Happy Rick Day!

 

Screen Shot 2015-07-23 at 9.27.32 AMIn the world of presidential politics, today is clearly the day of guys named Rick. To start with, Ricochet’s own Rick Wilson published a piece in Politico detailing why “Trump Voters Are Hillary’s New Best Friends.” The article lit up social media and included the likes of Jon Gabriel posting pictures of nuclear explosions. The whole thing is worth reading, but I found his fourth point to be the most persuasive:

4. You don’t care about his record. It’s an ideological train-wreck of epic proportions if you care about any conservative values. He’s been pro-abortion, pro-gun control, pro-tax hikes, pro-single-payer and is a past master of crony capitalism, to say nothing of his political and financial support for the Clintons and Barack Obama. It’s a mess. You’d never give any other candidate the benefit of the doubt on such a wide portfolio of positions that have changed 180 degrees and back again so many times. And yet, I imagine you can drill into Marco Rubio’s or Jeb Bush’s or even Scott Walker’s record for some sign of apostasy that you can never, ever, ever forgive.

Above and beyond anything else, Trump’s lack of conservatism — irrespective of his current bombast — should be the focus of Republican and conservative primary voters. If there is an actual RINO in this race, it is Trump. If we want someone who represents us, our party, and our ideals we must look elsewhere. Sure, he says a few things we may agree with, and he may say them in a way that gets our blood flowing and puts us in a fighting mood, but consider whether or not he believes what he says enough to lead the party into the fray. Judging by the convoluted smorgasbord of positions he’s held, the politicians and causes he’s given money and lip-service to in the past, Trump is not a fit head for this body politic. We are being conned by a reality television celebrity. Think about that while you read the way Wilson put it:

9. You think Donald Trump is the character he plays on television. You think his swagger and bellowing is the Leadership America Needs and that he’s an antidote to the herd of RINOs running for president. You think Donald Trump is the only one speaking truth to power. You think he’s the only one who really gets you. Remember when you had a crush on some movie or TV star as a teenager? Of course you do. You weren’t really in love with them. You were infatuated by a crafted, manufactured, stage-managed image. The purpose of what Clive James called “The Fame Planet” is to manage and monetize celebrity; you’re being played by a celebrity branding operation. There is nothing authentic about the character of Donald Trump that you’re seeing on the campaign trail. (Certainly not that exotic item that rests on his head.)

Trump simply is not what he appears to be. He may currently be playing a Republican on T.V., but this election is about reality, not reality T.V.

The other Rick to “go nuclear” on Trump (as Sean Davis headlined it at The Federalist) is Rick Perry. The former Texas Governor and Republican hopeful — who has shown no fear of taking the wood to Trump — devoted an entire speech to the matter today. At the Opportunity and Freedom PAC forum in D.C. Perry set to the task of diagnosing Trump as a “cancer on conservatism” which must be excised before he “metastasize[s] into a movement of mean-spirited politics that will send the Republican Party to the same place it sent the Whig Party in 1854: the graveyard.”

Though he spoke very harshly of Trump, the speech on whole was uplifting. Perry spoke of Washington, Lincoln, and Adams as men who served with humility. He spoke of conservatism that unites the nation, uplifts the poor, and is the only hope for a nation in the doldrums of nearly a decade of bad governance.

We have tried the policies of the progressive left for the last six and a half years. The Democratic candidates for president could offer them for the next eight.

Their failures are self-evident. We have never spent more money on welfare in the history of our nation, with few results to show for it.

They have mastered the politics of grievance, when in reality Americans are the victim of their policies that caused the housing crash, that have produced the slowest recovery since the Great Depression, that have caused a precipitous increase in the cost of college tuition.

The solution, according to Perry, is conservatism, what can only be described as Reagan type vision, and the American People.

American workers aren’t looking to get something for nothing. They want to make an honest wage. They want a shot at a good job. And big government won’t give it to them.

That fair shot can only come from free people, and free markets, and the free market incentive known as the profit motive.

Conservatism can lead us out of the Valley of Economic Ruin.

It places faith in individuals, not government.

It restores personal freedom instead of restricting it.

It lets business owners and families keep more of what they make, so they can invest it in the economy and create jobs.

I believe in a conservatism that empowers people to make the most of their lives rather than government that makes a mess of their lives.

After giving historic examples of humble leadership and outlining a conservative vision for the future, Perry turned back to his assault (and brought me out of my seat just reading the material) when he tied it all together with this hard truth about Trump:

But most telling to me is not Mr. Trump’s bombast, his refusal to show any remorse for his comments about Senator McCain, but his admission that there is not a single time in his life that he sought the forgiveness of God.

A man too arrogant, too self-absorbed, to seek God’s forgiveness is precisely the type of leader John Adams prayed would never occupy the White House.

He concluded his remarks (I think) perfectly with this:

We need a president who rises above personal grievances, petty differences, raw partisan politics. Who puts the nation first, who inspires Americans to believe again and produce again and dream again.

We must move past the empty calories of Trumpism, and return to conservatism.

We shall not give up on the animating idea of our Republic – a nation founded on the principle of “government of the people, by the people, for the people.”

There is nothing wrong in America that cannot be fixed with the right leadership.

We need leadership that repairs the breach in America, that brings the country together, that sets our sights on greatness after a long period of pettiness.

In all, today was a great day to be a Rick, and hopefully foretells of great days to come for being a Republican and an American.  Happy Rick Day, Ricochet!

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  1. Basil Fawlty Member
    Basil Fawlty
    @BasilFawlty

    Sorry, but he’s a Murphyesque hack.  I say this with affection.

    • #1
  2. Pseudodionysius Inactive
    Pseudodionysius
    @Pseudodionysius

    Basil Fawlty:Sorry, but he’s a Murphyesque hack. I say this with affection.

    • #2
  3. The King Prawn Inactive
    The King Prawn
    @TheKingPrawn

    Basil Fawlty:Sorry, but he’s a Murphyesque hack. I say this with affection.

    Wilson, Perry, or Chump Trump?

    • #3
  4. Ball Diamond Ball Member
    Ball Diamond Ball
    @BallDiamondBall

    Trump is a weapon aimed at Jeb. He’s not trying to fool anybody. He’s running as a pissed-off Donald Trump.
    Folks like me were already through with GOP crotch-sniffing before Trump showed up, so don’t worry about the damage. Your boys Boehner and McConnell did the damage. I know you don’t agree. I don’t expect to convince you.
    And that’s where we are.

    • #4
  5. Basil Fawlty Member
    Basil Fawlty
    @BasilFawlty

    The King Prawn:

    Basil Fawlty:Sorry, but he’s a Murphyesque hack. I say this with affection.

    Wilson, Perry, or Chump Trump?

    I see you have learned at the feet of the master.  Wilson.

    • #5
  6. The King Prawn Inactive
    The King Prawn
    @TheKingPrawn

    Ball Diamond Ball:Trump is a weapon aimed at Jeb.He’s not trying to fool anybody.He’s running as a pissed-off Donald Trump. Folks like me were already through with GOP crotch-sniffing before Trump showed up, so don’t worry about the damage.Your boys Boehner and McConnell did the damage. I know you don’t agree.I don’t expect to convince you. And that’s where we are.

    Boehner and McConnell are their own problems. We don’t need to put forth a candidate who will turn off the electorate faster than Bush or Romney AND can’t even work with his own party to accomplish anything. The only solution Trump has to any problem is himself. The nation elected that jackwagon last time, and we don’t need an R version of that insanity.

    • #6
  7. Carey J. Inactive
    Carey J.
    @CareyJ

    Ball Diamond Ball:Trump is a weapon aimed at Jeb.He’s not trying to fool anybody.He’s running as a pissed-off Donald Trump. Folks like me were already through with GOP crotch-sniffing before Trump showed up, so don’t worry about the damage.Your boys Boehner and McConnell did the damage. I know you don’t agree.I don’t expect to convince you. And that’s where we are.

    And any weapon aimed at Jeb is a good one. Nuclear, chemical, biological, PGMs, small arms, weaponized nanotech, it’s all good if it’s aimed at Jeb. Even Trump.

    Have I mentioned I don’t care much for Jeb?

    • #7
  8. Pseudodionysius Inactive
    Pseudodionysius
    @Pseudodionysius

    If I combine Jeb Bush and Mike Muphy I get Mush.

    • #8
  9. Carey J. Inactive
    Carey J.
    @CareyJ

    Pseudodionysius:If I combine Jeb Bush and Mike Muphy I get Mush.

    I’d like to see someone mash them into mush.

    • #9
  10. Leigh Inactive
    Leigh
    @Leigh

    Pseudodionysius:

    Basil Fawlty:Sorry, but he’s a Murphyesque hack. I say this with affection.

    I’m glad Donald Trump now supports these things.  In other news Scott Walker, who has been actively pro-life since college, actually put them into law.

    But Trump’s the courageous one.

    • #10
  11. Fake John Galt Coolidge
    Fake John Galt
    @FakeJohnJaneGalt

    Except for the political class and MSM.  I don’t actually know of or have heard of any people that think “The Donald” is a serious candidate for anything but a TV show.  I really think this Trump thing is the MSM and the Dems winding people up to make the GOP look foolish and get Hillary or Sanders elected.  And it is working, once again the Dems use their MSM club to open a trapdoor and the GOP goes whistling through it.

    • #11
  12. Vance Richards Inactive
    Vance Richards
    @VanceRichards

    I think Perry said, ” The three things I don’t like about Trump are his attitude and his hair.”

    • #12
  13. Ball Diamond Ball Member
    Ball Diamond Ball
    @BallDiamondBall

    RJG
    ” I really think this Trump think is the MSM and the Dems winding people up to make the GOP look foolish and get Hillary or Sanders elected. And it is working, once again the Dems use their MSM club to open a trapdoor and the GOP goes whistling through it”

    Whistling while returning fire at the Tea Party in the treeline, defending the MSM stronghold.

    • #13
  14. Pencilvania Inactive
    Pencilvania
    @Pencilvania

    King Prawn, I don’t want Trump to be President.  I don’t.  I’m not even going to add a ‘but’ – I don’t want him.

    Just tell me, once Trump bows out or flames out of the race, what odds do you give that Jeb will be the GOP nominee for President?

    • #14
  15. The King Prawn Inactive
    The King Prawn
    @TheKingPrawn

    I haven’t even heard hime speak yet, so I have no idea what his odds are.

    • #15
  16. Pseudodionysius Inactive
    Pseudodionysius
    @Pseudodionysius

    Have we been Rick Rolled or Rick Polled?

    • #16
  17. Pencilvania Inactive
    Pencilvania
    @Pencilvania

    KP, right, neither had I, yet Jeb was leading in the polls until Trump exploded. I can’t help but think the GOP will steamroll him through, and Jeb is not who I want as the nominee either. It makes me furious. Furious enough to laugh when the Donald upsets their apple cart for a few weeks.

    • #17
  18. Z in MT Member
    Z in MT
    @ZinMT

    The King Prawn: metastasize[s] into a movement of mean-spirited politics that will send the Republican Party to the same place it sent the Whig Party in 1854: the graveyard.”

    KP,

    I think this is the point. There is a significant minority of the traditional GOP base that feels betrayed by the party and wants to see the GOP destroyed.

    • #18
  19. The King Prawn Inactive
    The King Prawn
    @TheKingPrawn

    Agreed. The problem is we have nothing to fill the void should that happen.

    • #19
  20. Leigh Inactive
    Leigh
    @Leigh

    Pencilvania:KP, right, neither had I, yet Jeb was leading in the polls until Trump exploded. I can’t help but think the GOP will steamroll him through, and Jeb is not who I want as the nominee either. It makes me furious. Furious enough to laugh when the Donald upsets their apple cart for a few weeks.

    Jeb will be the nominee unless someone else (probably Scott Walker) can win in Iowa, build up enough of a war chest to sustain a long campaign, and narrow the field.  All of those things are quite possible.  Trump being in the spotlight makes them all harder.  Trump is not aiding the not-Bush cause.

    • #20
  21. Pencilvania Inactive
    Pencilvania
    @Pencilvania

    I wonder though if anyone is actually donating to Trump. Who would donate money to a multi-billionaire?

    • #21
  22. The King Prawn Inactive
    The King Prawn
    @TheKingPrawn

    I really don’t understand how/why Bush would become the nominee. Maybe I’m in a bubble of contrary base types, but I don’t know anyone who picks Bush as their first choice. We have too many good options to go with any kind of default candidate. We’re not the dems.

    • #22
  23. Tom Meyer Member
    Tom Meyer
    @tommeyer

    The King Prawn:I really don’t understand how/why Bush would become the nominee. Maybe I’m in a bubble of contrary base types, but I don’t know anyone who picks Bush as their first choice. We have too many good options to go with any kind of default candidate. We’re not the dems.

    I think it’s also worth noting that Republican Donors get exactly as many votes as the rest of us.

    Is it possible Jeb wins the nomination. Yes. Is it likely? I don’t think so.

    • #23
  24. The King Prawn Inactive
    The King Prawn
    @TheKingPrawn

    Tom Meyer, Ed.: Is it possible Jeb wins the nomination. Yes. Is it likely? I don’t think so.

    I didn’t think it was possible for the Stepford Candidate to win last time either, but he did. Of course, the lack of a viable option may have been what pushed Romney over the top. We have too many good (perhaps even excellent) options this time to default to Bush or even consider Trump.

    • #24
  25. Ball Diamond Ball Member
    Ball Diamond Ball
    @BallDiamondBall

    The King Prawn:I really don’t understand how/why Bush would become the nominee. Maybe I’m in a bubble of contrary base types, but I don’t know anyone who picks Bush as their first choice. We have too many good options to go with any kind of default candidate. We’re not the dems.

    Because the GOP is not at all about conservatives, and all about the two-party money cult.

    Guaran-fricking-tee Bush is the nominee OR there is a world-shattering primary battle.  Believe me, a GOP that puts up Scott Walker or Rick Perry will recover a lot of “lost” votes.

    • #25
  26. Ricochet Inactive
    Ricochet
    @SoDakBoy

    After Perry broke the ice, I now see Rubio has lit into Trump.

    Rubio said something like “The Presidency needs to be occupied by someone with class.  We already have a president who takes selfies, goes on comedy shows to talk about Iranian nuclear weapons and spends time with Youtube stars who eat cereal out of bathtubs.  We’ve already had a president with no class.  We can’t afford to elect another one.”

    • #26
  27. The King Prawn Inactive
    The King Prawn
    @TheKingPrawn

    Ball Diamond Ball:

    The King Prawn:I really don’t understand how/why Bush would become the nominee. Maybe I’m in a bubble of contrary base types, but I don’t know anyone who picks Bush as their first choice. We have too many good options to go with any kind of default candidate. We’re not the dems.

    Because the GOP is not at all about conservatives, and all about the two-party money cult.

    Guaran-fricking-tee Bush is the nominee OR there is a world-shattering primary battle. Believe me, a GOP that puts up Scott Walker or Rick Perry will recover a lot of “lost” votes.

    Maybe I’m still naïve, but I believe primary voters own and control the party. If we’re just cogs in a machine we need to stand up for ourselves instead of claiming we’re victims of the nefarious system.

    • #27
  28. Pseudodionysius Inactive
    Pseudodionysius
    @Pseudodionysius

    Pencilvania:I wonder though if anyone is actually donating to Trump. Who would donate money to a multi-billionaire?

    If you watched his video he claims (emphasize claims) that people are offering him money and he tells them to keep it. That’s for the campaign, of course. Haven’t asked about doing that at his hotels.

    • #28
  29. Pseudodionysius Inactive
    Pseudodionysius
    @Pseudodionysius

    SoDakBoy:After Perry broke the ice, I now see Rubio has lit into Trump.

    Rubio said something like “The Presidency needs to be occupied by someone with class. We already have a president who takes selfies, goes on comedy shows to talk about Iranian nuclear weapons and spends time with Youtube stars who eat cereal out of bathtubs. We’ve already had a president with no class. We can’t afford to elect another one.”

    Showing that, once again, the Governors are always one step ahead of the legislators.

    • #29
  30. The King Prawn Inactive
    The King Prawn
    @TheKingPrawn

    SoDakBoy:After Perry broke the ice, I now see Rubio has lit into Trump.

    Rubio said something like “The Presidency needs to be occupied by someone with class. We already have a president who takes selfies, goes on comedy shows to talk about Iranian nuclear weapons and spends time with Youtube stars who eat cereal out of bathtubs. We’ve already had a president with no class. We can’t afford to elect another one.”

    Just so. Listen to any speech or interview with Trump. His only solution to every problem is himself. We do not need to elect another lightbringer.

    • #30
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