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Happy Rick Day!
In 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!
Published in Politics
Well then what the Finagle happened last time? Yeah, some of us are past that. And in case you forgot, the GOP fixed the convention rules to eliminate any serious non-establishment participation. There will be no opposition. Jeb is your guy.
My objection is to pansies like Bush who bring only light. Whom has Bush criticised? I want a MF dark-bringer. Why can Americans not be fought for the way everybody else gets a champion? And sorry, but Arbusto has already chosen a constituency, and I’m not in it.
I feel your pain on this. We need someone to take to the federal government like Jason to a summer camp full of millennial hipsters (the visual…back in a minute.) It ain’t Trump. He’s only in it for himself, his own aggrandizement, his own ego. He is not the means to our mutually desired ends. Bush certainly isn’t either, but we can stop him with better tools than Trump who really is a tool.
We are 18 MF months out. Maybe cool it with the holiness about the party. Trump is the ONLY guy who has caught fire with an enraged and despondent electorate. What’s not to like?
Chaotic Neutral beats Lawful Good when it comes to politics. Obama and the Leftists doesn’t play by the rules or the Constitution.
1. Follow the Constitution.
2. Stay on offense — which our side ignores.
3. Use your big mouth to get your message out. President Reagan went over the heads of media as president, but how is any Republican going to do that as a mere candidate. It takes a big mouth, a crazy attitude, and sometimes lots of money. Trump cracked part of the code. Ron Paul, Newt Gingrich, and Pat Buchanan did it without lots of money. Perot did with some money.
I say let’s let chaos rule as long as possible. (It’ll keep our side awake if nothing else…)
Besides how cozy he is with universal healthcare, higher taxes, the Clintons, Chuck Shumer, etc?
Chaos, yes; clown show, no.
The Establishment did not make Rick Perry say “oops.” If he had jumped in earlier, managed the debate stage credibly, and given the kind of speeches he’s giving this time around, he could well have been the nominee.
If Rick Santorum had been the current Senator from Pennsylvania, rather than the guy who lost by 16 points some years back, he could very well have been the nominee.
If Tim Pawlenty had either waited a little longer to take on Romney or else stuck to it on the debate stage, hadn’t given up after the Iowa straw poll, and had managed to draw better funding, he could very well have been the nominee.
In the end, everyone except Romney failed to pass the basic credibility test required for the voters — not the Establishment, the primary voters — to take them seriously. We don’t have that problem this time around. I’d guess that, at the least, Walker and Rubio will pass that test, and potentially Perry and Cruz. They are formidable politicians in their own right. Jeb Bush is not somehow invincible because a few rich people on Wall Street prefer him.
Once again, GOP insiders can’t see the forest for the trees. Trump is a symptom not a cause. The scaredy-cat GOP is at fault for this phenomenon. They have already drawn the lines. Let’s see if they can figure out where they will get actual votes from this time.
What amazes me is that these people actually believe they can influence individual voters to all come together and dump Trump. Whenever I hear or read “we have to come together behind one candidate” or “we can’t look like we are crude bigots” or “we have to proceed with caution” I question their grasp of politics, basic understanding of human nature and democracy.
The peasants are revolting, and the Establishment types believe these people are misguided and need peasants are stupid and Trump is giving them ideas. Trump is filling a void. Let’s have it out. It’s a much-needed food fight.
Polls showing him as the frontrunner are as flawed in concept as the ones that were showing Jeb as leader before. People are just telling pollsters who they know and have seen and who is saying something that resonates. They aren’t actually voting for President.
The effects of a massive campaign war-chest are diminishing. The more you spend, the more dollars per vote it costs you. It isn’t terribly relevant that Jeb! has more cash on hand than the other candidates, as all of the serious ones also have lots of cash on hand.
Is King Prawn an establishment type?
I’m certainly not arguing for any particular candidate at this point. We haven’t heard enough from any of them yet to even lean more toward one than another.
I’m all for having a good primary food fight, but only with candidates we are seriously considering putting forward in the general.
Trump plays the victim card and threatens a third party run. See, it’s all about him, not about conservatism, republicanism, or rebuilding from the wasted years of Barack.
Who didn’t see the third party threat coming?
Trump does three worthwhile things. First, he talks about issues, particularly immigration, that the other candidates are afraid to. Second, he demonstrates that immigration is not a political “third rail”. Third, Jeb, Rubio, and the rest of the immigration wimps have to spend time and resources trying to discredit him instead of going after Perry, Walker, etc.
Your point? What is his solution? The only thing he proposes is himself, the same way BHO would make the earth cool and the oceans recede.
I might have to quibble on Rick Wilson’s final point:
Really? Because I’m thinking that the longer the media focuses on Trump, the less they’re sniffing around for dirt on better candidates. While Trump takes the spotlight, Number Two is slowly approaching in the passing lane, and the press isn’t paying any attention. Suddenly Trump crashes and burns, and now the press is looking around and sees, HEY! THAT FIORINA GAL JUST JUMPED INTO FIRST PLACE! ATTAAAAAACK!!
But it’s too late. She just crossed the finish line.
What he said was that if the RNC tried to screw him during the primary campaign, it would make him more willing to go third party. He did not say he would run third party if he is treated fairly and beaten fairly.
I’d do the same thing in his position. It’s called deterrence. Knowing how to deter enemies is a fundamental Presidential skill. I’m glad to see Trump demonstrate some of it.
And who defines fairness? This guy’s ego cannot withstand the fair beating he will receive, he will play his victim card, go 3rd party, and usher Hillary into the WH. I’d bet he’ll attend the inaugural as her personal guest.
It’s more of a solution than Jeb or Rubio have offered. They just want to hand out green cards at the border. Make everyone legal as they cross the border and there’s no illegal immigration problem. We could solve the illegal drug trade problem the same way by legalizing everything – NOT.
Back in ’92 I heard Limbaugh scold callers over their enthusiasm for Ross Perot. “But Rush, but Rush”, he imitated, “He’s basically on our side. He means well”.
“What he “means” is the election of Bill Clinton!”
He was right….
Trump has been making deals for decades. I’ve never heard of him burning down a building because he couldn’t get the deal he wanted on it. I think he has sufficient contact with reality to recognize the difference between being beaten fairly by another candidate and being stabbed in the back by the RNC.
I heard Trump yesterday talk about firing all those who work for government. Just cut pink slips for them all. He has less understanding of working within the bounds of the law than Obama.
I’d rather have a presidential candidate talking about firing government workers than hiring more of them, which is what most of the other candidates want to do. A Republican Congress with a Republican President pushing hard for Civil Service reform could probably make it easier to get rid of dead wood and obstructionists.
No, that’s not correct. Trump was answering a question about how to fix the dysfunctional VA system. It seem clear he was talking about VA management. Firing VA management seems like a good first step in fixing the broken VA system.
Well done. I’m surprised that the people here who complain about the number of bankruptcies Donaldus Trumpetus Bankrupticus has been through don’t understand a creditor leaning on the debtor. Trumpetus has not only accumulated a big war chest, he’s unhappy with his previous contributions and he’s also accumulated big poll numbers in no small part thanks to The Full Lewandowski.
To anyone who’s negotiated more than a bad hand of poker with Uncle Fester, its pretty clear that when he says “people have asked me” he’s giving a pretty strong signal.
But that is not what Trump is proposing. He’s proposing his pen and his phone. We do not need more of that crap.
And still can’t be done legally by just saying “you’re fired.” This is reality, not reality tv.
There are much worse outcomes in life than an executive of the US Federal Government waking up each day wondering who he can fire before he calls Lindsay Graham into his office for a cup of coffee and a knee in the groin.
Agreed, but are we the rule of law party or the party of expediency? Are we going to abandon our ideals to save them?