Posted on 03/05/2016 7:34:47 AM PST by NOBO2012
Let me say up front that I am a life-long Republican and conservative. I have never voted for a Democrat in my life and have voted in every presidential and midterm election since 1988. I have never in my life considered myself anything but a conservative. I am pained to admit that the conservative media and many conservatives’ reaction to Donald Trump has caused me to no longer consider myself part of the movement. I would suggest to you that if you have lost people like me, and I am not alone, you might want to reconsider your reaction to Donald Trump. Let me explain why.And chastises their “conservative” efforts to date:
In 2012, we were told to vote for Mitt Romney, a Massachusetts liberal who proudly signed an individual insurance mandate into law and refused to repudiate the decision. Before that, there was George W. Bush, the man who decided it was America’s duty to bring democracy to the Middle East (more about him later). And before that, there was Bob Dole, the man who gave us the Americans with Disabilities Act. I, of course, voted for those candidates and do not regret doing so. I, however, am self-aware enough to realize I voted for them because I will vote for virtually anyone to keep the Left out of power and not because I thought them to be the best or even really a conservative choice. Given this history, the conservative media’s claims that the Republican party must reject Donald Trump because he is not a “conservative” are pathetic and ridiculous to those of us who are old enough to remember the last 25 years.Before explaining why he’s voting for Trump:
Donald Trump is the only Republican candidate who seems to have any inclination to act strictly in America’s interest…the first people to condemn him and deny the obvious were conservatives. Somehow, being conservative now means denying the obvious and saying idiotic fantasies like “Islam is the religion of peace,” or “Our war is not with Islam.” Uh, sorry but no it is not, and yes it is. And if getting a president who at least understands that means voting for Trump, then I guess I am not a conservative.(snip)
Fourth, I really do not care that Donald Trump is vulgar, combative, and uncivil and I would encourage you not to care as well. I would love to have our political discourse be what it was even thirty years ago and something better than what it is today. But the fact is the Democratic Party is never going to return to that and there isn’t anything anyone can do about it. Over the last 15 years, I have watched the then-chairman of the DNC say the idea that President Bush knew about 9-11 and let it happen was a “serious position held by many people,” watched the vice president tell a black audience that Republicans would return them to slavery if they could, watched Harry Reid say Mitt Romney was a tax cheat without any reason to believe it was true, and seen an endless amount of appalling behavior on the part of the Democrats which is too long to list here and which I am sure you are aware. And now you tell me that I should reject Trump because he is uncivil and mean to his opponents? Is that some kind of a joke? This is not the time for civility or to worry about it in our candidates.
Consider the following. Our country is going broke, half its working-age population isn’t even looking for work, faces the real threat of massive Islamic terrorist attack, and has a government incapable of doing even basic functions. Meanwhile, conservatives act like cutting Planned Parenthood off the government or stopping gays from getting marriage licenses are the great issues of the day and then have the gumption to call Donald Trump a clown.In short:
I would however encourage you to at least think about what I have said and understand that the people backing Trump are not nihilists or uneducated hillbillies looking for a job. Some of us are pretty serious people and once considered ourselves conservatives. Even if you still hate Trump, you owe it to conservatism to ask yourself how exactly conservatism managed to alienate so many of its supporters such that they are now willing to vote for someone you loath as much as Trump.There’s more, read-the-whole-thing, as they say. It will be thought provoking and it might even be…liberating.
I remind you once again: “Suicide is Painless” – except for the survivors.This mans letter makes for a good outline of policy for the new Republican Party!
Absolutely!
Shame this well written article, which is a repudiation of Bush Republicanism masquerading as conservative, hasn’t been read by more around here. The Bushes are not conservative.
This is exactly what Pat Buchannan was talking about in his brilliant article about the Trump movement.
I did notice Pat was wishing he had done what Trump is doing now. May not have worked back then, who knows?
Agreed! I haven’t even paid much attention to Cruz until lately but he sure seems to be the one with the schtick tailor-made for his intended audience. The “sucker class” which he perceived the Evangelicals to be,
Fortunately for America, most of them, like myself, check things out and his actions don’t seem to fit the meme.
BJ1: I think the Trump supporters here place much too much faith that Trump will be the guy in office they think he will be.niteowl77: Change "Trump" to "Cruz," and you would be saying what some of us who are leaning towards Trump think.
As for consistency in political philosophy, Donald Trump no doubt worries less about it than Ted Cruz, and the bulk of our solons are perfectly happy to adjust their philosophies to fit the amount of largesse he bestows. May Ted not disappoint you in such things.
Yours in highly intellectual dishonesty,
Mr. niteowl77
“...What is “well known” often isn’t the whole story (particularly when it concerns the current-day GOP). You obviously trust Ted Cruz to be as he has been packaged and presented by a supportive coterie; I no longer do so...”
What “supportive coterie”? That’s laughable. I look at the candidates objectively. I assess based on the information we know — not information we don’t know or whatever you meant by “...What is “well known” often isn’t the whole story...” What would that be? Divined by ouiji-board? Over-active imaginations? Clearly biased and partisan third parties? Some guy you know at a barber shop?
Given the two candidate’s *well-known* history, anyone who would trust trump any further than they could throw him is deluded. There is nothing in his history that would lead a reasonable and prudent person to trust him to do anything other than to act on his ego. Heck, he’s already starting to backpedal on his campaign rhetoric to include his signature issue, illegal immigration.
Quite the opposite with Cruz, his history shows he has been a consistent conservative, says what he is going to do and then does it -and- is willing to do the right thing and stick his neck out to resist his own party and the establishment RINOs to the point of shutting down the govt. He has defended conservative constitutionalism before the Supreme Court and won every time. Question: Has he as a single, vastly outnumbered senator had any chance in turning congress around? No. But, he tried his best anyway and took it as far as he could and shut down the govt. Can you name another conservative who dared go that far to do the right thing? Other than actually murdering establishment/RINO congressmen, what else would you have him do to prove himself?
Trump hasn’t indicated he ever had to fight for a single thing. He hasn’t even indicated that he ever “negotiated” his way through an under-leveraged position. As far as we know, from his enormous head-start with his daddy’s inheritance, he has always held the upper hand in a negotiation. You have no idea what’s going to happen when he has to trade the whole farm (or bill of rights - who knows?) to get congress to advance his legislation when he finds out he needs them *far* more than they need trump.
Perhaps you are placing blind faith in trump out of anger at the GOP and if so, I will grant you that anger is absolutely justifiable, but blind faith in any candidate is not justified - even for Cruz. I would say that the trust you place in trump is wholly unfounded based on his well-known NY-Liberal/RINO history. Further, there is no believable justification to assert trump is more trustworthy than Cruz, or even that trump is more trustworthy than *any* other candidate running, except for perhaps Clinton. Maybe it’s just your inarticulable gut instinct? If so, good for you, but I can’t trust your gut.
Good luck with whatever rationalization you use for your trust in trump as it looks like he is well on his way to being our next president. I’m not saying he will disappoint us more than clinton, but his history indicates he will be a disappointment nonetheless and I will go out on a sturdy limb and make that prediction now.
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