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Trump’s GOP and Putin’s Kremlin
Republicans have a lot of people to thank this year. For example, there is FBI director James Comey. Last summer, he was the Republicans’ goat, refusing to indict Hillary Clinton. Now he is the Man of the Hour. Then there is Hillary herself: whose corruption is a gift to any opponent, even Donald Trump. But don’t forget Vladimir Putin. Month after month, he has worked tirelessly for the GOP ticket, undermining the Democrats, mainly through his cut-out Julian Assange.
Putin has never stopped being a KGB man, just as Russian intelligence, whatever its current initials, has never stopped being the KGB. (We could go back further, of course, with this alphabet soup.)
The WikiLeaks revelations have been damning – damning of the Democrats. But can you imagine if Putin and the Kremlin were on the other side? If they were uncovering TrumpWorld’s e-mails instead of HillaryWorld’s? The e-mails of Corey, Manafort, Newt, Ivanka, Roger Stone, Ann, Laura, Sean, Kellyanne, Rudy, Ailes, and all the rest? Of Trump himself? I have a feeling those e-mails would be just as damning as the Hillary-related ones – and more entertaining.
Republicans are lucky to have the Kremlin on their side. I wonder whether they are sufficiently grateful to Putin. He is one of the MVPs for them this year.
In politics, I suppose, you take whatever help you can get. Principle, honor, ideals, and all that are “cuck” and “GOPe” (and “globalist” and every other epithet of the Trumpite Right). But Republicans and conservatives should consider: Putin may be their friend of the moment; but he is no friend of America or of democracy.
Democracy! Talk about a cuck notion. Does democracy matter? Ponder the words of Patrick J. Buchanan, a forerunner to Trump. In a recent column, he wrote that “the nationalist-populist right” is “moving beyond the niceties of liberal democracy to save the America they love.”
The niceties of liberal democracy are not mere niceties – they are necessities, enabling a free and decent life. Indeed, the American way of life.
But Republicans and conservatives are impatient with democracy, as people often are, looking with admiration at the strongmen, or would-be strongmen: the Le Pens, Orbán, Putin, and so on. (All of them are Trump endorsers. So is Kim Jong Un, for that matter.) From what I can tell, this is where the mind of the Right now is.
When I joined the GOP and the conservative movement, things were very different. The Right, broadly speaking, stood for democracy, freedom, and human rights. The Left had turned its back on those things. They snorted when Reagan talked about freedom, and, worse, from their perspective, promoted it.
Incidentally, did you notice that it fell to Hillary Clinton – Hillary Rodham Clinton, of all people – to defend Ronald Reagan? To defend him against the Republican presidential nominee? This was in the third debate, on the subject of trade.
Putin is the kind of leader who shoots his opponents in the back (Nemtsov) or tortures them to death, real slow (Magnitsky). Asked about this, Trump said, “I think our country does plenty of killing also.” Republicans and conservatives used to condemn this sort of thing as “moral equivalence.”
Trump keeps saying that Putin is very popular within Russia. He even cites poll numbers. Of course, Russia lacks a free press, multiple parties, and genuine elections. I learned to watch out for such things, way back, from Republicans and conservatives.
Earlier this year, I interviewed George W. Bush at his presidential center in Dallas. We were talking about strongmen and dictators. Unprompted, Bush brought up Putin. “People say, ‘He’s the most popular guy in Russia.’ I say, ‘Yeah, I’d be popular too if I owned NBC’” (and the other networks).
In the summer, following a coup attempt, Turkey’s strongman, Erdogan, cracked down viciously. He took the opportunity to purge, imprison, torture, or kill anyone who might have criticized or opposed him in the past. Trump was asked about all this. And he said that, really, America had to focus on its own problems. “When the world looks at how bad the United States is, and then we go and talk about civil liberties, I don’t think we’re a very good messenger.”
This is the new GOP, the Trump GOP, and it has taken much of the conservative movement with it.
The world over, but especially in Europe, Putin and the Kremlin are doing their best to undermine democracy. In September, I was in Latvia, and I asked an intellectual a simple question: “Does Putin have designs on the Baltics?” “Sure!” he laughed. “He has designs on the United States!”
I have seen many weird things in politics. The current partnership between the GOP and the Kremlin may be the weirdest.
What this country needs, I think, is a freedom party, if the Republicans no longer wish to be that. A freedom party would be a very small party, obviously. People like their statism, whether of a pink or brown hue. But at least such a party would keep the light on – the light of American ideals – until a better day.
And I warn Republicans and conservatives: You may think Vlad is cool now, because he is helping your guy. But watch your back.
P.S. It occurs to me to quote John Dos Passos, as I have before. Here he is, writing in 1941: “Under the stresses of the last years we have seen nation after nation sink to its lowest common denominator. Naturally it’s easy for us to see the mote in our brother’s eye [our brother in Europe]. The question we have to face is: What is the content of our own lowest common denominator?”
More: “When we wake up in the night cold and sweating with nightmare fear for the future of our country we can settle back with the reassuring thought that the Englishspeaking peoples have these habits engrained in them.”
By “these habits,” Dos Passos means the habits of self-government. The habits of the Anglo-American political tradition. Can we still reassure ourselves in the night?
Dos Passos warns of a “personal despotism that has so often been the style of government” outside “the Anglo-Saxon family of nations.”
Finally: “If, in the bedrock habits of Americans, the selfgoverning tradition is dead …, no amount of speechifying of politicians or of breastbeating by men of letters will bring it back to life.”
For sure.
Published in Foreign Policy
Everytime I think there’s possibility of reconciliation among “Conservatism”… or at least a truce, with a cold but steady working relationship… something like this comes along to tell me “Nope. Divorce comin’. Palecons get the house and the kids, Neocons get the car and the 401K”.
As a former NT and now very reluctant Trump voter, I will remain very skeptical to many of Trump’s policies (if you can call them that). However, I would be outright 100% against everything Hillary.
Seeing Jay writing this post 6 days before the election makes me sad. So unnecessary to stoke more fires on our side. We need to start bridging the gaps and create some coalition again (probably based on a smaller set of ideas and principles we can all support). I can’t wait for the Ricochet amnesty on 11/10 10AM
They may not have praised Democrat policies or given them money, but they stood by impotently as many of those policies were enacted and subsequently baked into our system.
If talking up Constitutionalism were equivalent to actually promoting it, you’d have a point.
To some, saying you love the Constitution is all that really counts.
True, but depending on the damage the whole thing might be a moot point. Hence the reason to be worried either way. Honestly, I believe Trump is just a useful idiot, and perhaps he will grow out of it.
What Trump and his supporters should though be able to do if they are serious people is to be able to look at the means and motives behind the revaluation of these e-mails in isolation of their content. Their content may be immediately more fascinating and useful, I get that, but the other issues have more important long term consequences and significance.
You may be happy to find a bag of gold with a severed hand in the street. You can keep the gold but you should wonder about the hand too.
Clinton admires Saul Alinsky, advocate of terrorism. Her husband pardoned terrorists. Fair to say she admires terrorists.
Valiuth, of course Putin’s influence should concern us and we should wonder at his goals. But that is not the point Nordlinger led up to.
The other team? Neither Trump nor Hillary represent my team.
Given the choice between two New York Leftists, the best option is to support neither. The argument that “well, he might be a Leftist, but he’s our Leftist” isn’t a persuasive argument. Heck, during this election cycle Trump has praised socialized medicine and spoken about his good relations with Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi.
Trump hasn’t hidden his Leftism from us. Yet some refuse to notice it.
Trump recently praised Saddam Hussain, who paid money to parents of suicide bombers and gave safe haven to the lead terrorist in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.
Hillary has never questioned the NATO alliance; Trump has. I’m guessing Putin prefers the Trump foreign policy.
Hillary’s attitude towards NAFTA is slightly less hostile than Trump’s.
So, on balance, Hillary might be just a tad less destructive than Trump. But it’s really a toss of the coin.
I’m embarrassed that this is on our main feed. You do not speak for many members of Ricochet.
Hmmm. Looks like Hillary has a kremlin problem.
BREAKING: FBI Now 99% Certain at Least 5 Foreign Agencies Hacked Into Hillary’s Server
Think miracle of Lourdes.
So, like, five different countries or five agencies of the same country?
Jay, I wrote a post about you today. You need a landslide defeat to remain relevant. That won’t happen. Enjoy the future.
National Review could set up debate teams.
Against Trump: Jonah Goldberg, Kevin Williamson and Jay Nordlinger.
In favor of Trump: Victor Davis Hanson, Conrad Black and John O’Sullivan.
They’d better hurry. The election is less than a week away.
This is a valid position – before the primaries. The nominee ship has sailed, and the election will inexorably march on where one of these people WILL ABSOLUTELY be President. I’m sorry, but this and Jay’s position aren’t rational for where we are and what cannot be changed.
VDH today and recently is how a party in our party-centric political system should behave… or never hope to win, ever.
Trump has said that NATO members that don’t pay their share cannot count on the USA.
The NATO members that are closest to Russia just happen to be the ones that ARE fully paid up on their NATO obligations, particularly Estonia.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Member_states_of_NATO#Military_expenditures
Under normal circumstances, this is correct. If the nominee were some bland Republican like John Cornyn or Kevin McCarthy, conservatives could say, “Well, I’d prefer Senator Tom Cotton. But I’ll support our nominee.”
These are not normal circumstances. The Republicans have never nominated someone who has had such an extensive record of supporting the wrong candidates and the wrong causes.
If the GOP had nominated Bernie Sanders, we would be under no obligation to support the nominee.
Trump has called NATO obsolete.
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2016/03/27/trump_europe_is_not_safe_lots_of_the_free_world_has_become_weak.html
That is irrelevant now.
But we didn’t, and he’s nowhere near that bad. The problem with analogies like this is they ignore the other side. Hillary is a known quantity, and far worse.
Jay,
This is as ridiculous as Mr. Zubrin’s Fascist post. This is rank conspiracy theory nonsense. You have Putin on the brain. I’m sorry to say it to you this way. I’d much prefer to be completely respectful but you have made it impossible. We are 6 days from a Presidential election that will make an immense difference. What your complaint and many others amount to is that Trump irritates you. This personal reaction is so intense that you don’t mind repeating totally absurd conspiracy nonsense to justify sitting on your hands.
Please read Dr. Hanson’s article on today’s NRO. I think you will realize that the difference between Trump/Pence and Clinton/Kaine is massive. You must take some responsibility for sitting this out and even contributing to the incredibly dangerous Clinton/Kaine camp.
Never Trump Republicans: Spoilers or Saviors?
Please snap out of it. There is still time brother.
Regards,
Jim
NATO’s great, but there is an awful lot of freeloading going on. There’s nothing wrong with calling attention to that.
Sometimes the first step towards improving something is to criticize it.
Other than Hillary’s utter ineptitude handling every single foreign policy under her purview (except maybe Burma), perhaps you’re right.
Because although it was under her
overchargereset that Russia began to resurge on the world stage, she says mean things about it. Kind of like those Republicans who just love love the Constitution while voting to fund its irrelevance.Hillary hates Russia now because it’s a convenient boogeyman, but the moment she’s in office she’ll defer to it like any Cold War leftist.
It’s still relevant. Yes, Republicans are in the habit of supporting the nominee after the primaries are over. But that is because Republicans usually nominate a Republican to be their nominee. This time they nominated a Democrat.
If you really look at Trump’s donations, positions and statements over his lifetime, you can make the case that Trump is worse than Hillary. Trump has been much more forcefully opposed to NAFTA than Hillary Clinton has. In fact, Hillary Clinton’s husband, Bill Clinton, signed NAFTA as President. On that issue, I give Hillary a slight edge. Similarly in terms of US policy with respect to our allies in Europe and Asia, I think Hillary has the better position.
He has his crazy and improbable House of Representatives plan, and is in a better position of winning a state than Johnson is. So he is actually closer to pulling of his hair brained scheme than Johnson is wining by 270 electoral votes. By they way speaking of Johnson and Weld. If I am not mistaken didn’t Weld just defend Hillary today? Must have forgotten what team he was on.
“Da Putinz” is not intellectual distinguishable from “Da Joooos”
Delusion=A false fixed belief. There will be no snapping.
I’m not saying there aren’t legitimate reasons to criticize Trump, because there are.
But I suspect in lots of cases the visceral hate some have against him is that he reminds them too much of the guys who gave them swirleys in high school. Trump is the guy who make them think “he’s on top now, but later I get to shine”. Only “later” is today and Trump’s still beating them.
He’s a bold brash jock who’s taken over the chess club, and the chess club hates him for it.
We have all sorts of doubts about Trump. We have no doubts about Hillary.
If Trump tries to favor Putin, he will be opposed by Republicans, Democrats and by Leftist mass media. If Trump tries to deal with Putin, Republicans, Democrats and Leftist mass media will scrutinize the deal and speculate on all the ways it could turn out badly. If Trump tries to emulate Putin by using his phone and his pen in an Executive power grab, he will be opposed by Republicans, Democrats and Leftist mass media.
If Hillary does deals with Putin, as she already has in the past, Democrats and Leftist mass media will hide the particulars and cover for her. Likewise for Putinist power grabbing.
Hillary has the potential to do much greater damage than Trump.
Support Trump. Stop corrupt Hillary.
Got have faith brother. That is the only way miracles happen. Incidentally, I believe Lourdes has a fairly consistent record of delivering. Might actually be better than a Tim Tebow 40 yard throw into the endzone.
It’s hard to interpret Trump’s comments regarding Mexico as an attempt to improve anything. Trump has used Mexico as a scapegoat for America’s ills. On that issue alone, I think Trump has gone a long way towards disqualifying himself.
This is the irony. While Trump has spent his inherited wealth donating to people like Harry Reid and Chuck Schumer who worked diligently to prevent constitutionalists from getting confirmed to the federal courts, Republican US Senators have told President Obama that they will not even hold hearings on Antonin Scalia’s replacement.
Meanwhile, Trump blathers about how his Left wing sister would make a good Supreme Court Justice. In a December 2015 interview, Trump criticized Scalia’s views on affirmative action. Scalia expressed the view that affirmative action placed some African-Americans in colleges where they could not succeed because they didn’t have the academic qualifications.
The much maligned “beltway Republicans” have a much better record on conservative values than Donald Trump, unless ones definition of conservative values is donating to Harry Reid’s 2010 reelection campaign and praising President Obama’s 2009 economic stimulus plan.