I have posted so much on NeverTrumps (here, here, and indirectly here, here, and here) that I feel like the examining doctor of NeverTrump Land. Despite the accusations of malpractice, I have embraced my inner physician and provide this diagnosis:

Now for those in the chattering class who prefer locution, I offer the following elucidation of the perplexing illustration above.

NeverTrump Land has two subgroups: The more influential, better funded, instigating group that I have been calling the unelected Republican establishment. They are primarily motivated to protect their own interests and are the nexus of NeverTrumps. Refer to this history of the NeverTrump movement and you will see the key people, organizations, early anti-Trump PACs, and early attack-ads are directly tied to Republican leadership. Let’s draw a ring around them.

Then there are two more concentric rings. The first ring are Republican functionaries – lower party officials, GOP consultants, associated organizations, and Republican-oriented media. Elected Republican officials are not in this list. Why? Because they are directly accountable to the voters and have largely yielded to the voter’s choice.

The next ring are all those people under the influence of the first two groups. Such as a fellow I have dialogued with who hates Trump and only seems to trust and read the National Review.

There is another smaller group who simply dislike Trump. I have gotten a lot of grief from them in comments to my posts because I previously lumped them into the GOPe camp, and I should not have. For them it’s personal and often intuitively visceral. This is a complicated group, but I see at least two sub-sub-groups. Religious and Well-Bred (forgive the term). The former have a visceral reaction and see Trump as the opposite of their religious virtues. The latter have a visceral reaction and see Trump as the opposite of their decorum and intellect.

So, let the claims of malpractice begin.