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Words to Remember, Especially for Never-Trumpers
I don’t agree with everything that Kevin Williamson has to say but a recent article of his contained a few sentences that should be required reading for those who “just can’t get past” Trump’s volatile personality. And, it’s a reminder for all of us that, even though the poster child for senility has taken the lead in the Democratic race, it’s still the party of AOC and Bernie.
When James Carville warns about driving away blue-collar and rural voters, Democrats in Brooklyn hear that Southern accent and quietly whisper, “Good riddance.” The Democrats are in the mood for culture war, not for coalition-building and reconciliation. They do not wish to win with moderation and compromise, because they do not wish to govern with moderation and compromise.
Williamson touched on their ideology,
They are committed to their belief that Alger Hiss and the Rosenbergs were “on the right side of history,” that those who opposed them were monsters, and that those who rallied to the flag of Lenin, Stalin, and Mao were only humanitarians with excessive enthusiasm — “liberals in a hurry,” as they used to say.
When reading Williamson’s article, I thought about the consummate Never-Trumper, Bill Kristol. Even when he claimed to be a conservative, I had little use for him (with his condescending, arrogant manner, I always pictured him in a black uniform wearing a coal scuttle helmet). That these “ideologically pure” windbags would choose a candidate from today’s Democratic Party over Trump, out of sheer spite, is unconscionable.
When it comes to Donald Trump, there is clearly much to dislike. However, when it comes to today’s Democratic Party, he is a knight in shining armor.
Published in General
CACrabtree,
Both of the Williamson quotes were excellent! Thanks.
Camp
Good luck with that lazy argument this fall versus Biden. He sure doesn’t strike me as a guy on the culture war path. And he doesn’t strike me as a guy that hates compromise. Did Williamson say this back before Super Tuesday when Bernie was the favorite? Cuz I have no clue why a serious political commentator would be touting Bernie right about now.
Biden had many suburbanites turn out for him in the Dem primary that didn’t turn out for Hillary. I doubt they did that for culture wars and Williamson’s better come up with some better arguments for them,
Many of the #NeverTrump hard-cores were breathing a sigh of relief after South Carolina, because they truly were worried they were going to have to spend the summer and fall attempting to make the True Conservative case for Bernie Sanders. Wacky-but-lovable Uncle Joe in their minds is the far easier candidate to spin as a ‘conservative’ alternative for Trump due to his inherent wackiness and lovableness that on the surface seems to make him a non-threatening alternative. It would be like having Grandpa Simpson with plastic surgery and hair plugs as president.
The problem at the moment is every time the presumptive Democratic Party nominee has poked his head in front of a TV camera in the past week, he’s been less reassuring than his looking more and more like he’s going to be in full John Gill mode by Memorial Day…
…that, in turn could leave the #NeverTrump people with the looming quandary of not only having to try and make the True Conservative case for Joe Biden, but also make it for his vice-presidential pick, because there will be no way to avoid talking about whether or not Biden would make it through his term (or, possibly, even make it to Election Day). The True Conservative case for Joe Biden and Elizabeth Warren, or Biden and Kamala Harris would be a lot tougher one to peddle and then be able to sleep soundly at night, so I’d expect those same folks in the upcoming weeks to really start pushing for a Biden-Kloubuchar ticket. That would make their future lives a lot easier, even if neither of them offers much of anything (other than not being Donald Trump) to bring the Bernie Bros to the table.
Biden is just placeholder for whoever is his VP. If Biden wins, his VP will be President soon after inauguration.
Biden is truly non – ideological. He will say whatever it takes to get elected. When he still had some functioning brains, he governed to his base — the democrat party. The democrat party has gone very left wing. Biden is non-ideological, his administration would be very left wing.
I have no use for Williamson. Our jobless claims have just skyrocketed to over 3 million. Does KW still want to see blue collar towns in flyover country die? Because he’s getting his wish.
Spot on. Watch who Biden selects as his running mate. He almost has to select a leftist fire breather to avoid a scenario where the AOC and Bernie followers stay at home. “When he still had some functioning brains” is the operative phrase; his last few forays into the public eye have shown that, as for some “functioning brains”, that train has left the station. I think there’s a lot of deal making going on right now by Biden’s handlers. I wouldn’t rule out the selection of Andrew Cuomo as his running mate if the “moderates” get their way. Yeah, Yeah, I know that there’s no such thing as a moderate in the Democratic Party but, in their own minds…well, you get the picture.
Thanks for your kind words.
Well, no. The fact that the democrats have become so radical does not increase the appeal of Pres. Trump. Both are capable of doing considerable damage. Yesterday, in his daily briefing he went on a rant about the Europeans. Very odd and unnecessary.
Fact check: False.
He wanted to see poor people on welfare move to actual blue collar towns to get jobs. There is nothing wrong with a city dying if the people move to somewhere better. The point of things are individual persons and not locations.
Williamson can be criticized for being blasé about how hard it is to move to a new city but he is still correct that poor folks tend to do better when they move to where the jobs are.
Overall, Biden’s age is a major plus. The small probability he actually dies and gets replaced by Kamala Harris or whoever, is totally negated by the major plus that he almost certainly wouldn’t run for a second term and would give the GOP a great chance for a 2024 fresh start. So, by all means, bring up Biden’s age……cuz its even more reason to go NeverTrump. So, lets talk about one term and done Joe.
So do you care who he picks as VP across the spectrum of Democratic possibilities, since he’s either going to be one-and-done or possibly even replaced during his term (or during the fall campaign cycle, if he faces Trump and makes Admrial Stockdale’s debate appearance in 1992 look like the epitome of cognitive accuracy by comparison?)
I’d think there’s be some consideration taken into whether Biden selects Amy Kloubchar or Liz Warren as his running mate, in terms of ideology. But if you’re hard-core #NeverTrump, you might not care if he named Liz, Stacey Abrams or Daenerys Targaryen to the bottom half of the ticket (which would spawn the obligatory “No True Conservative would be afraid of killer dragons” think pieces….)
Not really. Kamala Harris would be the most troubling, since she was the person I thought had a great chance this time…..so presumably with 3 or 4 years of seasoning…..she’d make the most formidable 2024 opponent and would be prime age then. Booker too. Very good chance its one of them. But again, the fact that I’m more worried about Kamala in 2024 than Biden in 2024, shows that Biden’s age is a plus.
Who should I be worried about? Its doubtful a VP slot would make any liberal far more palatable in 2024 as Biden’s successor. Even Harris would need a major upgrade in likability in 4 years. Warren….forget it.
I thought Williamson was harsh, but he also had a point. After decades of hearing bleeding heart liberals tell ghetto stories about how Nixon and Reagan practically forced city people to smoke crack, I wasn’t too thrilled with conservative bleeding hearts tell stories about how Obama was practically forcing rural people to cook meth.
I’ve asked this several times on Ricochet , with what we now know about the shenanigans of JFK, LBJ and WJC, What is it about Trump that makes him uniquely vile? All I can see is that he refuses to play by the media’s rules or take The NY Times seriously , I’ve been waiting for someone like that most of my life.
My feeling was if you were in a Red part of a deep Blue state, such as Upstate New York or Inland California, and you saw your state government not simply not helping your areas, but actively impeding their economic hopes in order to pander to the urban area majorities (Cuomo with his ban on fracking and pipelines in the Marcellus Shale areas and Brown with his water rights thefts from the Central Valley), the handwriting’s pretty much on the wall. The only real options there are move or deal with the declining quality of life.
Biden, in addition to his cognitive problems, has a quick temper. He insulted the worker who recently asked him about guns and he insulted the young female reporter who asked a while back about how many genders there were. He’s all in on the culture wars (Beto will lead the charge on guns).
He does not know how to comport himself in public or how to speak in such a way as to inspire confidence. His fans can’t seem to grasp that you can’t browbeat the public into liking Trump. Sorry. I don’t like him. I AM making my peace with the idea that I must vote for him in November.
I never fail to be amazed as how “NeverTrumpers” are continually reviled. The Dems hate us because we believe in markets and freedom, and the current Republican Party hates us because we believe in Conservatism as practiced by Reagan.
There is little to be gained by arguing. I will simply say that I dissent.
NTers like Rick Wilson and Bill Kristol have ill disguised contempt for Trump supporters. They were wrong about 2016 and can’t forgive those who were right about it. Reagan wanted the borders enforced. That’s a priority for Trump supporters but is not for NTers.
Good. Pull the lever for the candidate with “D” following his name. Be my guest.
Rick Wilson is too acidic for my tastes. I certainly don’t have I’ll-disguised contempt for Trump supporters.
I certainly don’t feel that I was wrong about 2016 when I voted third party, and I am glad that the one of the most moderate of the Democrats will be nominated, even though I preferred Montana Governor Steve Bullock.
Yes I want the borders to be enforced, but instead of a wall, how about a universal ID card?
How many of the NTers want the borders enforced? https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/feb/9/bill-kristol-asks-if-lazy-pockets-of-white-working/
“Ill-disguised” suggests they’re making an attempt and failing. They aren’t even trying to hide it. Rick Wilson has been singularly awful these last few weeks — wishing Covid-19 on the first lady, joking about Andy Ngo getting coronavirus from Antifa, among other horrible, sexist nonsense — and his baseline for awfulness was already a record-breaking low.
I hate to disagree with my Ricochet pals–honest!–but immigration is one case where Reagan’s views, formed in the Sixties and Seventies, are of a different time with limited relevance to now. Reagan’s California “kitchen cabinet” was largely made up of guys who got rich in low-wage businesses, like restaurants, farms and hotels. By today’s standards RR would be a Gang of Eight member–“But they’re just here to do jobs Americans won’t do!”
That wasn’t a Democrat idea and never was. It was GOP all the way. It wasn’t based on shared family values; it was based on keeping wages low. This is not a knock on Reagan, really; times change.
See Reagan’s comments about the 1986 bill. I think it’s close to Trump’s view. https://www.ontheissues.org/celeb/Ronald_Reagan_Immigration.htm
The Euros need to be brutalized. Not odd and necessary.
What, exactly, did he say? Exact quote, in context, please. I’ve found that the media/NeverTrump axis usually distorts everything the President says because of their deep hatred of him.
You do not have any point of view that will make any difference. Just quit and join the Dems.
Plenty. Trumpers have been pushing that immigration strawman for 4 years now. Its supposed to give Trumpism the illusion of caring about something besides just Trump idolatry and nastiness. Meanwhile, Trump did nothing on immigration for 2 years and they barely said a word. Even now, he’s spent a fortune…built about as much wall as George W, but the Trumper strawman continues. As for legislation or accomplishments or 2020 goals….forget it. But hey, Bill Kristol said the word “lazy” back in 2017.