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Perhaps ideological purity is less important than I thought…
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Snooty pseudo-intellectuals like myself sometimes claim to be above mere politics, and more interested in philosophy and ideas. I care less for the issues of the day than I do for the great ideas that govern our personal and political lives. While this is a fairly common refrain from conservatives, it is unusual among Democrats. Because their issues of the day move from baby seals to racism to illegal immigration to global warming to men playing women’s sports to banning gas stoves to Lord knows what, suddenly and unpredictably. And, of course, it’s difficult to find a cohesive ideology that would explain all their issues, or the transitions between them. So Democrats tend to be purely political creatures. Some Republicans are, too, of course. But some of us prefer to see things through a philosophical lens.
Never-Trumpers mostly start from this more philosophical perspective, but in their case they move quickly from a pursuit of ideological purity to, well, to some rather nonsensical things:
1) They claim to be disgusted by policies they support. Because Trump is unacceptable.
2) They suggest that if you like his immigration policies, then you must also approve of his personal life.
3) They think Trump’s ideological imperfections make him unworthy of the votes of exalted philosopher-kings like themselves.
4) They ignore what might’ve happened if Harris had won over Trump, forgetting that we had two choices in the last election.
5) If Trump does something they don’t understand, they presume that they must know more about his reasoning than he does.
These Never-Trumpers then rationalize these and other sometimes incoherent criticisms by claiming to be incapable of abandoning their principles for mere political gains. Even if I don’t understand some of the arguments of Never-Trumpers, I am largely sympathetic to their basic point: To an ideologue like me, Trump is hard to support. I’m not sure what Trump’s ideology is. Or if he even has one.
Of course, many snooty pseudo-intellectual Republicans (like me) dream of a world in which we could simply present a coherent and inspiring explanation of the benefits of conservative thought, and Democrats would magically start losing elections. We’re more interested in winning minds than ballots, figuring that the second will always follow the first. But I’m starting to think that the primary goal of the Republican party should be to defeat Democrats, rather than promote conservatism. Blasphemy! I can’t believe I’m even allowing such a thought to cross my mind! But follow me for a moment…
First, we need to accept that we will always have a Democrat Party. It’s not going away.
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Consider the Civil War. You might have thought that that event would have been the end of the Democrat party. Or, at least, that it would force the Democrats to fundamentally change their policies and goals. But no. Democrats merely went from The Slavery Party to The Jim Crow Party. They didn’t have to give up racism or oppression of minority groups as their policy goals. They just had to be a bit more subtle about it. But they kept pressing on.
And consider what Abraham Lincoln had to do during the Civil War. He ignored the very Constitution he worshipped, when he needed to. He was despised by Democrats for ending slavery, and widely criticized by Republicans for his philosophical inconsistencies under pressure. He may have been the most unpopular American president in history, even up to today’s time. But despite his occasional ideological sins, he succeeded in saving America as a country, and was later considered one of our greatest presidents. Much later. Long after he died.
Today, most Americans consider themselves fortunate that Lincoln came along when he did.
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Snooty pseudo-intellectuals like myself really struggle with Donald Trump. I don’t think he’s a true conservative. In fact, I’m not sure he thinks about the world in that way at all – I don’t think he’s read Machiavelli or Burke or any of the great political thinkers. Perhaps I’m wrong, but he strikes me as a political animal – a problem fixer – concerned with the issues of the day. Concerned with WINNING, whatever the issues of the day are.
This is not a criticism. He’s obviously brilliant. And sincere, and tough. And a patriot. I don’t pretend to have any insight into his personal thoughts. But even when he has an obvious opportunity to make a simple philosophical point, he prefers to stick with his both-barrels type of rhetoric, blasting his adversaries with insults and ridicule.
Again, I find this off-putting.
Jonah Elkowitz, Shutterstock. ID 2529055697
But I’m starting to think that it’s just exactly what we need right now.
By thinking only of politically defeating Democrats at every opportunity, no matter how minor, conservative ideologues like me end up getting everything we want. Think of how much better the world is for conservatism, and thus for people around the world, just in the past two weeks.
So rather than hoping for political wins to follow ideological wins, we’re getting ideological wins as a result of political wins. Huge ideological wins. Which I didn’t expect. But the results are so obvious, even an intellectual can see them now. Electing a simple political genius has given us the complex ideological victories we’ve sought in vain for decades.
Which, in a representative republic, makes more sense anyway, I suppose.
I’m not comparing Trump to Lincoln. Obviously. I’m simply pointing out that sometimes it takes an unpopular leader, willing to accept the criticism for doing the best he can under difficult circumstances, to get anything significant accomplished.
Shutterstock. EB Adventure Photography. ID: 1971108200
The Democrat party has gained enormous political power in America. Until we fix that political problem, conservatism as a philosophy has no chance whatsoever.
And Donald Trump appears to be just the man to fix it.
It’s just hard for us snooty pseudo-intellectuals to accept.
But I’ll try.
Because for the first time in a VERY long time, things are looking much better. Perhaps I should shut up, enjoy the show, and see how this turns out. Perhaps I just didn’t understand. Perhaps I was mistaken about Mr. Trump.
Which is hard for us snooty pseudo-intellectuals to accept.
Flickr. Michael Vadon.
But that’s OK. Really, it is. Please carry on, Mr. Trump. Don’t listen to me. If you can save this country I love, even through an approach I had not considered, then I’m your biggest fan. Maybe history will view you as this country’s savior. Maybe, just maybe, you know more about politics than I do. Or maybe you’re just the right man at the right time.
Whatever. Please carry on.
Published in General
“But I’m starting to think that it’s just exactly what we need right now.”
No doubt. We are at war with leftists.
They are the party of abortion, “assisted suicide,” and the death of America and Her culture.
All’s fair in kicking leftists’ asses.
But not in kicking our asses, right?
Of course it is.
Why wouldn’t it be?
Good for you.
Speaking of kicking asses, …
Wrong. They’ve been playing that way for decades.
We should be transactional in choosing among imperfect politicians. Winning is better than loosing.
I assumed that “draining the swamp” was campaign rhetoric, just as “building the wall” had been in the first term.
Trump’s had four years to plan. The Democrats are still trying to formulate how to deal with the last thing he’s done when he does three more things. The Lickspittle Media has no time to formulate a narrative, so their squalling is incoherent.
You put a skeer in ’em, Donald. Keep ’em running.
I’m not sure I get your point. The Democrats have been kicking our asses specifically because they do not give a damn about feelings or I guess what we could call “Marquess of Queensbury” type rules. They hold Republicans to those rules that they completely ignore. It’s a losing game. Trump understands that and so should the rest of us.
This needs to be put on a plaque, framed, gilded, and raised high on a pedestal, with 24/7 Kleig lights illuminating it.
You do know how to start an essay.
This is going to get a lot worse before things start to settle. Not just government jobs but many jobs in the Washington geographical area are products of the spending level and what it is being spent on. Lobbyists and government contractors will begin to be affected. I’m hearing from my children, who grew up in Arlington, about some of what their old classmates who still work in the area are saying, and it can get bizarre and a very narrow perspective shows even among those with what are considered professional credentials like law and accounting. And many who are native to the area likely work in the government.
In other words, they’re starting to get some experience with “how the other half lives?”
“Lobbyists and government contractors will begin to be affected.”
Good. Negatively, I hope.
Whenever you feel yourself wavering, …
Just think of how the “medical examiner from ‘Bosch'” is feeling right now, and …
Smile.
There seems to be a missing link in somebody’s chain of thought.
It doesn’t sound like you do.
A couple of things have hit the courts already. It should be interesting to see what the judges in the initial stages do and then to see if the Trump Administration pushes the appeal process when rulings stop or slow down action.
Will we see a Jacksonian response?
Up to now Trump has been better than Biden. I don’t think we should encourage him to be worse. He might take us up on it.
They’re getting a hint, a mere whiff, of what has been going on in the region known as the Rust Belt for decades. It’ll be good for them … builds character.
Then elaborate so a simpleton such as myself can understand the point that you are trying to make.
It’s not hard. Just because Democrats disobey the law and don’t accept Constitutional limits on our government doesn’t mean we should do the same.
Just because Democrats are uncomfortable and don’t know what to do does not mean President Trump is doing anything not within his power as POTUS. And we know how unreliable the District Courts can be when cases are shopped for a Leftist judge.
Definitely. But somebody said “all’s fair” and that means no limits.
I haven’t noticed any Trump advocates here or any of his appointees or nominees proposing that Trump or his Administration commit illegal acts which would include acting unconstitutionally. And because Trump himself does speak loosely often, most of his supporters only pay attention to the things that he does or something that he might propose in a formal way.
I think people should be careful how they talk, and perhaps wash their keyboards out with soap before saying things like, “All’s fair in kicking leftists’ asses.” That is a proposal for illegal acts, even if not for specific illegal acts.
I think it was a Col. Hackworth who said that if you find yourself in a fair fight, you didn’t prepare properly.
A “lot worse”? Or, a lot better? I say better. I think the best advice to the soon to unemployed government leaches comes from the Left: “learn to code.” I’ll add “better than A.I.”
Based on Dem precident, it would not be illegal to funnel $50 Billion/year to right wing groups like the NRA and Ben Shapiro and Heritage Foundation.