Michael Gerson in the Washington Post:
Michael, Michael, the "humane ideal at the center" of the Republican Party disappeared years ago, and the racist, sexist, loathsome Donald Trump candidacy of today is the creation of the GOP, your very own Frankenstein's monster, who is now out of control. Trump says in plain language what the other so-called establishment Republican candidates speak in veiled code language. (Wink, wink, nudge, nudge, you know what I mean.)Every Republican of the type concerned with winning in November has been asking the question (at least internally): “What if the worst happens?”The worst does not mean the nomination of Ted Cruz, in spite of justified fears of political disaster. Cruz is an ideologue with a message perfectly tuned for a relatively small minority of the electorate.
....
No, the worst outcome for the party would be the nomination of Donald Trump. It is impossible to predict where the political contest between Trump and Hillary Clinton would end up. Clinton has manifestly poor political skills, and Trump possesses a serious talent for the low blow. But Trump’s nomination would not be the temporary victory of one of the GOP’s ideological factions. It would involve the replacement of the humane ideal at the center of the party and its history. If Trump were the nominee, the GOP would cease to be.
As for Hilary Clinton's "manifestly poor political skills", I wonder if you watched any part of the eleven hour Benghazi!!! hearings, in which Clinton made Trey Gowdy and the other Republicans on the committee look like bumbling fools. Maybe it's just me, but I thought Clinton's political skills, intelligence, and stamina were very much in evidence. She would not only perform well against candidate Trump but perhaps send him over the edge to the point where even Republicans would vote for her, or, if they could not bear to cast a vote for a Democrat, they would not vote and perhaps even stay home, which would affect not only the presidential vote but down-ticket Republican candidates.
Further, the GOP "conservatism" of today quite obviously does not involve "respect for institutions and commitment to reasoned, incremental change" and has not for quite a number of years.
You say:
Liberals who claim that Trumpism is the natural outgrowth, or logical conclusion, of conservatism or Republicanism are simply wrong. Edmund Burke is not the grandfather of Nigel Farage. Lincoln is not even the distant relative of Trump.You are wrong, Michael. The members of the so-called "center" of the GOP, who no longer have an influential voice in the party, stayed silent through the worst of the excesses perpetrated by Republican members of Congress, thus giving them free rein to vote for their extremist agenda, with the result that the two candidates who now lead in the polls are Trump and Cruz.
Two quotes come to mind:
Silence is the voice of complicity. (Fr Roy Bourgeois)
For they sow the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind. (Hosea 8:7)
The GOP of my youth, of Dewey, Rockefeller, Scoop Jackson, Dirksen, and yes, Lincoln, has been destroyed. This dead shell, filled with bigots, is not worthy of the name. The idea that someone like Trump might take the nomination twic=e held by Lincoln disgusts me.
ReplyDeleteNor Eisenhower, which is the first presidential election that I remember. None of those men would recognize their own party today.
DeleteAmen. Though I am a yellow dog Democrat, even I mourn the death of a thoughtful Republican party.
DeleteSAME HERE! The first presidential election I remember was Eishenhower vs. Stevenson...I remember the ¨I Like Ike¨ of my parents...I thought he seemed a good man but what did I know...my school pal Tommy Conlon (sat behind me alphabetically) gave me ¨All the Way with Adlai¨ and my parents said ¨oh, you are a Democrat¨ when I came home to it pinned to my shirt ... I said ¨yes¨ and they never mentioned it again...THOSE were the days of sane Republicans who believed in the INDIVIDUALS choice...even if the individual was their son in the 2nd Grade! What would happen today in the deep RED STATE of fear/hate and bigotry?
DeleteI remember, "I like Ike" and "All the way with Adlai". One of my best friends is named Adelaide. Imagine the teasing she had to endure.
Delete"The members of the so-called "center" of the GOP, who no longer have an influential voice in the party, stayed silent through the worst of the excesses perpetrated by the Republican members of Congress, thus giving them free rein to vote for their extremist agenda, with the result that the two candidates who now lead in the polls are Trump and Cruz."
ReplyDeleteTrue, true, true.
Just like a party in Germany which I dare not name.
DeleteVery well done, June. Thank you so much. I hope this circulates widely.
ReplyDeleteRight on, June. The verse from Hosea is particularly apt.
ReplyDeleteBut perhaps another time you will share your thoughts on why the Democratic party has only Hillary and no one else of presidential timbre? Sanders has made his mark this year, but he's a Socialist, not a Democrat.
I firmly disagree with you, Russ. Sanders is admittedly left of the mainstream of the Democrats. But he's the one to whom I'm sending my $$ so far. Hillary is not sufficiently supportive of the working class, IMHO.
DeleteThanks for your kind words about my post, Russ, though I must disagree about Sanders, too. He is a social democrat, no matter what the WP says, and guess what? I am, too. I've heard and read Sanders' speeches and proposed policies, and I agree with him. I've also sent him campaign contributions.
DeleteThe goalposts in both parties have been moved to the right, so that what was once the center of the Democratic Party is now right of center.
Having said that, I expect Clinton will be the nominee, and I will vote for her with enthusiasm against any of the clowns in the GOP lineup.
You are free to disagree with anyone, and to support anyone you please, Lisa. But Bernie is a socialist and this is just one of many places, easily googled, where he so describes himself:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2015/04/29/bernie-sanders-is-an-avowed-socialist-and-democrats-are-actually-pretty-ok-with-that/
Whether that is good, bad, or ugly is beside the point of what I asked. He may be running at the moment under the banner of the Democratic Party, but he is no more a Democrat than Trump is a Republican - unless we want to say that those labels are inherently meaningless.
My question remains.
It is possible that a Trump victory as the GOP candidate would destroy the party. Perhaps a better party would emerge. In any case, I think a Trump nomination would be a gift to the Democrats. By the way, I would feel better about a President Trump than a President Cruz. Either one, of course, would make Canada look very attractive.
ReplyDelete