do just the opposite. The Goldwater Conservative, the true conservative, left the Republican Party years ago. Why do you think that the liberal RINO John McCain agreed to Sarah Palin, whom he hated, being his running mate in an attempt to get these conservatives to vote for him? And why do you think that these same conservatives would vote for Trump? They did it because he was not a career Establishment politician AND he promised that he would fight to give them what they asked for. Now, they had no way of knowing whether he would actually keep his promises. But, their action sent a message to the Establishment Republican politicians that they could be voted out of office, if they did not start listening to their constituents. Unfortunately, most of them have failed to get that message.
Now, out of control spending. I think you should take a good hard look at who is passing these spending bills. It is not Trump. Trump has floated a number of coat cutting plans. Most involve reducing the federal work force, which is totally out of control, as well as curtailing unnecessary social programs. It is the Congress, led by the Establishment Republicans there, who keep passing these outrageous spending bills, none of which actually give the President what he is asking for.
As for “Free Trade”. Free trade is only FREE if there are no protectionist mechanisms in place among any of the trading partners. However, as the President, and his team have made excruciatingly clear to Americans, America’s trading partners do not believe in free trade or a level playing field. The current tariffs, and other trade actions, are designed, not to raise money for the government, but to force our trading partners to actually engage in FREE trade. To level the playing field and quit making American businesses run the 440 carrying a 100# pack.
Consumer prices, in a free society ALWAYS rise when wages [and other disposable income] rise, at least initially. This is your “free” market at work. Manufacturers and sellers will always charge whatever the market will bear, regardless of what their true costs are. It is the principle of maximizing profits. So, with more people working and more disposable income available prices will increase. An increase in the cost of imported products will also cause a slight increase in prices, but that can, and probably will. change as domestic manufacturing increases. This increase in prices is called inflation and it is driven, at this point, buy the manufacturing and marketing sector, not by government action. One thing to remember about inflation. Inflation in not bad for consumers, as long as their wages keep up with, or surpass, the rate of inflation. Uncontrolled inflation is bad. Normal levels of inflation is normal and indicative of a healthy economy.
More didactic bullshit from an economics know-nothing.
You should really save yourself all that typing.
See, I actually answer questions and explain my position. If I disagree with a position actually take the time to explain why. You on the other hand, make some snide, unsubstantiated comment and expect this to be taken as gospel. You really have to present some evidence that what you say is true. Otherwise you are just dust in the wind.
“Now, out of control spending. I think you should take a good hard look at who is passing these spending bills.”
Who’s signing them, ummmm…???
“The current tariffs, and other trade actions, are designed, not to raise money for the government, but to force our trading partners to actually engage in FREE trade.”
This is, of course, a stupid lie.
In the South Korean trade agreement, name ONE US tariff that has been abandoned in response to several MANAGED TRADE (i.e., BIG GOVERNMENT) concessions from the Koreans.
T-rump does not like trade unless it’s his or his cronies’ trade.
Never Trumpers wanted to continue nominating Dole/McCain/Romney types in order to placate their “friends” in the Democratic Party and the MSM. Remember “you’ll never win another election if you don’t support ‘comprehensive immigration reform'”?It took Donald Trump to teach the GOP how to counter the Democrats’ relentless use of ‘Rules for Radicals’. Absent Trump showing Republicans how to fight to win, we would have a Hillary Clinton Presidency, a continued stagnant economy, two more far-left liberals on the SCOTUS, our enemies would be walking all over us across the globe, our Treasury would be looted by the Democrats and the NWO, race relations would continue to deteriorate as Democrats use race-baiting to solidify their plantation for the votes, illegal immigration would ramp up unchecked and be encouraged by the Administration and within a generation, the US as we’ve known it would cease to exist. Making America Great Again would be little more than a forgotten pipe dream.
Speaking of Romney, Duh Donald said, ““He had a crazy policy of self deportation which was maniacal,” Trump says. “It sounded as bad as it was, and he lost all of the Latino vote,” Trump notes. “He lost the Asian vote. He lost everybody who is inspired to come into this country.”
and
“The Democrats didn’t have a policy for dealing with illegal immigrants, but what they did have going for them is they weren’t mean-spirited about it,” Trump says. “They didn’t know what the policy was, but what they were is they were kind.”
This was, of course, pre campaign conversion. When Duh Donald was still contributing to Deemocrats….
Maybe it is just me. But, could you actually tie these two quotes into some meaningful position statement? And, speak loudly, please. I’m having trouble hearing over the wind.
You mean the wind blowing through the hollow between your ears…???
I read all of the user comments for this LaChance piece. The Never-Trumpers are beyond redemption. They still make condescending comments about those of us who understood how, and did what was needed, to stop the ascension of Clinton to the presidency. I used to visit National Review, Redstate, The Weekly Standard and other conservative leaning sites to read the thoughts of intelligent conservative thinkers. When it became apparent they couldn’t see how defeating Trump was the same as assisting Clinton, I knew the use of logic was foreign to them.
I’m still seeing that failure to use logic with some of these Never-Trumpers posting comments in this thread. I have no further desire to waste my time visiting any of their online publications. Those people are hopeless. May they get what they deserve.
Logic 101…
Candidate A is unqualified for office.
Candidate B is unqualified for office.
Therefore, neither candidate is qualified for office.
Logic 101…
Candidate A is unqualified for office.
Candidate B is unqualified for office.
Therefore, neither candidate is qualified for office.
Elections are held when the date is right, not when the logic is right.
The election is held, and one of them becomes president.
Fools sit on the sidelines and whine. Intelligent people elect Trumps.
When logic and reality disagree, logic needs to adjust.
Logic has to yield to politics…???
Wow. That was stupid, even for you.
And lying about what I said is normal for you.
Logic has to yield to politics…???
Wow. That was stupid, even for you.
Anyone who still refers to President Trump as Duh Donald should do the honest thing and register as a Democrat. Good riddance.
I’m an independent, have been for decades, and I’ll call anybody any-flucking-thing I like. Especially the lying, collectivist, narcissistic puke we have in office.
Yes, I’m sure you would. If you never-Trumpers had prevailed, we’d be referring to President Clinton and her Supreme Court nominations, so wallow in your ideological purity. You never-Trumpers have made yourselves irrelevant.
First, you’re making a categorical error and you’re doing it on purpose.
“Never-Trumpers” is just name-calling WRT almost everybody who isn’t Jen Rubin or Bill Kristol. The rest of the T=rump realists are able, as I’ve done on this thread, to give what credit is due to Duh Donald.
Think of it as nuanced.
If you can think of it at all…
2 points: 1 .Is “being a bon vivant in your own sphere” like “being a legend in your own mind? “ To quote the late Chuck Berry “…This is a free country. Live like you want to live…”
2. VaGentleman did not say “Logic must yield to politics.” What he was saying was the essence of the statement that “we make the best choice at the time, between the only options we have.” ThatForever trying to help little thing I’m doing much will have it for is Stewardship, a word long forgotten, describing a method for making decisions and taking actions.
Your statement is the equivalent of the lyrics in the Rush ballad “Free Will,” that state “If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice.”
I was and am still a Trump fan (although Carly Fiorina was my first choice) because both were Business Executives, who would hopefully call for the reduction in government in the same manner as Calvin Coolidge. Trump, however, is also a bombast who prefers to engage his enemies. And since Conservatives have long had our collective a$$es handed to us by the Alinskyites, who’ve decided to do it “Chicago Style,” bringing a gun to a knife fight, Trump was our best (and only) choice to .
Most people I know that voted in the 2016 Presidential race, “Voted Against Hillary, rather than voted for Trump.” At the time, they were “making the best (decision) of what they considered to be a very bad situation. Most have been unbelievably pleasantly surprised at the results, nearly to the point of being ecstatic!
Back to the topic at hand, Trump handled the Kavanaugh nomination the way a virtuoso violin plays a Stradivarius. It’s been sweet music to citizens who are tired of those that consider themselves our betters telling us to do/accept things we know in our hearts are illogical or wrong.
The only mistake that I believe Ronald Reagan made as POTUS was not to keep renominating Robert Bourke as a Supreme Court Justice after Ted Kennedy and Company ran a character assassination on him in the Senate. If Reagan had done that the travesties that were the Clarence Thomas (orchestrated by Joe Biden) and Brett Kavanaugh (orchestrated by Diane Feinstein) would have never occurred. Like disobedient children, these rogue Senators saw what they could get away with, and ramped it up with each successive (in the way that they weren’t stopped and called out for it) attempt to replicate the results of the Bourke hearing.
But, that’s even what’s happening here: Someone doesn’t like what someone else says and then it’s character assassination time. Let’s all grow up, get thick skin and have an adult discussion. 20 years ago, when I had 2 year olds in the house, even they acted better than this….