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The Jackals
Sadly, I disagree with Kevin Williamson. That doesn’t happen much. It is not so much that I disagree with him about Trump. I don’t. I vehemently disagree with this statement: “So, now that I am a swing-state conservative, am I going to hold my nose and pull the “R” lever if only to put up a roadblock in front of the Democrats?”
Only? Does Kevin think the Democrats are just a bunch of moderates and can’t be bothered to “put up a roadblock”?
Trump ain’t much, but he’s all we’ve got.
“There’s more to citizenship than voting, and partisanship is not patriotism. If casting a vote is all you have in you, then, fine — by all means, do what you believe to be best. But consider the possibility that the duty of the patriot in these times is not to choose one pack of jackals because it looks a little less hungry and vicious than the other pack of jackals but to oppose these jackals — these demagogues, profiteers, and hangers-on, these greasy little salesman trying to sell you something that is already yours — and to insist that the free and self-governing men and women of this struggling republic deserve better than what is on offer. We can have better than what we have had because we can be better than what we have been.”
Heavens yes. But not right now. Stupid primary voters chose Trump. So we are stuck with him or we get abortion on demand, Obamacare, the Iran Deal, really high taxes, the Green New Deal, business as usual with China and Russia. These Democrats are not your grandfather’s jackals! They sharpened their teeth during the Obama administration and are not going to make the same mistakes again. How is Biden, even if he wants to, going to control them when he calls a lid every day and goes and takes a nap?
Trump will be gone in a few months or a few years but the things the completely insane Democrat party want to inflict on us will endure for a generation or longer.
I’m not voting for Trump but against Biden. We should not be in this position but we are and Kevin saying we don’t deserve it, doesn’t matter one iota. I didn’t buy the binary idea for a long time either but the Democrats have gotten crazier and crazier and Trump has at least given us some good things. The peace deals are no small matter and are important to a foreign policy voter like myself.
So I’m voting for the jackals that at least espouse some of the policies that are important to me.
Published in Elections
See also “leper with the most fingers”…that are his own. Trump’s vices are not new to politicians but his virtues have been nearly unique in Republicans in the last four election cycles.
Welcome to the party pal.
Late is better than never no mater what the reasons. Our nation is at stake.
I’m glad you have reach this stage because I think this has been revealed to be a fight over whether we will continue honoring the intent of our Constitution or just trash it. If the latter I think there might be conflict we, in this lifetime, have not experienced.
I don’t think Trump is a ‘jackal’. He often speaks and tweets intemperately, certainly, and he doesn’t communicate in the faux-academic tone that has become de rigueur for the top levels in politics. But I don’t think he seeks to use his office to enrich himself in the way that so many politicians do, and neither has he been willing to harm the country in order to gain points with the Kool Kidz at the lunch table.
Indeed, Trump has demonstrated an ability to perceive, strategize, and act creatively, in a way that is rare among our political class. For example…
–Whereas the foreign policy ‘experts’ long asserted that no Middle East peace solution was possible without satisfying the Palestinian regime (a basically impossible condition), Trump has simply bypassed that regime.
–Whereas the conventional wisdom, embraced by Obama, was that manufacturing revival in the US was impossible and would take ‘magic’, Trump has seen that it is both important and possible.
–Trump has driven *multiple parallel threads* of Covid vaccine development and deployment…I don’t think many politicians would have even considered such an approach.
Screenwriter Robert Avrech has defined Trump as ‘a quirky man who loves America’…I think there is truth in this summary, and also, that both parts of this character…both the ‘loves America’ part and the ‘quirky’ part…are offensive to the conventional thinkers on the Left and the Right.
I disagree with Kevin a lot, but I understand that pundits have to say clickable things to get paid. Once you figure out who puts a paycheck above principle, the things they say make more sense. You know the saying, “It is difficult to get a man to understand[pundit] something when his salary depends upon his not understanding it.” – Upton Sinclair
Thank you. Nicely put.
I have been making the opposite point, I believe Williamson’s NT writing has a very limited audience and he and other NT pundits are in danger of playing only to the smaller and smaller audience of other NT to where the time is coming where we may find a Kevin, Rob, JPod or a Jonah driving an Uber to make ends meet.
A larger concern for NT opinion maker pundits is they have been working at this “Trump is a disaster” meme for four years and they have convinced no one new, so either the NT pundit has lost their skills as a professional persuader, or could it be the unpersuaded have simply not experienced the Trump disaster the NT are attempting to persuade has occurred.
Senators concern me much more than pundits, NT or other. For a Senator who took the time to think this through, I think Murkowski provided an example for any Democrat not liking the timing example set by this confirmation of Justice Barrett. The fact that no Democrat did what she did is really worrisome regarding what would happen if they command both houses and the White House.
And then they’ll REALLY be in trouble because the Dims want to end Uber, too!
I’m amazed and delighted by your transformation. Something tells me there are many voters like you out there who care for the direction of the country, see the chilling dangers of the left and prefer to ignore the petty arguments about personality on which the Nevers dwell.
Uber/Lyft have pissed all over the age old (D) Big City Government/Big City Cab Company bribe exchange which has existed since invention of the taxi cab.
Well, I believed since they started that Uber and then Lyft and everything similar that comes later, really always wanted to have self-driving cars so they wouldn’t have to share the money with drivers.
If they own the cars, though, then *they* will have to pay the ownership and maintenance costs, plus the fuel and/or recharging electricity. I suspect there are a lot of drivers now who are making a lot less than they think they are.
I suspect the Uber/Lyft Powers That Be also overlook how much vandalism they’re likely to get, etc. But nothing ever seems to stop people from being short-sighted.
I would settle for stringing together two or three complete sentences without having to look at a teleprompter.
I like Kevin and Jonah. I pay for NR, won’t pay for whatever Anti-American website employs Jonah. Jonah needs to return to some Pro-American publication. Doesn’t need to be pro -Trump, just not Anti-American.
Williamson writes some interesting articles, but I think he often misses the point (dare I say) when he complains about Trump.
Despite the 3-year campaign to wage war on his administration, Trump has actually minded the parameters of the office of the presidency. His style does not suit everyone- he is a businessman and not a politician in the end- but he is the only person aggressively defending the principle of law and order against the grotesque riots this summer (I am grateful that he uses his twitter account to call a spade a spade) and tirelessly promotes the principles that make this country so great. The Williamsons of the press might have wanted a Jeb Bush or an old-school Republican formalist, but Trump has broken the mold for the party and it will be difficult to reset again.
Kevin took a few issues and laid them entirely at Trump’s feet – like the trade deficit with China. Well. the 1980’s called, and want their trade deficit policy discussion back.
It could be that other issues have caused that to increase, too, even with Trump’s actions on China. I’m not sure what the counter policy to what Trump has done would be to “fix” the trade deficit, which is essentially driven by consumer demand. Trump’s going to somehow make people not buy stuff from China, thereby reducing the trade deficit? The tools available here to any president are limited, and the outcomes uncertain.
That’s just an example. I listen to Mad Dogs and Englishmen regularly, his take on Trump is not new (meaning he’s never been a fan). But it looks a lot like he did what he’s often accused others of doing – constructing a justification for an already-determined outcome.
Thanks Kevie! It all makes sense now.
NR doesn’t survive on subscriptions. It survives on large donations. It’s those donors they are writing for.
I know commenting on your own comment is a no-no, but… so what.
I wrote “survives” in the above but that’s not really the word. Not when the NRI 990 form for 2018 shows Rich Lowry making $400K, Jonah Goldberg $190K, and Kevin Williamson $120K for their NR work. That’s doing a little better than surviving.
I’m always disgusted when I see NR rattling the tin cup for donations from people who make a lot less than $400K per annum.
Pundits, show us your tax returns!
You get what you pay for. I’d bet that leftist pundits make a lot more.
I’ve wondered too about the future for the Never Trumpers, recalling how I’d husband my budget to make sure I had enough play money to go on a NR cruise nearly every year, hoping to hang with and learn from Kevin, Jonah, Rob Long, Jay Nordlinger and others. Now I wouldn’t cross the street to say hey if they were visiting my neighbor.
Who will be their audience? If Trump wins, are his voters willing to tolerate and pay for another four years of their mockery and insults? If Biden wins, will the lefty loyalists respect and admire them, pay for their insights, because they helped their candidate? Doubtful they can win trust, admiration (or paying customers) there either.
I’m not madly in love with aspects of Trump’s behavior or personality some of the time either, but most of his policies please me. The clarity of what’s at stake in this election could not be more obvious.
Hear, hear.