Posted on 08/16/2015 1:02:06 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
“Trumpites” are only “lightly attached to the political process”
George Will has written a thought-provoking piece over at WaPo in which he argues that the GOP should purge itself of Trump and Trump’s supporters.
Will explains:
"When, however, Trump decided that his next acquisition would be not another casino but the Republican presidential nomination, he tactically and quickly underwent many conversions of convenience (concerning abortion, health care, funding Democrats, etc.). His makeover demonstrates that he is a counterfeit Republican and no conservative.
He is an affront to anyone devoted to the project William F. Buckley began six decades ago with the founding in 1955 of the National Review — making conservatism intellectually respectable and politically palatable. Buckley’s legacy is being betrayed by invertebrate conservatives now saying that although Trump “goes too far,” he has “tapped into something,” and therefore . . . ."
Therefore what? This stance — if a semi-grovel can be dignified as a stance — is a recipe for deserved disaster. Remember, Henry Wallace and Strom Thurmond “tapped into” things.
Unlike Ted Cruz who embraces Trump supporters, Will wonders who Trump’s supporters are:
Conservatives who flinch from forthrightly marginalizing Trump mistakenly fear alienating a substantial Republican cohort. But the assumption that today’s Trumpites are Republicans is unsubstantiated and implausible. Many are no doubt lightly attached to the political process, preferring entertainment to affiliation. They relish their candidate’s vituperation and share his aversion to facts. From what GOP faction might Trumpites come? The establishment? Social conservatives? Unlikely.
They certainly are not tea partyers, those earnest, issue-oriented, book-club organizing activists who are passionate about policy. Trump’s aversion to reality was displayed during the Cleveland debate when Chris Wallace asked him for “evidence” to support his claim that Mexico’s government is sending rapists and drug dealers to the United States. Trump, as usual, offered apoplexy as an argument.
Will concludes his piece calling for “excommunicating” Trump and his supporters from the GOP:
So, conservatives today should deal with Trump with the firmness Buckley dealt with the John Birch Society in 1962. The society was an extension of a loony businessman who said Dwight Eisenhower was “a dedicated, conscious agent of the Communist conspiracy.” In a 5,000-word National Review “excoriation” (Buckley’s word), he excommunicated the society from the conservative movement.
Peter Whener, writing at Commentary, agrees with Will:
"Fortunately there are conservative commentators who are doing just that [“excommunicating” Trump and his supporters], including Bill Bennett, David Brooks, Mona Charen, Charles C.W. Cooke, Michael Gerson, Jonah Goldberg, Victor Davis Hanson, Charles Krauthammer, Matt Lewis, Rich Lowry, Michael Medved, Paul Mirengoff, Dana Perino, John Podhoretz, Karl Rove, Jennifer Rubin, Kevin Williamson, regular contributors to this web site (among them Max Boot, Noah Rothman and Jonathan Tobin), editorial page writers for the Wall Street Journal and others.
These individuals, while differing on various matters, understand the difference between angry populism and conservatism. They don’t believe crudity is a conservative virtue. And they don’t want conservatism stained by an unprincipled interloper and cynical opportunist, which is what Mr. Trump is. (It’s been well documented that until a few years ago, Trump was a registered Democrat, a large financial contributor to leading liberal politicians, and held liberal positions on a wide range of issues.)
In that sense, this is a clarifying moment for conservatism. Those on the right who have become Trump defenders have, I think, made a serious error in judgment that is the result of a rather profound misunderstanding of conservatism (for more, see here). You can cherish and champion conservative principles, or you can support and praise Donald Trump. But you can’t do both."
Writing at Townhall, Pat Buchanan offers a different viewpoint:
"For there is a plot afoot in The Washington Post Conservative Club to purge Trump from the Republican Party before the primaries begin."
“A political party has a right to … secure its borders,” asserts the Post’s George Will, “a duty to exclude interlopers.” Will wants The Donald “excommunicated” and locked out of all GOP debates until he kneels and takes a loyalty oath to the nominee.
“Marginalizing Trump” carries no risk of “alienating a substantial Republican cohort,” Will assures us, for these “Trumpites” are neither Republicans nor conservatives. Better off without such trash.
The Post’s Michael Gerson says “establishment Republicans” must “make clear that [Trump] has moved beyond the boundaries of serious and civil discourse.” He loathes the Trumpites as much as Will.
Trump’s followers are “xenophobic,” Gerson tells CNN. They have a “resentment of outsiders, of Mexico, of China, and immigrants. That’s more like a European right-wing party, a UKIP or a National Front in France. Republicans can’t incorporate that.”
But if the GOP has no room for Trump’s followers, it has no future. For there simply aren’t that many chamber-of-commerce and country-club Republicans.
I’m sure that this is a debate that will continue for some time, but I wonder if it will end as the GOP establishment seems to think it will?
Did George Will really say this? How stupid can he be? Trump is leading and of course he's attracting Republicans and conservatives. Will is a moron that is horrible at critical thinking skills.
And John Boehner, Mich McConnell, John McCain, Mitt Romney et alii are true conservatives that that should be embraced, right? If the Republican leadership is upset by the rise of Trump they should look in the mirror and see those who have repeatedly betrayed the conservative cause. There would be no Trump if the Republican leadership had kept their promises.
George Will: FAKE conservative.
Purge George Will and his bad toupee from the GOP
Purge Will and similar republican eunuchs from FreeRepublic.
Would be better if you were purged, Mr. Will
Amen to that !
I’m not a Trump fan, but I volunteer to pee on George Will’s shoes if he ever drops by. Of course, getting him away from DC/NYC long enough for me to do so isn’t going to happen.
“When, however, Trump decided that his next acquisition would be not another casino but the Republican presidential nomination, he tactically and quickly underwent many conversions of convenience (concerning abortion, health care, funding Democrats, etc.). His makeover demonstrates that he is a counterfeit Republican and no conservative.
Uh George, outside of Ted Cruz, Mike Lee, and a handful of others in the house and senate we have nothing but a bunch of counterfeit Republicans who are certainly not conservative. I swear I thought this guy was so damn smart when I was in high school back in the 1980’s. I guess it was just the glasses and the bow tie he used to wear that hid the fact that he’s dumber than we all thought he was.
Trump supporters appear to be a majority among voters likely to vote Republican. And, George Will -- not a Republican, not a conservative, not a libertarian, just another leftist troll.
Throw Hugh Hewitt on that dung heap also
I’m not a Trump booster, but I am a Trump supporter - just like I’m a Cruz supporter and a Bush supporter and a Graham supporter. I say let them all stand up and make their cases and the allow the people to decide who will be their champion in the next election.
As for tossing me out of the club, I would only remind George of the immortal words of Marx: “I wouldn’t be part of any club that would have me as a member.”
So there ;’)
From the feedback I’ve been getting from every Republican I speak with, it sounds more and more like the GOP is becomming the third party threat, not Trump who is the favorite of myself and all my contacts...............
 Fox News Sunday FNS@foxnews.com
George WillGeorge F. Will joined FOX News Channel (FNC) in 2013 and currently serves as a contributor, providing analysis and commentary across FNC's daytime and primetime programming, including on the panels of Special Report with Bret Baier and FOX News Sunday. Click here for more information on George Will. |
Will is an example of the RINO mindset.
He would rather have Hillary than Trump or Cruz.
Not if we purge you first.
Speaking of MoDo, maybe George Will threads should get obligatory pictures of Catherine Zeta Jones.
Mr. niteowl77
You don't fully understand how far this goes. America is an Oligarchy. The Rockefellers and the other 60 families or so control everything. Media, Medical, Energy, Banking, Defense Industry, etc, they control it all. And then they found think tanks like the cfr and trilateral commission to control the government.
Here is a paper from two princeton professors (where the elite send their children) who decided the U.S. was an oligarchy:
“…Our analyses suggest that majorities of the American public actually have little influence over the policies our government adopts. Americans do enjoy many features central to democratic governance, such as regular elections, freedom of speech and association, and a widespread (if still contested) franchise. But we believe that if policy making is dominated by powerful business organizations and a small number of affluent Americans, then America’s claims to being a democratic society are seriously threatened.”
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