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Illusory Honor: A Missing Apology
I don’t begrudge anyone a belief that much of Donald Trump’s manner can be off-putting (to put it gently). Nor was I ready in January 2017 to debate those who believed Donald Trump’s temperament might make for an unsuccessful tenure in the White House.
However, a personal aversion to Donald Trump was never a justification for believing (wishing) that he was an agent of the Kremlin or that his election was the result of foreign malfeasance. We now know with certainty that those allegations were false and that Trump’s enemies in the federal government, Democratic Party and news media corruptly developed and promoted this false accusation to ruin an innocent man and destroy a duly-elected president.
Given that the Republican NeverTrumpers invariably assert or imply their own moral superiority over those who defend and support Donald Trump (which we deplorables presumably do out of a lack of perception, insight, good taste and/or moral fiber) and cite their own unwavering adherence to principle, shouldn’t they be apologizing about now for endorsing and abetting this immoral attack on the President?
NeverTrumpers did not merely abet the myth of high-minded professionalism on the part of James Comey and Andrew McCabe et al. (Remember when our betters assured us that the FISA applications and the “dossier” all independently verified?) but they questioned the patriotism of those of us who dared to question the actions of those we now know with certainty to be utterly corrupt partisan hacks. Shouldn’t there be some high-minded mea culpa for allowing partisanship or anti-Trump sentiments to give support to a lie and wrongful accusations?
I recall reading exhortations on Ricochet that I should “read the report” (as if many of us Ricochetti had not already waded through the Mueller excretion) and that if I did I would see overwhelming evidence of obstruction. I did not find any such evidence of obstruction. Oddly enough, not even Adam Schiff and Nancy Pelosi thought to conclude those Mueller obstruction speculations in the impeachment bill so I guess they did not find obstruction either. If one makes accusations that not even Adam and Nancy would make, one is way over one’s skis, morally speaking.
The supposed certainty of Russian collusion and obstruction is currently replaced by the odd fiction that a “high crime” can be constructed out of being hesitant to give aid money to a corrupt regime without some proof of anti-corruption efforts such as looking into the Ukrainian role in the 2016 election (no, it was never “debunked”), the Ukrainian role in the creation of the suspect account of a Russian hack of the DNC and re-opening the probe that Joe Biden corruptly pressured them to shut down. The farce hinges on a rather strained fictitious vision of Mr. Trump’s state of mind such that lawful acts become high crimes if motivated by bad thoughts.
Our betters’ addiction to bringing down Donald Trump at all costs has debased the national political discourse far more than the entirety of presidential tweets.
No one expects honor on the part of Schumer or Pelosi and certainly not Adam Schiff. But aren’t the GOP NeverTrumpers better than that? In fact, aren’t they better than the rest of us on the right? So how come they have not stepped up and done the right thing and apologized? How will we deplorables ever get morally elevated if the NeverTrump GOP elite does not set a good example?
Published in General
I would love to ask Mitt Romney that very question. Not to mention another man I once admired, John Bolton. Really John? Your feelings were hurt so you hired an author to diss your boss. It wasn’t as if Trump made a secret of his disdain for foreign aid. And it wasn’t as if Joe Biden made a secret of his ability to interfere in Ukrainian politics using foreign aid. In the end, no matter how hard the Democrats try, it will be the Republicans doing the dirty work if Trump is destroyed.
Amen.
What has alienated me the most from the Mean Girl Republicans is not just their initial willingness to go along with the Russia Hoax, but rather their silence on the revelations of the DOJ/FBI/IC malfeasance which blew up the idea of Trump Russia collusion which most rational people should have realized was extremely unlikely from the start.
The deep state origins of the current Ukraine Impeachment fiasco is so blatantly telegraphed and disgustingly corrupt, that those NT’s who so desperately insist this micro “scandal”(maybe) is an impeachable offense reveal themselves as aiding and abetting the current (D)/deep state corruption.
Absolutely, and we have several of those types right here on Ricochet. They never even acknowledge much less engage in conversation regarding the actual origins of either the Russia hoax or the deep state fabrications.
The whole point of being morally superior to deplorables is to promote a form of government in which the occasional unenlightened election outcome does not really affect what our rulers do. It presumes a superiority of competence and moral vision by the ruling class. To notice that our institutions are led by people who are neither honorable nor particularly competent would be to endorse the populist critique which endorsement would tacitly validate the standing of deplorables to make offer such a critique and that simply can’t be permitted.
@user_54742 Love it.
Another type of fiber I just don’t get enough of in my diet.
If only I had the backbone and iron will of a RINO …
I could stymie my whole party
And the media call me a smarty
On whatever Sunday show I wish
I could McCain key legislation
And get an MSM ovation
If only I were a squish
Huzzah!
I’ve been trying to sell it but so far it has only caught on with me.
I assume this ditty is sung to the tune If I only had a Brain?
So many parallels in these political times to the lessons from Wizard of Oz it’s frightening.
Especially the malignant flying monkeys on Twitter.
In the book, the flying monkeys weren’t bad, just ensorcelled.
All the evidence we have on hand says: No.
Q.E.D.
Regards,
Jim
If you want to enjoy the essence of Never Trumper superciliousness, watch this video. The ads write themselves for Fall.
https://althouse.blogspot.com/2020/01/is-this-smugness-it-feels-to-me-more.html
Two scoops dissolve nicely in a morning cup of covfefe!
I think I love you. Your post is dead right on.
Thank you but I still have this thing going on with a girl I met on June 8, 1978 but I can send you a link to the waiting list.
Yeah, but where does one find that much of it?
I’m waiting for a response from Gary, a resident NT’r.
So no Republican congressmen voted for impeachment and only 2 Republican Senators might vote for conviction. Just how many Never Trumpers are there and do they really have an impact? It seems like a lot of misplaced vitriol.
I’ve mentioned before that I let my decades long NR subscription lapse after the infamous anti Trump issue which made me realize that it’s not only Trump they dislike it’s also me. This morning it occurred to me that I was like someone on the wrong line at the DMV or the airport. All those years I thought I was in the line of people who wanted to fight the left but when the fighter they wanted actually came along they backed off , apparently talking about fighting was all they were up for.
It looks like the election might surprise a few NTs and lefties.
https://pjmedia.com/election/bellwether-to-blowout-texas-house-district-gets-redder-to-lead-off-2020-elections/
The Democrats went all out in this Texas district special election. The result ? A blowout.
HD28 is a red district in a county, Fort Bend, that has been trending blue. Hillary Clinton won it over Donald Trump 51-44 in 2016. Republican incumbent John Zerwas won HD28 +9 in 2018. His decision not to seek another term left it open and the Democrats pulled no punches to try to take it.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren endorsed the Democrat. Former veep Joe Biden did the same. Julian Castro campaigned for the Democrat. Mike Bloomberg bumbled his way into town and apparently knocked on the wrong doors. Beto O’Rourke practically lived in the district for the last few weeks, showing up everywhere giving speeches for the Democratic candidate, Dr. Eliz Markowitz. If one were to go by Twitter, the Dem would win 90-10.
The result ? 59-41 for the GOP non-incumbent as the previous Congressman had quit.
And Bernie Sanders looks like he will win California. It’s 1972 again.
In terms of sheer numbers, you are correct in asserting that they should have little impact. However, those Nevers are proudly marched before the cameras on CNN and MSNBC and the Sunday shows on the networks. An influential show inside the Beltway, Morning Joe, specializes in Nevers and is especially virulent in their hatred of Trump. In my opinion, the publicity they are given results in influence beyond their numbers and accounts for some of the frustrations shown here.
The GOP Never Trumpers are largely clustered in the opinion/commentary world of the wankerati, not in Congress where opposition to the White House when your party holds it carries consequences. They give aid and comfort to the enemy by allowing opposition to Trump to be “bi-partisan” (as if Jen Rubin and David Brooks count as Republicans).
People are free to form whatever judgments they like about the president and the issues but they don’t get to call me stupid and immoral because I disagree. That is the part that irks, the weird smugness and false sense of superiority among people whose professional political insights and grasp of issues have turned out to be, at best, remarkably mediocre.
When I hear never-Trumpers say we would have been better off with Hillary, I have to question not only their judgment but their sanity . . .
They have a nice little cottage industry going on. Fewer than a million people watch cable news everyday so I doubt they have much influence.
Trump hatred makes otherwise highly intelligent people stupid.
Think about this — according to Nevers, Trump’s election is the worst thing that’s ever happened to the Republic (since the Civil War) and the Republican Party. Worse than the election of (Perfect Storm) Obama, who oversaw the corruption we’ve experienced in the Deep State targeting of his duly elected successor. The man who “fundamentally transformed” the nation into a Euroweenie nanny state and made identity, rather than ideas, how we do politics.
You can’t make this shtuff up.
And people wonder why I call them traitors.
No.