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Never Trump’s Immaculate Misconception
While perusing the news this morning I happened upon a story from Sweden wherein a 39-year-old father and his 12-year-old son were fishing together when a roving gang of illegal immigrants converged on them and began harassing them. When the father stood his ground and told the gang to stop harassing him and his boy, these paragons of diversity responded by shooting him in the head, killing him instantly. It fell to the son to call the police himself, and then call his grandmother to tell what happened.
In assessing the incident, a Swedish gentleman allowed as how politicians are confessing their own naivete. “No, you haven’t been naive,” he responds, adding, “instead of listening, you attacked the guys who were telling you these uncomfortable truths.”
The gentleman continued:
…You’ve been talking about how great mass immigration is, how great the multicultural project is, and all of the usual talking points. ‘Diversity is our strength,’ but now diversity has killed a father in front of his 12-year-old son.
I’m talking now to the mainstream politicians in Sweden. You are to blame for this. You have blood on your hands. And also if I’m giving a bit of tough love here to my own Swedish population, for everyone who has voted for these parties, you also have blood on your hands, because it’s a direct result of a mass immigration project, open borders.
Meanwhile, American progressives continue blaming everyone and everything except their own policies for the carnage and destruction their open borders have unleashed. Honestly, I expect nothing less from these starry-eyed utopians who seem to think that the very notion of “cause and effect” is itself a relic of white supremacy. By and by, I expect they will rail against gravity too.
No, it isn’t the surreal left who continues to perplex, but rather those ostensibly on the right who ought to know better and who were warned four years ago of the mayhem that would accompany a Biden presidency. As senior columnist at PJ Media Stephen Kruiser recently asked, “How bad do things have to get?” Good question!
I will grant all day long that Donald Trump can be uncouth, coarse, boorish and petulant in his demeanor and language. The question is how much very real death and destruction do you require before concluding that your country is suffering something much worse than a chief executive with bad manners?
Upwards of 10 million illegal immigrants have entered the US under Joe Biden’s de facto open border free-for-all conga line of terrorists, saboteurs, child traffickers, rapists and killers. Donald Trump was lambasted as xenophobic when he remarked in 2016 that the countries from which these immigrants travel to the US, “…aren’t sending their best,” a remark which sent people like Jeb Bush to their fainting couches. After all, it was “Jeb!” who observed that illegal immigration is “an act of love.”
As Mark Steyn recently interjected, if illegally entering the country is an act of love, America has become the biggest nymphomaniac on the planet. Again, from Stephen Kruiser:
Our long problematic border with Mexico has erupted into a humanitarian and national security crisis. Already beleaguered American taxpayers are footing the bill to house and feed illegal aliens all over the country. Criminals from all over the world are part of the Biden border parade, including military-aged men from China.
Just curious here, but do you suppose that the parents of Laken Riley, who was murdered by Jose Ibarra (one of Joe Biden and Jeb Bush’s love children whose murderous affections took him from Venezuela to Virginia) would prefer a coarse Donald Trump who largely secured the border over a comatose Joe Biden who welcomed such as Jose Ibarra here on an all-expense-paid American excursion of death that cost the life of their daughter?
What about the family of two-year-old Jeremy Poou Caceres, who was shot and killed by a 25-year-old undocumented ambassador of love from El Salvador? Would they endorse the Never Trump position of choosing open borders and murder over controlled borders and coarse manners?
How relieved and grateful must be the families of Shannon Jungwirth, Alberto Estrada and Jorge Jungwirth (who were gunned down by an illegal posing as a UPS driver); or Melissa Powel and her son Riordan (killed by a drunk illegal driving 100 mph); and the 26 children who were injured and 11-year-old Aiden Clark who died (when an illegal Haitian immigrant crossed the highway and ran into their school bus), when they realized that, forced to choose between a doddering geriatric with suicidal policies versus an ill-mannered man with sane policies, many on the right chose their own sensitivities over literal life and death policies.
In his book, The Devil’s Dictionary, Ambrose Bierce defines “virtues” as “Certain abstentions.” The immaculate misconception of the Never Trump contingent is that they could abstain from any actions or words that could aid in the re-election of Donald Trump while imagining themselves free from any responsibility for the awful catastrophes that have accompanied Joe Biden’s time in the White House — a position which is, in a word, delusional.
It’s no stretch to assume that Iran, Vladimir Putin, China, Hamas, and any number of murderous regimes would have remained subdued had Trump retained the White House. The comparative international calm of his first term, combined with the Abraham Accords that Trump orchestrated between Israel and various Arab states stands as proof of what happens when a US President leads from a position of strength.
Conversely, not long after Joe Biden took the oath of office, that strength was shattered in the sudden blast of a suicide bomber who claimed the lives of 13 American military members in Afghanistan. Joe Biden’s weakness has invited aggression. Many Americans have lost their lives while millions of American lives are imperiled both by maniacs and authoritarians overseas and by foreign/domestic criminals and corrupt government at home. “Back on the domestic front,” writes Stephen Kruiser, “Biden is dancing for his Big Green masters and will soon mandate us into a green future that will take us about 100 years into the past.”
The Never Trump contingent, tiptoeing on cat feet around these very real disasters, maintains that as between Joe Biden and Donald Trump, one is as bad as the other. Then, right on cue, Joe Biden demolishes that little theory by proposing to fly refugees from Gaza (who famously danced and celebrated the slaughter of innocent Jews by desecrating and spitting on their corpses) directly to the United States.
I mind a great deal that these disasters, and more yet to come, have been ushered in by what may very well be the most anti-American presidency in the nation’s history, but I resent even more that this destruction has been enabled by a segment of reputed conservatives whose strident refusal to stop suicidal progressive policies has nearly wrecked the country.
Even former Attorney General Bill Barr, who seldom misses an opportunity to slam Donald Trump following the 2020 election, has rather soberly concluded:
I think the real danger to the country — the real danger to democracy, as I say — is the progressive agenda. Trump may be playing Russian roulette, but a continuation of the Biden administration is national suicide in my opinion.
Marc Thiessen, hardly a Trump cult member, framed the question this way:
Here’s the question: Is the chaos worse than it was four years ago? There’s chaos on our campuses. There’s chaos on our borders. There’s chaos in the Middle East. There’s chaos in Europe.
Joe Biden has unleashed worse chaos than anything Donald Trump had ever done.
Donald Trump is actually going to be running as the candidate to return back to normalcy, which is quite ironic if you think about it.
Neither Barr nor Thiessen have been fans of Donald Trump, but even they can see an America in a nose-dive and understand the consequences of allowing the progressive project to merrily continue its kamikaze trajectory.
The question, as Stephen Kruiser poses, is, “What will it take for you to decide that you don’t want to see things get any worse? Are you waiting for some kind of personal pain point?” What will it take for you to conclude that you’ve had enough? Choosing a president is not like choosing a pastor. Choosing a president is, in essence, choosing an advocate. It’s like choosing an attorney in that what you need above all is someone who will effectively advance your interests. Unless your interests include national suicide, this presidential election ought to be the easiest decision you will ever make.
In other words, it’s big boy and big girl pants time, and time to get over your immaculate sensitivities and hurt feelings, because at this rate your delicate sense of decorum is going to get what’s left of this country destroyed. There is indeed a threat to democracy and this republic, and you’ve been facilitating it.
Published in General
Excellent post.
You have clearly underestimated the horrors of mean tweets.
< sarcasm off >
< cynicism always on>
Don’t put your faith in one man. Donald Trump used immigration in 2016 to get elected, not as a governing philosophy. Interior arrests of illegal immigrants rose slightly under Trump but never even matched the yearly highs under Barack Obama.
What this country needs is fewer swings in executive orders and more of a renaissance of a robust Congress.
Yes, that would appear to be the case. I need thinner skin.
Hear, hear.
Oh please. Congresscritters have been saying one thing to get elected and another when they have power.
Trump was stopped by a GOP Congreres on the wall. Your buddies.
We only get one president at a time. Faith doesn’t enter into this other than faith that a guy who gave us four good years is a better bet than a guy who gave us three plus bad years.
Indeed. It is so strange to have had the most conservative administration since Reagan and no credit. Not like we don’t know what we are getting!
Perhaps those who you wrote about need thicker skin 🤔
Illegal immigration dropped significantly so there was less need for arrests.
ty for pointing that out. I foolishly took Hill seriously.
Inflation too
https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2024/05/the-daily-chart-bidenflation-compared.php
I miss Mark Steyn here at Ricochet.
I hope nothing in my post indicates I’m putting my faith in one man. There is the point that only one person can be president at a time. Then again, I’m not voting Trump for Savior. I’m voting for him as the “rightward most viable candidate” currently available to advocate for our conservative policies as President. The tsunami of deadly policies springing like weeds from the Biden Administration are exacting a simply unsustainable price from American citizens who come in dead last on Joe Biden’s list of priorities. This is, as I say in the piece, the easiest political decision ever.
We have a guy who literally wants to import fanatics from Gaza – who are unwelcome in every Arab country – into America to mingle and mix with the zombie apocalypse he’s already welcomed from other hellholes. And on the other side, we have a guy who is bombastic, boorish, untutored in diplomatic niceties,… but who kept our adversaries subdued and understood basic economics. This shouldn’t be difficult at all.
As regards Congress,…I’d applaud a more robust legislative branch. Unhappily, GOP leadership has been in dire need of a spinal transplant for decades. Once that happens, I suspect a robust Congress would be more attainable.
Trump’s proposed 10% duty on all imports will do wonders for inflation, no?
….Among other organs….🙄🙄🙄
Well, I for one am convinced.
Things are terrible and getting worse. To improve them, we should elect as president an incompetent, lazy, ignorant, cruel, corrupt, unstable, lying, cheating fraudster and con man with no known interests other than himself and his bank balance (we’re all familiar with the various leaks, scandals, and court cases that have cumulatively, over decades, demonstrated Trump’s loathsome character). Putting this odious and repulsive person in the Oval Office for a second time will make everything better! What could go wrong?
Except, was not that in office. It is not 2016. There is a track record in office.
But hey, believe what you will.
There are no perfect solutions. We are left to decide what is the best bad option. It’s like calling 911 when someone is breaking into your home in the dead of night. Do you choose a coarse and ill-mannered cop who might very well save your life, or do you choose a cop who will assist the assailant in ransacking your home and attacking your family. If you can’t see the difference, I’m afraid I can’t help you.
Good stuff, Dave. Thanks for sharing your perspective. This is much more than “pull the lever to throw the D’s out,” which has been the only strategy out of McConnell & Cronies, Inc. for years, probably their whole career. It’s easier than showing leadership and vision. It would be interesting to hear some of their definitions for those two terms.
Unfortunately, DJT stimulates the survival fight or flight instinct in nominally conservative pundits and others. For those former influencers, irrational responses make sense. For others, that’s their own thing, though they often seem angry.
This nation won’t be recognizable with another Biden term. It’s well on the way now, and there is a point where it becomes irreversible. I don’t think we’re there yet, but some do. My vote goes to try to save the Republic.
I’m tired of the impermanence. Yo-yoing back and forth between executive orders of different administrations is no way to run a country.
Really? Did the all the illegal immigrants that came in Bush and Obama suddenly cease to exist?
I hope you’re right that we haven’t yet crossed the point of no return. I’m a bit more pessimistic, but we have a chance to at least push the pause button and then maybe reverse some of this madness.
Well, have to do something. I’d love an alternative.
Trump didn’t provide the leadership necessary to overcome that Congress. He got elected on certain issues and he let himself get talked out of it by Paul Ryan etc. He should have held the tax cuts hostage until they gave him what he campaigned on. That’s what I worry about with a second Trump term: his unfocused mind.
Correct. The election results will be binary, so the alternatives are clear. At least to most. Every vote not cast for the Republican nominee benefits the Democrat nominee. There’s no pretending to be Pontius Pilate here.
LOL
Wow, does EJ need to straighten YOU out!
LOL, perhaps. I’ve met and come to know some wonderful people during my years at Ricochet. Though I’ve never actually met him, EJ Hill has done more to help me in my various endeavors and projects at Ricochet than just about anyone else. He’s a wonderful gentleman, and even though we have at least one area of political disagreement, he’s always treated me with respect and a wry humor. I’m delighted and honored to respond to him in the same way. There are no long knives from either of us. I think he may have even had a nice thing to say about LSU at some point.
Yup. I guess Brandon is the better alternative.
Great post, Dave. Is Trump the perfect candidate? Of course not! That person doesn’t exist. Not even Ron DeSantis fits that bill. This is what we have to choose from and if you can’t see the difference between the two then I can’t help you. Yes, EJ, Congress has abandoned its role in governing. This was on display in spades during Trump’s first two years. What’s the mantra we hear all the time? We need the House, Senate and Presidency. Well, you had it and did absolutely nothing. How about trying to work with the man this time around (if we are lucky enough to have him back in the White House).