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Ben Howe Releases #NeverTrump Documentary
As a prominent contributor and editor to RedState, Ben Howe has been Tea Party from the start. The conservatarian movement’s dedication to restoring a constitutional limited government that lived within its means was exactly what Howe was looking for. He took on ever-greater roles as an activist, communicator, and filmmaker to help achieve that lofty goal.
Then came 2016. Already frustrated by so-called “Tea Party” groups using the movement as a cash-grab, he was shocked to see “constitutional conservatives” throw their weight behind a candidate who made a mockery of their principles. Howe signed on early to the #NeverTrump effort, and wondered why so many of his former allies fell in love with one of Hillary Clinton’s most famous donors.
To answer this question, he created a 50-minute film and made it available online. You can watch it here:
When I attended a Trump rally in central Arizona, I drove his crew to the site and watched some of their interviews with the attendees (as a result, my name is listed in the ending credits). What I most like about the documentary is that The Donald’s fans are treated with respect, even though the candidate is most certainly not. If you are a reluctant Trump supporter, don’t let the overly harsh (in my opinion) title dissuade you from watching. The film is reasonable, measured, and powerful.
Instead of an attack on Trump, the film feels more like an elegy for the Tea Party. A documentary about a movement with such great promise and principle being cynically co-opted by a petty demagogue. If he loses on Tuesday, Donald Trump might have killed the Republican Party. But, far worse, he has discredited the best vehicle to reform the GOP establishment.
Being the weekend before the election, pro- and anti-Trump commentary is running hot. I look forward to reading your comments, but I request that you first to watch the film. Even if you disagree with its conclusions, I’m confident you’ll find it a thoughtful explanation of how Never Trumpers like myself have viewed this campaign, and why some conservatives in good conscience cannot cast a vote for this man.
Published in Entertainment
By all means try. We could win valuable prizes.
I believe my defense was for Beck and Erickson.
That ignores the fact that Trump is running as a Republican. I assume the Democratic nominee in 2020 will be someone way too leftist for me. I don’t know how leftist the Republican nominee will be. Maybe the nominee will be someone conservative like Ben Sasse or Ted Cruz. Maybe it will be someone more leftist like Trump. It will definitely be a leftist like Trump if Trump is the incumbant Republican president.
If future elections happened in another universe independent of ours, I think I might just go ahead and vote for Trump, but this election will affect future elections.
That aside, I’d rather debate the content than the source. As Jon said, ad hominem isn’t helping this discussion.
Sorry, I meant to explain the reference to Little Green Footballs comment section referred only to the lightening speed disappearance of any comments that disagree with the Red State hosts or their positions of the day.
And speaking of green, what exactly was the meaning of Ben Howe’s animated green slimes that kept appearing on the tweets, etc. of people with whom he disagreed? Now that’s a serious, mature policy guy for ya. (And no, I’m not saying Trump is a serious guy – as I said, I’m a NeverHillary.) I’m referring only to the producer of this ‘film”.
What Anthony McCauliffe said.
Does the film contain any ad hominem against Trump or his supporters? Or animated green slime?
Who is he expecting to convince this late in the game? Have the ProTrumpers, ReluctantTrumpers, AntiHillarys, etc. not yet heard enough anti-Trump arguments, vitriol, exaggeration, slurs and more. Or does the film contain The Smoking Gun – the thousands of employees that hated him, hundreds of personal testimonies from people Trump screwed, the onslaught of sexual harassment suits? Because surely such a vile media creature in the public eye for this many decades should have a surfeit of documented dirt in our 24/7 media world? Or even a trash man that never offered him water or a story of him cutting some kid’s hair in high school.
Maybe they’re in the film. But just try getting anybody in this nation except the zealots to watch anything more about The Election That Won’t End.
Whatever my opinion is worth, it does not vilify or attempt to disabuse Trump voters. In fact it validates the movement from its genesis as an activist reaction to the TARP program (something I too rejected even back as a liberal leaning independent) into a necessary rebuttal of bureaucratic overreach. Granted I would likely find the title problematic if I was voting for Trump. But the commentariat of Rick Wilson, Jonah Goldberg, and the present Jon Gabriel were the triumvirate that made me realize the allowances I was making for Liberals that were antithetical to my beliefs. Namely expansion of Government excess and restriction of language.
I would say give it another chance after Tuesday. If Trump has lost, you’ll have faith renewed remembering that this rehabilitative effort was born out of protestation. The best grassroots efforts are synthesized when opposition holds office. And recreating a small government, liberty focused party that deals in plain spoken facts about economic growth under lassiez faire principles will be a heavily desired panacea for both the midterms and the 2020 election. Here’s one better: kick out Roger Ailes and I guarantee you’ll be able to destroy Democratic hold on non-White voters. Hell, I’ll even canvass for you. Because the dream of Government leaving you the hell alone is an American ideal that transcends race.
My inflated two cents.
I find it quite amusing that people who wish me to view something and invest 50 minutes would do so after labeling the candidate I support with a large SOCIOPATH label.
The hubris contained in the effort astounds even me and I have been practicing cynicism for six decades.
My simple answer. Their audience deserves more respect than they see fit to deliver. The failing is theirs and theirs alone. It also is endemic in the schism wrenching the party and the conservative movement apart.
Some things are beyond the pale and this is for me. As I had come to a place where I respected where people ended up, and have offered that respect, I find this, prominent on the main feed of Ricochet to be a rebuke of any offer I extended.
TKC I respect you and your defense of Trump. As I have said before, it has been better than the campaign itself offers. It’s a shame for your candidate that your offerings aren’t what undecided voters hear. I have greatly enjoyed yours and DocJay’s spirited defenses of Trump. They were inspired. That doesn’t get said about Trump supporters in the mainstream. The confluence of opinions on Ricochet enticed me to join, where I was able to read those, and dispell my mislead notions about Trump supporters. I know that’s about as good as the stuff my Father would recommend I fill the hand not holding wishes with–but it’s all I have. It does represent the fair minded, intelligence of conservative activists that is flatly denied in media–even though is does embrace the clickbait headline era. Anyways, I have to work on writing for grad school. Hope to see you when I get back next week.
NeverTrump or HillaryForever?
Crap, that doesn’t sound so good. But, moral preening is so great for the soul. Hillary drunk answering the 3 am call and nuking Putin or Trump tweeting something rude?
I choose to tweet.
That’s a pretty decent documentary with an unfortunate title. Ask @jonahgoldberg about unfortunate titles to otherwise fantastic works.
The responses on this thread have been rather comical in their predictable obtuseness.
A stirring documentary detailing the life of a little girl who fell in love.
“Hillary Clinton gay psychopathic baby eating killer” by Ben DoverAnd Howe
I see a title like ‘sodomite’ or ‘pedophile’ or ‘sociopath’ or ‘Hitler’ I just don’t feel like watching. It is predictable obtuseness , they should call it the ‘Aristocrats” and get more action.
I learned a long time ago that if someone hands me a bag labelled manure and tells me to “open it, it is real good” to assume I am being played. Given the choice of label, the disrespect is clear and the intent is clear. You may call that what you will.
I agree here. How this post can be seen as anything other than an attempt to decrease Trump votes?
The Documentary is great (and the Trailer is worth watching in itselfhttps://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=rtM-QT334Ok ).
The title by the way is spot on https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychopathy
I can see why Ben decided not to use the term Psychopath even though it could also have been used.
Pretending Trump is worse than Hillary is a delusion that does not excuse the foolishness of enabling a true psychopath. I still can’t understand the blindness and willful ignoring of vast amounts of hard data on Clinton in favor of conjecture about Trump. Truly an eye with a log seeing only the speck. This is disheartening for our nation and Ricochet.
I find it revealing why an obscure anti-Trump video is more news worthy than this one which is at the center of our present political universe.
We never know, perhaps Hillary will don the mantle of benevolent overlord and make a long play for “Best President, Evvaaahh!”
I’m pretty sure this is what the chronicles will show.
It does not make any sense to try until a proper definition emerges of what the guiding principles of the conservative movement are. Are they the advancement of limited government but with an effective national defense? Or is it something else? Because with the support Trump has been given I know that achieving a more limited government is no longer high on the list. And Trump sure is ‘something else’.
I’m going out on a limb and guessing the purpose of this video is to dissuade people from voting for Trump. Titling it “the Sociopath” completely undermines its purpose as anyone even remotely inclined to vote for the guy will be turned away. You do not win converts by advertising to the choir.
Your qualifications are a wikipedia listing of a disorder? By all means expand on psychopath. Worked with some? Diagnosed some in your decades of clinical experience? I knew one who ate his cellmate.
He’s no conservative. I just had to have fun with the sobbing hyperbole,”oh the movement, it’s damaged” .
I’ve had more government encroaching in my life since I got in private practice 22 years ago and plenty of that came in the W era. His Medicare part D added layers to my life. I voted for Reagan and it’s been crap ever since and now I get a con man narcissist to vote for. So be it. Better than Her. Easy.
Keep calling us rrrracist and stoopid. It’s been working great for the cause.
That’s a good video. If you think of Rico like MSNBC or CNN it helps to get over the umbrage.
It’s not Russia, Saudis fund ISIS and Clinton, Citi/Wall St chooses cabinet. No articles about that though until it’s time to huddle in a shrinking circle jerk of pundits.
Glad you posted and glad that I watched it. It will not change my vote which is reluctant Trump. It will however remind me that we must try to vote for Republican down-ticket candidates that have a healthy skepticism to Trump so that we can ensure some Republican/Conservative ideas survive this election.
BTW: It sounds from some of the comments above that some commenters did not watch the video and still comment. Not recommended in my opinion.
I started to watch this video but real life keeps getting in the way. My question does not require me to watch all of it. With tempers and commentary running hot, was this the best way to start a productive conversation?
I get that Zurbin has the Nazi desk covered and you wanted to add content, but really you thought posting Trump is a Sociopath would lower the temperature of the debate?
You had to know the type of responses this would generate. At this point this seems closer to picking a fight than fostering discussion.