This is the unhinged #NeverTrumper attitude in a nutshell. This piece is by “Gabriel Schoenfeld, an adviser to Mitt Romney’s 2012 presidential campaign, is a senior fellow at the Niskanen Center, a member of USA TODAY’s Board of Contributors and a recently registered Democrat”
Trump & Sanders drove me to become a Democrat. Other disgusted Republicans should join me.
For many years I’ve loathed the Democratic Party. I still do. But I recently registered as a Democrat myself. Now that the Democratic nomination contest is on the verge of crystallizing, it is a critical moment for Republicans and ex-Republicans to join me in my seemingly incongruous act.
I became a Republican with Ronald Reagan’s election in 1980. This was the party of the Constitution, of limited government and a forward-leaning American posture around the world. It was Reagan who helped topple Communism in the Soviet Union and shepherded countries like South Korea and Taiwan into the democratic fold. It was Reagan who enshrined an intelligent brand of originalism by appointing the great constitutionalist Antonin Scalia to the Supreme Court.
But on the day Donald Trump won the Republican nomination, I was out the door. As a lifelong New Yorker until quite recently, I know that three-card monte is a scam. I would never lend an iota of support to Trump and his shills. I immediately registered as an independent and devoted my efforts as a writer to exposing Trump’s flimflammery.
The party that I once regarded as a pillar of our constitutional order is now eating away at that order like termites, indulging every one of Trump’s transgressions against longstanding constitutional norms and against decency itself. The party that once stood against dictators is now led by a man who admires Russia’s Vladimir Putin and says he fell in love with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un. As much as I loathed the Democrats, I loathe these craven Republican cowards even more.
Many of us were highly skeptical of Donald Trump, but, with a choice of Hillary or Donald, we held our noses and voted against Hillary. At the end of the day, Trump has done great. Several excellent Supreme Court picks, lots and lots and lots of great lower court picks, a great economy, and so much more. Notice, though, that Gabriel didn’t even wait to see what Trump would do before switching to a party he loathes. Gabriel, like pretty much all the #NeverTrumpers, has abandoned all their beliefs because of Trump the person, rather than what he has actually done. No, he’s not perfect, but, then, neither was Reagan. Amnesty, anyone?
I still have grave misgivings about the Democrats. The party has made a cult out of abortion rights and driven right-to-life Democrats from its ranks. This is wrong on the merits and extraordinarily foolish as an electoral matter. It means turning away an untold number of voters who would stand with it on other issues, voters whom it treats in a contemptuous and supercilious manner.
The Democratic Party is also rife with politicians hostile to the state of Israel, beginning with the “Squad” and extending outward on its left flank. Mirroring the British Labour Party, the Democrats have tolerated left-wing anti-Semitism, including time-honored tropes about Jews wielding undue power and control. This even as it practices a form of identity politics that divides Americans by race and ethnicity, celebrating some groups while remaining largely indifferent to the plight of others.
But, Orange Man Bad.
But that is not the whole story. In the inverted world that Trump has brought about, the Democratic Party is becoming the party of the Constitution. It stands for the separation of powers, for independent courts, for an apolitical Justice Department, for a law-abiding presidency. In foreign affairs. It has become the party of NATO and alliances, of law enforcement and the intelligence community, of protecting the integrity of the FBI and the CIA.
I’m going to stop here and let you read the rest, because my sides hurt from laughing and eyes from rolling. These people are nuts.
Apparently this is the meme du jour of the never Trumpers.
Surber destroys it.
https://donsurber.blogspot.com/2020/03/you-called-trump-hitler-enjoy-biden-and.html
Lolgf
“The party that I once regarded as a pillar of our constitutional order is now eating away at that order like termites, indulging every one of Trump’s transgressions against longstanding constitutional norms and against decency itself.”
Please list all the “transgressions against longstanding constitutional norms” that you imagine you have seen.
Transgressions against decency? Sorry, Chuckles: So-called “liberals” have called Republicans (at least those with a chance of power) Hitler – or worse – since Reagan’s day, if not before. Trump is simply fighting back, as any normal person would and should.
Worth a read was the interview linked by Schoenfeld. This is conservative academic Harvey Mansfield who spends most of the interview criticizing modern academia, modern liberalism, old liberalism, pro-communist liberalism, trigger warnings, modern sexual mores, grade inflation, but then…
https://www.bostonmagazine.com/news/2017/08/13/harvey-mansfield-interview/
But they don’t really tell you that the two parties, for example, argue with each other. It isn’t just that they are in conflict—they argue. Everything that each party says is directed against something that the other party says. When we were listening to Obama’s last State of the Union address, every paragraph was against the Republicans or the Bush administration that preceded his. And it’s the same thing with the Republicans now. It’s constant reference to the enemy.
Interviewer: Would you say that Trump sort of mastered tapping into voters’ temperaments?
He appealed to people whom he identified, I think correctly, as forgotten or overlooked. People who were standing in line, waiting for good things to happen, waiting to share in the American dream, and they kept watching one group after another step ahead of them.
Interviewer: What does Trump’s rise mean for conservatism?
Trump’s election was, I think, among other things, a rebellion of the lower half of the IQ against the higher half. The uneducated against the educated. It makes things very difficult for conservative policymakers and for conservatives. Conservatives take pride in being the party of ideas. They’ve exchanged places with liberals, who are now pretty much the party of the status quo. And it’s Republicans and conservatives who want reform and change. And here comes [Trump], this guy who cares nothing about principles, and his policies seem to be improvised and impulsive. And he hijacks the Republican Party. So it’s a terrible defeat for them.
Interviewer: What do you make of Trump calling everything he doesn’t like “fake news†and taking to Twitter constantly?
He wants a direct connection to the people, so he has big rallies and tweets, and makes sensational remarks and does things that attract attention. And that impresses people, so they think that because he’s saying bold things nobody else says that he’s telling it how it is. His attack on the press is part of his disdain for the Constitution and established forms of American democracy. And the question of his presidency is what will win: his impulsiveness or the steadiness and principles of the establishment?
Troll Elwood has hate and lies. All regulars here know that and just play with him on occasion. It strengthens our resolve and patriot bond. Plus Troll Elwood indicates how weak and stupid the arguments against Donald and other patriots are.
But I mostly comment to him for the sake of any newbies here that may not know he is a routine liar, hater of our Republic, and his words are worthless.
God bless our Republic, Donald and all other patriots.
Anyone who considers Donald J. Trump a patriot is not to be trusted.
Since you’re no patriot, you’re idea of who is a patriot and who is to be trusted is of no moment.
Who?
“His attack on the press is part of his disdain for the Constitution..â€. Again, the lack of self-awareness is astounding. So they can attack him but he can’t attack back? Got it. Actually, of course, his “attack on the press†is free speech in action. So in other words, what part of the Constitution is being disdained? We’ll wait…
So the State should be able to dictate what the press reports? That sounds exactly what the 1st Amendment DOESN’T provide.
The Constitution does not (and should not) protect the President from criticism.
The US President currently has defamation lawsuits against the Times, the Post and CNN.
Might this have a chilling effect on investigative reporting? (Hint: Yes, and this is what tRump wants).
So the State should be able to dictate what the press reports? That sounds exactly what the 1st Amendment DOESN’T provide.
Straw man. He said Trump should be allowed to answer his critics in the press.
You hate that, I know, because their propaganda is exposed for what it is.
The Constitution does not (and should not) protect the President from criticism.
Too bad Lefties don’t believe that. How many times did Zippy explode at the press, or even tell a reporter “not to waste” his question?
You only think Conservatives should have no voice when criticized by the Fake News.
The US President currently has defamation lawsuits against the Times, the Post and CNN.
Show me the law that says he can’t.
Might this have a chilling effect on investigative reporting? (Hint: Yes, and this is what tRump wants).
Might this have a chilling effect on lies and biased reporting? (Hint: Yes, and this is what tRump wants).
FIFY
Maybe it’s just me but it seems every comment posted by the little sissybitch has already been answered by Thomas Sowell.
Lolgfy Jeffery
We all know we’ll never convince him.
I just don’t want his lies to go unchallenged.
Just how do you get “So the State should be able to dictate what the press reports?” from “So they can attack him but he can’t attack back? Got it. Actually, of course, his “attack on the press†is free speech in action”?
President Trump has attacked the credibility of the credentialed media, which any person may do, and you believe that to be horrible, but see no problem with the credentialed media attacking the President.
It ought to have a chilling effect against false reporting, though none against investigative reporting that uncovers the truth. It should push the credentialed media to be careful that what they report is actually true.
We’ve seen the bias of the credentialed media in action, from CBS News use of forged documents against the younger President Bush in 2004 to CNN President Jeff Zucker being caught on tape saying that CNN’s on-air personalities were to push impeachment every day . . . something The New York Times, purveyor of All the News That’s Fit to Print didn’t print, something that The Washington Post, which proudly proclaims Democracy Dies in Darkness kept dark.
The Killian documents scandal was unearthed by two blogs, Powerline and Little Green Footballs, during the infancy of blogging. One has to wonder: if the media were using faked stories in 2004, to try to unseat a Republican President, what reason is there to believe that they weren’t doing so earlier, before people who spotted such had an independent means of publishing what they had found?
The answer to “bad information” in not gov’t censorship but more “good information”.
It’s one thing to point out and correct errors in reporting. It’s another thing to call the free press “The Enemy of the People”.
Will the State policy to dictate what the press reports also apply to right-wing blogs, right-wing radio and right-wing press?
We get it (and so do you). Trump is hypersensitive to criticism and would like it to stop. He has spoken about tightening the libel laws.
The President has the right to speak his mind, but the President also represents America and doesn’t have the right to silence a free press.
The so called free press that is in fact an enemy of the half the people in this country is in fact the enemy of the people.
The so called free press constantly is slamming Trump for saying dont panic we are working hard.
Don’t panic as the dow futures are down 1000 points and oil craters 25 percent. Pretty soon oil wells will shut down and millions will be out of a job.
YOU YOURSELF SAID DONT WORRY this is nothing. Why do people listen to anyone who talks about the cornoavirus as if its something bad. YOU yourself said nothing to worry about here.
So if that is the case then whats the big deal if Trump says hey dont worry. Go to work if your well. Spend, Consume, party. Just be careful.
You are the epitome of the left. Orange man bad. You will be on your death bed gasping your last breath and proclaiming It’s trumps fault when you yourself said…This is nothing. Nothing to see here. Its a cold. Mild Flu.
I read your turds flying against the teflon wall. I wonder Elwood. Are you stocked up? Are you hiding in your house?
If not? Then whats the problem? Your still getting information you need, its just not coming from a president who speaks to the press every fuking day when Obama and Clinton would talk to them once every 6 months.
We note how you have tried to take criticism and transform it into government censorship; none of that has happened, and it isn’t going to happen. Criticism of the media is not government censorship.
It is interesting, however, that you are so vociferously defending the First Amendment yet have so little regard for the Second.
It’s one thing to point out and correct errors in reporting. It’s another thing to call the free press “The Enemy of the Peopleâ€.
If the press is biased and lies about the smallest thing, it’s not.
Will the State policy to dictate what the press reports also apply to right-wing blogs, right-wing radio and right-wing press?
Will the Deep State policy to dictate what the press reports also apply to right-wing blogs, right-wing radio and right-wing press?
FIFY
We’ve been seeing that for some time now.
Trump is hypersensitive to criticism and would like it to stop. He has spoken about tightening the libel laws.
Fine. They’ve needed tightening.
And nobody was as hypersensitive to criticism and would have liked like it to stop as your wet dream, Zippy.
The President has the right to speak his mind, but the President also represents America and doesn’t have the right to silence a free press.
When it happens, let us know.
What? Never said the president should be protected against criticism, but neither should the press.
From the far-right Washington Examiner:
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/coronavirus-is-exposing-trumps-unsuitability-to-handle-a-crisis
Coronavirus Exposes Trump’s Unsuitability to Handle a Crisis
Remember Elwood.
You posted here that the Cornoavirus was NOTHING.
remember you said that when your family gets sick.
Remember you said that to score political points in a pointless debate with a few people on an blog in the middle of a billion blogs.
remember you said that.
The cornoavirus is nothing. Remember you said that.
You can’t even state the truth when it’s common knowledge, can you? The Washington Examiner is not “far-right”, it is a conservative news website and weekly mag owned by Philip Anschutz. Conservative is not “far-right” any more than liberal is “far-left”. I am far right and you are far left but I don’t lie about it.
The difference between leftists and evrybody else is that the rest of us actually allow people in “our camp” to disagree. This opinion piece is just that. People on your side won’t tolerate the slightest move away from the demanded narrative. Therefore, when leftists like you see a conservative disagreeing you think it’s a “big fukin’ deal” (to quote Rapin’ Joe). To us it isn’t.
So what will the leftist next step be? To blame Trump for an international virus that could not be stopped by any nation on earth but it’s his fault anyway because he’s orange?
Trump 2020 Because he IS handling the Chinese Flu* well.
*BTW, the Chinese Flu is what it would be called if a Democrat was president to constantly and subliminally frame the Chinks for it and blame them for all the deaths and not the president. You guys are always so fukin’ tricky we need to think ten times about everything you say.
COVID-19 was the WHO who by the way is now owned by China and one of the most corrupt UN agencies on the planet spent weeks trying to find a name that was politically correct.
Don’t want to blame the Chinese for a bio-weapon they unleashed to stop the HONG KONG riots that had been going on for months.
By the way, China is now blaming the USA for the virus and saying only the heroic efforts of the communist party has averted a worldwide disaster. Expect the missiles to start flying soon for the chinese government to save face. Its always about saving face for the Chicoms.
Perhaps it should have been called ChiCom-19.
Nifty.
master’s degree in journalism from Columbia University.
NeverTrumper.
Also an idiot.
from the AP
“If you had the Governor of California shunning the current hysteria being played up in the media over the Wuhan Flu, collect your winnings at the window.
When asked yesterday about how the response is going and how the federal government has helped, Gov. Gavin Newsom, one of the most liberal Democrats in the country, said that he’s gotten everything he’s asked for. This seemed to be a shock to the journalists reporting on it.
Julia Wick
✔
@sherlyholmes
· 16 h
Replying to @sherlyholmes
Newsom praising Mayor Schaaf as a leader, thanks her for partnering with them “in good faith but with deep expectation of accountability.”
Julia Wick
✔
@sherlyholmes
Newsom says that he had a “private conversation” with Trump and the president said everything Newsom “could have hoped for” and the administration has since followed through with what Trump said.
11
5:11 PM – Mar 8, 2020
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Sophia Bollag
@SophiaBollag
· 16 h
Replying to @SophiaBollag
More than 900 passengers are CA residents, and will mostly be taken to Travis Air Force Base in Solano County for a 14-day quarantine. Some will be taken to Marine Corps Air Station Miramar near San Diego, Newsom says.
Sophia Bollag
@SophiaBollag
Newsom declines to criticize the Trump administration’s response to the #coronavirus. He says he’s working closely with federal officials and praised VP Mike Pence’s work handling the situation.
This should be obvious to anyone paying attention. It’s fairly easy to ascertain that the Trump administration gains absolutely nothing from not doing everything they can to contain this strain of coronavirus. A president is never going to throw on a lab coat and actually go work at the CDC. He or she is also not going to manage quarantines. The truth is, whether some want to hear it or not, a president has very little control here except in his ability to rubber stamp protocols already in place.
But the desire to turn this into “Trump’s Katrina†is so pervasive that the media will literally say anything they feel frames things negatively for the administration. Good for Gavin Newsom for not playing along. At some point, facts have to matter. Reality rarely fits into our partisan bubbles, and though it’s usually just politics to try to force it to do so, we are dealing with a pandemic here. Some things should be above politicizing.”
Funny-from the “far left†governor of Washington…. https://www.weaselzippers.us/445161-washington-state-gov-jay-inslee-goes-to-bat-for-the-trump-administrations-handling-of-the-coronavirus/