Posted on 08/20/2018 4:23:05 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
A few days ago, I had a dust-up on Twitter with National Review’s Jonah Goldberg. Our conflict was about Trump’s fitness to be president, a subject that has been broached millions of times on social media by other internet partisans. Twitchy posted the exchange and promoted it this way: “It’s On! Jonah Goldberg, David Horowitz Duke It Out Over Trump’s Character.” The donnybrook led to 500,000 impressions on my Twitter feed, including legions of anti-Trump zealots eager to demonstrate how creative they could be in devising insults to throw at me for defending Trump: beyond dumb, in need of psychiatric help, and probably receiving payments through offshore bank accounts.
As it happens, I’ve known Jonah for more than 20 years, admired his wit and insights, promoted his books, and put him on my platforms. I was distressed when he joined the NeverTrump chorus, but never wrote a critical word about him—hoping, I guess, that as Trump systematically undid the damage that the Obama regime had inflicted on the country, Jonah would return to his senses.
Other NeverTrump conservatives, on the other hand, just jumped to the other side. Bill Kristol even went so far as to collude with the Brennan-instigated witch-hunt by spreading talking points from the Steele dossier. It was easy to write these renegades off, though still wondering how they rationalized the betrayal of their lifetime principles, or were able to deny that they were doing so.
Afraid to Get Their Principles Wet
But a group of NeverTrumpers like Jonah adopted a less radical stance and conceded that many or even most of Trump’s policy actions were actually conservative, and ones they agreed with. What made them NeverTrumpers was his horrible, defective character. Most prominent among this group was Bret Stephens, whom I have also admired and promoted in the past. At the end of Trump’s first year, Stephens wrote a column for the New York Times—the position being an obvious reward for his defection—called “Why I’m Still A Never Trumper.” In it he praised Trump’s major policy actions since entering the White House. But then he attacked Trump’s bad character, which was unpresidential and indefensible. And averred: “I still wish Hillary Clinton were president.”
When I read his column, the first question that popped into my mind was: How can indefensible and unpresidential bad character lead to such admirable presidential decisions? I am not aware of any attempt by Stephens or Jonah or similar NeverTrumpers to provide an answer.
The posture of these NeverTrumpers is transparently self-serving. It preserves their intellectual credentials as “conservatives,” and simultaneously takes them out of the line of fire from an increasingly vicious Left whose goal is to destroy Trump and his presidency, and—incidentally—conservative America. Sitting on the fence affords them new career opportunities—appearances on CNN and MSNBC and columns in the New York Times. All that’s required is that they avoid taking sides in the political war that is engulfing the country. All this reminds me of a memorable Trotsky sneer about liberals, whom he accused of being reluctant to step into the stream of political conflict because they were afraid to get their moral principles wet.
So, when this tweet from Jonah appeared on my feed, I abandoned my self-restraint and answered it:
(TWEET-AT-LINK)
This was followed by a retweet and a new comment:
(TWEET-AT-LINK)
I don’t know whether it was the snide-ness of this comment or its absoluteness that triggered me, but it seemed so pigheadedly self-righteous, so oblivious of the complexities of human character, not to mention the nuclear dimensions of the Left’s war against Trump that I responded—and in doing so walked into a hornets’ nest.
(TWEET-AT-LINK)
Which drew this retort:
(TWEET-AT-LINK)
The nastiness of that last sentence shocked me. Evidently the hatred of Trump is so fevered it can burn through two decades of cordiality and acquaintance. I wonder if Jonah would be so hostile to someone who shared his view of Trump’s character but thought Trump’s policies were racist, and tyrannical.
Two Episodes in Trump’s Favor
As it happens, I am well aware of the vulnerabilities of what I tweeted. I should never have written it and fallen into the Twitter trap. Tweets don’t provide enough space to account for the complexities of this subject or provide sufficient examples to make one’s case. “Character” is notoriously mercurial, and complex to judge. As it happens, in referring to Trump’s loyalty I had in mind two episodes. The first was the topic of the week, Omarosa. Why did he stick with such a wretched individual for so long, despite warnings from everyone around him that she was no good? Loyalty to a fault.
The second was when the Left showed its teeth in his first days in the White House, and maliciously attacked Steve Bannon and Jeff Sessions as white nationalists and racists and even neo-Nazis. Any other Republican, freshly in office, would have thrown them under the bus, however false the accusations. Trump’s fortitude, his refusal to back down under withering fire, is also a character trait, and an admirable one—actually the key to his success where Bush and congressional Republicans had repeatedly failed. Loyalty.
Making Compromises, Keeping Promises
Since Jonah brings up Trump’s three marriages let me ask the question: who can see inside another person’s marriage? I thought, moreover, that since Reagan—who had two wives—entered the White House and performed as a conservative hero, Republicans would have gotten over their puritanical prejudices. All politicians have flawed characters. It’s the nature of the job, which requires compromises, prevarications, dirty deals, and the like. In Trump’s case, what is important is not his loyalty to his wives (and none of them seem to be complaining) but his loyalty to the cause he champions and the people who support him.
Has Trump kept his promises to his supporters? Has he stayed the course he set for himself of making America great again? That loyalty is the character trait that matters most in a leader, and should matter most in any assessment of Trump. He has taken great personal risks and incurred great personal costs. His reputation for example, was pretty good before he ran against Democrats and their media, who fueled an epidemic of hate portraying him as a racist and neo-Nazi.
I’m betting there isn’t another Republican who would not have wilted under these attacks. Who would have had the fortitude to stay the course, and keep his promises. That’s really good character. And it’s presidential.
If a president does what is good for the country and its people, then he’s fit to be in office. By that measure, I can think of a lot who were unfit.
The #1 #NeverTRUMPer has already joined the TRUMP train
I threw his books in the garbage the moment he went after Trump.
Enough said.
I am glad that David is on board the Trump train. As for Jonah, who really cares?
Everyone else sees that there are only two imperatives:
1. Destroy the News Misleadia
2. Wrest the Federal courts from the control of the Lefty judge-presidents
As we have seen, the News Misleadia is the primary weapon the Left uses to destroy its enemies - except, of course, President Mud Monster.
After the News Misleadia, there are the Federal judge-presidents who would have been unleashed to rule us all by national micro-managing injunctions after a Felonia von Pantsuit victory and a Supreme Court packing.
As we have also seen, the Left has released these black-robed clowns to ankle-bite the President.
He’s always been something of a cuck, but I put up with it when he was over here on this side.
Goldberg just wants to be liked. And that’s probably the greatest mediocrity to which an untalented pundit can aspire
I see several trends, only time will reveal if they are just fantasies or a clear harbinger of things to come. One, Never Trumpers are shrinking in numbers and influence. Before long, they can have their convention in an empty Walmart store. Two, the drift of Democrats to the Trump camp is gaining momentum, we’re going to have to hire more traffic cops. And three, the lurch of Democrats to the Left will leave independents either out of the game, or recognizing that they need to join with Trump.
I actually don’t get this”character” complaint at all. Moral courage is to me the foundation of character, the willingness to stand for and do what’s right, no matter the consequence. Trump has this in spades.
Have you ever noticed that every time someone claims President Trump is “unpresidential”, they really mean “unpoliticianial” (Yeah, I made up the word but it serves)? “OMG, he’s been married three times (a kiss of death if he were a politician)”! “He’s disloyal to others (except the ones he works with and who voted for him, something a politician can never truthfully claim).
And the list goes on and on...
His words aren’t smooth and focus-grouped like Obama or Hillary. He’s not politically correct in just about any way. He tells it like it is.
I grew up believing that democrats were just people who we disagreed with and can remember walking through a anti-war demonstration with a little American flag. I earned a lot of jeers and insults, but never did I ever feel threatened or afraid.
How things have changed. The last two years have been truly eye opening and I am finding people who I once admired are not worth the effort. Jonah is one such.
To the left, the media, and Progressive, which are all basically the same, unpresidential means effectively fighting against them.
It is just a buzz word.
If a conservative is effective, they attack.
JFK screwed everything in skirts while in office, LBJ was the most vulgar person this country has known as President Trump, Clinton got BJs from a young intern who should have been protected and W worked harder on amnesty then he did on the war ( started out great and then went silent) also betrayed his Vice President Trump by refusing to pardon Scooter Libby, and Never Trumpers don’t like his character. Oh spare me!
Horowitz, himself, has always been a street fighter so I’m not surprised he immediately fell in like with the president. He curses up a storm on twitter, lol.
LOL, I have been a fan of his for a long time and read Frontpage religiously. I will have to start following him on Twitter. I can overlook a few well placed curses, :-)
A New York billionaire playboy who exhibits humility towards rural working class religious voters.....A throwback to the days when the wealth of Gotham and the prosperity of Middle America went hand in hand, as opposed to Wall Street traders getting rich while Rust Belt workers can’t find a job.
Trump is a transformative figure who is bringing the country together, after 50 years of our cultural institutions, along with the Democrat party, trying to tear it apart.
And these idiots at the Weekly Standard and National Review are complaining! D.C. isn’t so much a swamp that needs to be drained, more like a ship that needs to sink with no survivors.
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