Ricochet is the best place on the internet to discuss the issues of the day, either through commenting on posts or writing your own for our active and dynamic community in a fully moderated environment. In addition, the Ricochet Audio Network offers over 50 original podcasts with new episodes released every day.
Jeb! on Trump and Clinton: “I Can’t Vote for Either One of Them”
Jeb Bush was interviewed by former GOP strategist Nicolle Wallace about his decision in November. And it appears he is both #NeverTrump and #NeverHillary.
“I’ve watched history unfold with kind of a front row seat,” said the former candidate, still smarting from his disastrous primary campaign. “The simple fact is there’s a threshold past which anybody who steps in the Oval Office must go past. And I don’t think either Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump go past that threshold.”
“If you believe like I do that the Presidency is sacred ground and you want a President who upholds the Constitution — and I don’t think either of the candidates fulfill that primary kind of objective — then I can’t vote for either one of them.”
He gave a nod to the Libertarian ticket of Gov. Gary Johnson and Gov. William Weld, but fell far short of endorsing the third-party candidates. You can watch the interview here.
Published in General
As long as you are willing to face the fact that Trump is a petty Mussolini in his own right. If I thought he was a reliable defender of liberty, then we would not even be having this discussion. Unfortunately “liberty” is in our lexicon and not in his.
Have you seen me make excuses? But I think you are in a bit of Stockholm Syndrome here with many (not all) of your rants about what Trump “said” or represents.Taking the first charge: “grudgingly denounce a group of white supremacists” – that trick is as old as the hills. They have done this with every Republican candidate – trying to link him with fringe groups – and Trump is the only one who got it right. Notice Democrats never fall for this trick. Maybe it’s because they invented it. Do you remember how Obama handled the Rev Wright thing?
And that was far more egregious than some retweets or some backwater groups associating themselves (not him associating with them!) with Trump.
As to why a candidate should not enter into this trap: It re-animates the story. It looks like the candidate is apologizing and weak. It looks like he’s guilty. It’s criticized by opponents as not going far enough. It takes the candidate off-message. It brings the message onto left-wing territory of injustice, racism and oppression.
There are really no grounds for the charge that Trump is a petty Mussolini. He has no history in government or in party polemics that would lead to that conclusion, unlike Il Duce, who had a long record as a writer, political pamphleteer and government figure.
Surely you are aware that such pejoratives are routinely thrown at critics of the liberal consensus. Leftists do it by reflex; with our own side it takes a little practice, but we seem to try harder. Our particular favorites are “isolationist” and “Fascist.”
I recall watching Gore Vidal call William F. Buckley a “crypto-Nazi.” It was the generally accepted opinion of the smart set of the time.
Buckley, I seem to remember, objected.
Trump cannot be called “a reliable defender of liberty” in the way a Bill Buckley could, or many others. But in this present crisis, he’ll do.
It’s not Stockholm Syndrome – it’s what happened. When you are presumptive nominee of the Party of Lincoln, you need to be clear on where you stand on this issue. This isn’t pandering; it’s principle
When polls demonstrate that he isn’t consistently underwater with every voting demographic except white males then I will accept this as a successful strategy. I see no reason to gratuitously cause yourself damage and try to pretend no one should notice. I see no excuse for a sloppy, undisciplined, and intemperate campaign at the Presidential level. Are we actually interested in winning or not?
And remember, he’s not just causing problems for himself but for every other Republican down ticket. He needs to start thinking of himself as leader of the party and not just of himself.
You mean Rosie O’Donnell? Seriously, the remark about Carly and the comparison of wives was pretty bad. But he lives in tabloid-land and so does most of the rest of the country.Not an excuse. He will get better with that stuff I think (hope?
Now that one was interesting and started a very good discussion. If a common term ‘all white jury’ is taken seriously by everyone, why shouldn’t a judge who has ties to an ethnic solidarity group not be called out for it? Granted, he did it in artfully. However, I’m beginning to see his method. Say something outrageous to get the attention and then we find the connection. His saying this judge is a member of La Raza which is a group that blah blah, doesn’t make news and gets obfuscated. Granted, as a politician he should curb this style. He just succeeded in the tabloid environment with these methods as a businessman.
Trump is doing no worse with minorities than Romney did, and I think he has an upside – or did until he went all-in with law enforcement (not blaming him) after recent events.
Gotta go…
Would you prefer “a petty Chavez”?
Ever since Goldwater ran the Left has carted out the “paranoid style” of conservatives to smear faithful public servants, dutiful citizens, and patriots. That is unjust.
What am I to make of Donald Trump? When I watch Trump habitually insult, mock and belittle people, I see a bully like a tin-pot dictator. As I pointed out earlier, we have someone who routinely stiffs small guys because he has leverage over them – because he can. His entire reality show is based on his ability to get people to jump around and respond to his every whim and to treat them like garbage – because he can. When he talks about giving orders that would be objectionable to professional military and making them obey, am I looking at someone respectful of the rule of law? He doesn’t seem to have any qualms about using executive authority in the same unilateral way that we claim Obama abuses and ignoring Congressional authority. What should I make of his dabbling with conspiracy theories? When he routinely insults democratically elected leaders of the Party he is supposed to be the leader of and routinely has nice things to say about the nature and methods of dictators from Putin to Saddam Hussein, should I be a little concerned about his democratic temperament?
I’ll stop knocking him on this when I start seeing a man who recognizes that he is running to be the successor of Washington.
I’m going to be very interested to see who he picks as VP and the role the VP is going to have in the Administration.
Granted, Hilary is the presumptive nominee of a political party that is happily post-Constitutional. I just want to be sure that our side is still pro-Constitutional. One of the things that will help me a lot is an acceptance speech by Trump that includes a hefty serving of liberty and restoring Constitutional government. I didn’t hear anything like that during the debates from him; the Convention would be a good place to start.