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Trump, Conservatism, and Me
Greetings, Gentlemen and Gentle Ladies of Ricochet. I’ve been away for a while, I know.
Some of you wrote to the editors to ask what happened to me and whether they should be worried. I was touched by that. You’ve heard, then, that I’ve been working on my book, which is coming along well. But in truth, that’s not the only reason I’ve been away.
About a week ago, the Blue Yeti, who also noticed my absence, sent me a message to ask if I was okay. I was on the verge of writing, “Oh, yes, I’m fine, I’m just working on my book,” but then I stopped myself and thought, “Why not tell him the truth? It is, after all, the truth.” And so I did.
I wrote back and said that I was horrified by Trump. That I’m heartbroken for my country and for what I thought were our ideals, our decency. That it seemed to me the United States was experiencing the political equivalent of a psychotic break, one that has at best turned America into the punchline of a joke, and at worst will end the American experiment altogether. That I was exhausted from arguing about Trump. That I’ve already lived through this presidency once, in Turkey — although it took years for Erdoğan to sound the way Trump already does — and didn’t want to chronicle this story twice in my life.
“I’m outraged by Trump and what’s become of conservatism,” I wrote,
I’m depressed by all of it and sad that I’ve devoted so much of my life to a political ideology that in the end looks as corrupt to me as socialism. This hasn’t seemed like an appropriate thing to share with our entire membership, so I’ve been keeping quiet before saying anything rash — either to our members or to you. But I’ve been feeling this way now for long enough that I probably just need to say it.
So the answer, really, is that I’m not so okay. I’m quite depressed. A large part of it is an overdue reflection about my role in all of this, and a realization that whatever I believe about politics, it has no place in the conservative movement as it now exists.
The Yeti asked if he could call me. We spoke for a while. He started by trying to reassure me that I wasn’t responsible for Donald Trump’s election. This on the one hand is obviously true; but on the other, I’m not sure I can escape the responsibility for this disaster that every American shares, whether or not we supported him or voted for him. We’ve all, together, created — or failed to do enough to prevent — the conditions such that a phenomenon like this might emerge. We all share some part of the blame for allowing our country to descend into nihilism and despair; we all contributed, in some way, to the hollowing out of civic virtue, to the eradication of gravitas and dignity from the public sphere, to the conflation of reality television with reality, to the dumbing-down and the commercialization of everything, to mindless and unprincipled partisanship, to the cultivation of the imperial presidency. We are all all in some part responsible, even if our only contribution was doing too little to prevent it.
And in my case, the contribution was greater. I didn’t mean to, but I did. Ricochet, after all, was part of a gullible media that offered Trump five billion dollars’ worth of free advertising because we assumed his candidacy was just a terrific joke and great for site traffic. “It may not be good for America, but it’s damn good for CBS,” Les Moonves said. I can’t say our editorial approach was more foresighted.
I’m not so full of my own sense of importance as to believe what I write has much influence over anything, but it’s a fact that for the past few decades I’ve supported myself by writing by writing about, and for, politicians and audiences who called themselves conservatives. I believed I shared a set of assumptions and values with conservative readers, or at least, I believed their assumptions and values closer to mine than those of the American left. But it turns out that a substantial cohort of those people did not share my assumptions and values. And a significant number of them are now given over to isolationism, protectionism, nativism, authoritarianism, and sheer craziness. Or outright nihilism. Not to mention opportunism. I want no part of that.
Newt Gingrich, arguing that Margaret Thatcher was the model for the Trump presidency, recently buttressed this claim by allusion to my book about Thatcher, which made me cringe. As I replied in the American Interest, the idea is utterly unserious; that he could assert this is profoundly disturbing for what it says about how little the truth matters to anyone in this perfervid political climate:
I was glad to see my largely forgotten book mentioned, but at the same time I was baffled—because the comparison is ludicrous. Readers who doubt this may consult the online Thatcher archives, which contain every known statement made by Margaret Thatcher between 1945 and 1990; or take my word for it for $12.10 on Amazon. They will find nothing to suggest that Thatcher and Trump are similar in any relevant aspect, be it their political ideals, beliefs, moral values, temperament, style, experience, intellect, competence, decorum, or probity.
What does it mean, then, when a respected senior American politician makes this argument in a respected American newspaper? We’re not, after all, talking about an archaic figure known to us only through a disputed Delphic verse. Margaret Thatcher is very nearly a contemporary. She died in 2013. What she believed is as well known as the formula for the area of a triangle. It would be one thing if the newly Trumpesque Gingrich had in his article renounced Margaret Thatcher and her ideals. That would have been surprising, to be sure, but it would have at least made sense. But this is not what he did: He instead made his actual memories of Thatcher vanish in an act of mental thaumaturgy, and returned from his underground dungeon lair with a shape-changed new version of history.
I told the Blue Yeti all about this, and told him that basically, I’d prefer never to write about politics again. I’m exhausted with it, growingly cynical, and deeply pessimistic. When I finished, I expected him to say that he was sorry to hear it, and to accept my resignation.
But instead, he asked me to write about what I’d just told him, all of it. He said I wasn’t alone in feeling this way, and told me that more people than I realized shared my sentiments. I don’t quite remember what he said next, except that he seemed sincere in thinking I should write about this, and adamant that my point of view was one that should still be represented here. He said that if the Trump presidency implodes, or explodes, someone will have to make the case for classical liberalism and the vigorous virtues, since the conservatives who’ve eagerly hopped in bed with the Id in the White House won’t seem particularly credible after that. He suggested — kindly — that I pull myself together.
I figured he was probably right. “Pull yourself together and get back to work” is, usually, good general advice.
So, are there any more of you out there who are feeling like me? Or will I have to do this single-handedly? I will, I guess, if I have to, but it would be nice to know I’m not alone.
Published in General
Mocked disabled people, trashed pow’s, bragging about avoiding std’s as being his own personal Vietnam, given to conspiracy theories such Birtherism, 9/11 trutherism, anti-vaccinationisn, denier of American Exceptionalism. Multiple accusations of sexual assault and rape. But it’s not just what he has done, it’s his temperament…. he spends time at POTUS attacking people for perceived or actual slights. He has no core convictions, making him susceptible to manipulation from those around him.
The people complaining about “being purged” were openly planning purges right here on Ricochet, famously one of the Commentary Podcasts.
Then you should be in a Facebook group or something where you can commiserate together. I’m not interested in a site where contributors just spew out their emotional insecurities caused by their crumbling world view. There’s plenty of other venues (where I don’t have to pay) for that.
Is it cruel to say this? I hope Claire starts to feel better, but her contributions lessen the overall value of this site.
I am guessing some of the concern is less about morals and more about control -while things needed to be addressed that have been loosely run, every executive order rolled out like a lightning bolt. Some had to be contained or rolled back. The media needs a connection with the WH – good or bad, not censored. etc. etc.
I whole heartedly disagree. What lessens the value of the site is the attempt by some to enforce groupthink.
I like different opinions. Well-articulated ones. It hones critical thinking. If I was the type who paid just to be pandered to I would be reading the NYTimes. Part of the richness of Rico is the smart, differing opinions. But I’ve reconciled the idea that people who thoughtfully criticize the President aren’t criticizing me — and whether wrong or right — are genuinely concerned about the Country.
Cut and paste?
You can follow my lead:
Results: Total Facebook happiness!
As someone who was practically disowned by my family for even considering voting for Trump — the reality is what swung the direction to him were swing voters. Ones who voted against Republicans in 08 and 12. Independents like me. We normally sit on the fence in non-crap elections — and this one was horrific. This may feel like a national movement to you because it was such a successful and sweeping one within the party — but the Nation voted strictly down party lines.
The bleak, stark, and naked truth is these criticisms don’t mean anything to those voters. President Trump’s behavior does. And if he continues to saturate the news with petulance — Republicans will find themselves in a very bad place soon.
We’ve been conditioned to replace religion with politics, so we can get our dopamine fixes from the latest outrage.
In order to win and keep power, the Left turns its candidates into Messiahs. I don’t vote for Messiahs. I vote for ordinary, fallible human beings. I don’t expect to agree with them, admire them or even like them all the time.
Calm down, everybody. There is a lot more to life than politics…or there damn well should be.
Check out the Conservative Reconstructionists group. It’s comedy gold listening to their plans regarding what to do with Trump supporters post-election.
Nobody seemed to consider that the Trumpist-Nationalist-Facists might win!
Help yourself, just give me attribution
I think this is true – for some.
I think it’s true – for some – that they don’t miss an opportunity to criticize President Trump because they can’t handle the fact they were wrong And not just wrong about winning the election, about whether he could be a good, or even okay, president. (Opinion: the most destructive, as there’s a chance he’ll be pecked to death by ducks and kneecapped by the right and become the lousy president these people predicted)
I think it’s true for others that President Trump does not have an acceptable resume, therefore it’s not to be born that he has reached such lofty heights. Apparently that air is only to be breathed by those deemed acceptable, and President Trump doesn’t qualify. So he needs to be knocked off his perch, regardless of the consequences
Some have noted his temperament and behavior as “unpresidential”. Well, maybe that term will get broadened to include behaviors that work. As Scott Adams noted, people who have been wrong about everything thus far are the ones who say PT should stop tweeting
And BTW, I’m only talking about people who lean right/conservative. Those on the left have issues of their own
“by some” ? Do these mysterious groupthink-enforcers happen to have names?
And by groupthink do you mean “Contributors should not be abusing their position by using the site to blow out their emotional pipes?”
I would change the word “democrats” in the first panel. PT is criticized by many and they certainly aren’t all Ds.
(I read Scott Adams’ blog and listen to his periscopes but often miss his comics. Thanks for posting )
Annefy always puts me in my place.
I wonder if Amanda Carpenter is still putting her pro-Trump enemies list together. Come on, sweet cheeks, put me on it.
For me, the disappointment of the weekend was heightened by how relieved I was by the tenor and content of his SOTU. I thought: Alright! Here we go! This is a Commander-In-Chief! And all that seemed squandered on some twitter nonsense. The angriest I get at the guy is when he can’t get out of his own way.
When conservatism takes a hit, isn’t some emotionalism expected by those who consider themselves conservatives? Seems to be a reasonable reaction to me.
I’ve been thinking about this, and while I initially rejected the idea that I was “in mourning,” I think now I would concede that point with some qualifications. I’m also thinking of Susan’s post some time ago about giving up on America.
I would love to live in the America of the Founders and the Constitution, but we don’t. As someone else said, we never have. The Progressives have been chiseling away at that for 100 years, and have succeeded to a large extent. I had always thought that we could get back on the right track if we tried, but Obama’s reelection caused me to despair of that. That was real mourning, in 2012.
So 2016 was just the question of whether more nails would be pounded into America’s coffin, with glee, by President Hillary and the press and academia and Hollywood, or whether someone, anyone, would be in a position to push back. I did not expect that person to be Trump, but damned if that isn’t what we got. A guy who doesn’t despise me or the America I would like to have.
It ain’t the Founders, or Reagan, but it’s something. And it turns out the guy we got has more pushing-back stamina than anyone else. More sheer cussedness than anyone else in Washington. That’s cause for celebration, not mourning!
((Says you. Although that is borne out by his spectacular failures in real estate development and other ventures….not.)!
You keep talking in generalities. I think Claire’s contributions are not worth paying for.
Feel free to melt down all you like!
Just a thought: I often accuse the left of projection. They accuse us of doing what they themselves would do if in same position.
The above quote makes me think projection does not only belong to the left. Mind expanded. Thank you.
You don’t pay for the main feed, you pay to comment and for the member feed
The level of anger here is troubling. We’re tearing apart our side (meaning those who share a few broad principles that might be called conservative). Yes, Trump is divisive. It’s how he rolls. We’re going to be fractured for the foreseeable future, but can’t we be tolerant, too? Let the Left roll the tumbrels, not us.
Hear, hear. Divisiveness is a strategy. So is outrage. Stand back, pop some corn, and watch the storm.
Amen.
Did you not create the PDT PIT for this level of writing? Referring to the ” No, you ……… ” comment. Worry not for tomorrow, [for doing so] only destroys today’s peace.
And, “brutally wrong”… is just a little overwrought.
And, intergovernmental feuds have been going on since the beginning of government agencies.
[edit]
I apologized for this crap comment.