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Donald Trump, the N-Word, and the GOP
It’s not okay for white people to use the N-word. I thought this was generally understood and widely accepted for … like a few decades now, but apparently I was wrong. (By the way, if you’re a white person, and you think you’re somehow a victim or being oppressed because you’re not allowed to use the N-word, I pity you.)
This has come up in discussion recently because word once again is circulating that there is a tape (or tapes, plural) of “Apprentice” outtakes that include Donald Trump (among other things) using the N-word.
This story isn’t new. It made the rounds in 2015 and 2016. (Anyone who is aware of Donald Trump’s history of overt racism wasn’t surprised.) I don’t know whether such a tape exists, but some are concerned about it because when Sarah Huckabee Sanders was asked this week, she couldn’t guarantee it didn’t exist.
In anticipation of the existence of such a tape and its potential release, we’re already seeing rationalizations (including here on Ricochet) and explanations of how, if Donald Trump was caught on tape using the N-word, it’s either okay or it doesn’t matter.
Okay, so two things: First, it’s not okay. Second, it does matter.
If this tape does exist, and it comes out for all of us to hear, it’s going to do enormous damage to the Republican Party. Because what will certainly follow is legions of Trump apologists explaining how it’s okay.
At which point, the Republican Party will become the It’s-Okay-To-Say-The-N-Word Party. If you care about the electoral success of the Republican Party, you don’t want it to become the It’s-Okay-To-Say-The-N-Word Party.
Further, if you care about conservative governance in the future, to the extent that Donald Trump is associated with that conservative governance, it’s a big problem. If things like deregulation are associated with the Republican Party, and the Republican Party is the It’s-Okay-To-Say-The-N-Word Party, then deregulation becomes It’s-Okay-To-Say-The-N-Word-deregulation. All those conservative federal judges become It’s-Okay-To-Say-The-N-Word judges. Tax cuts become It’s-Okay-To-Say-The-N-Word tax cuts.
For Republicans, if you become the It’s-Okay-To-Say-The-N-Word Party, your brand will be irreparably damaged. For conservatives, if you become the philosophy of It’s-Okay-To-Say-The-N-Word, it will be the end of conservatism. Any claim of moral superiority will be gone. The decent people will have to separate themselves and find some other name to call themselves.
If a tape comes out, you don’t want to be trapped on the wrong side of things. Certain things are beyond the pale. This is one of them. If that tape comes out, don’t rationalize it, because what you hear will not be okay.
Published in General
I have not taken the George Will position that Conservatives should vote Democratic for both the House and Senate. I have taken the Michael Gerson position that we should vote for Democrats for the House, and non-crazy Republicans for the Senate.
Well after the number of retweets had apporached 6 figures. This too, is part of the con.
If this is up for a vote, I’d like to cast an emphatic “no” for both suggestions.
Why?
Why not?
Because I think the post reinforces falsehoods widely embraced by the left and routinely used to discredit conservatives: that we are patent racists, or at least sympathetic to racism; that President Trump enacts racist policies; and that his presidency is due, at least in large part, to the fact that he tapped into a deep vein of American white supremacism. I don’t believe any of those things.
I don’t know what the PIT is but, if it relaxes our normal standards of conduct here on Ricochet or otherwise misrepresents the civil, center-right position, I don’t think that serves Ricochet well either. I’d like our public face to be civil and even tasteful.
Please do not claim to be ‘forced to take this step’. The decision is yours; own it.
I would recommend the W F Buckley approach and vote for the most electable conservative.
Second that. I noticed it too, but figured I’d picked on Gary enough for one thread.
You’ll never make Nemesis-Grade [redact]-lord with that attitude.
Tell my kids that.
The very first sentence in the OP is an irrelevancy.
More to the point, even those few who do know that it’s not okay.
If you are where you might hear it, you are associating with the wrong people. You know, I often think of those people who band together, for example, drug cartel members or MS-13 members, and I say to myself, they are not even in the same society where I live. I might search for quite a while to even find a single principle on which we would agree. We are pretty much done after the First Commandment.
I own it.
I am a Christian, an American, a Conservative and a Republican in that order.
There is a compelling set of reasons in my mind to require that an external check be placed upon Trump which can best be done by the House being run by the Democrats.
In ordinary times, I would agree.
Trump, in my mind, represents an extraordinary threat to all that I hold dear.
Henry,
I always enjoy jousting with you. No worries.
Gary
Huh?
Well, except for the people of pallor singing the lyrics of their favorite rap tune.
Your prose is purpling.
He’s in for between two to four years.
Any mischief the Dems get up to will last considerably longer.
I agree fully with the ordering you listed. I am a Christian so I can not vote for the Democratic Party that has move even further to the pro-abortion position. I can not vote for a party that is openly hostile to my religion. I am an American so I can not vote for the party whose leaders say “America was never that great” or “we must fundamentally change the country” or whose militant members shout “ no border, no wall, no USA at all”
I am a Conservative, I can not vote for the party that opposes everything I believe in. That wants to take my right to free speech, my right to own a gun, control every aspect of my life. The party that wants to weaken the military while increasing my taxes will never get my vote.
I am a Rebublican but who cares. If the party went away tomorrow I would continue to vote for the people or party that most support my beliefs.
I will not vote against my deaply held beliefs just because Pres. Trump can be a jerk. My beliefs are deeper than any one man or President. I would hope that most Republicans/Conservatives actually believe in more than just “checking “ Trump.
Moderator Note:
Jamie, you are relatively unenthusiastic about Trump, unenthusiastic enough it's silly to call "anti-Trump" libelous. Being willing to support Trump on what you judge as Trump's better actions doesn't change that.I am not anti-Trump. Stop lying. This statement is libelous.
Do you know that Buckley himself ran for Mayor of New York when no sufficiently conservative candidate emerged?
*Snort*
Moderator Note:
There's been enough of this belittlement on both sides at this point that comments on this post are being closed for now.Anyone with even half a brain could find multiple OPs written by me in support of the President and his actions.
Oh…wait…I see the problem….