Posted on 08/15/2016 4:46:54 AM PDT by Kaslin
Here’s the thing – a slight majority of my friends in the conservative sphere are #NeverTrump and disagree with my reluctant conclusion that voting for Trump is slightly less devastating to America than abstaining in light of Felonia Milhous von Pantsuit’s looming regime. And I intend to remain friends with them. Our enemies would love to divide us forever, and I refuse to let that happen. If it does, it will be someone else’s choice. If all of us refuse to be permanently torn asunder, if all of us refuse to choose to let our strategic and tactical disagreements drive a wedge between us, then we won’t be torn apart. And when the smoke clears in November, however it goes, we can fight on together.
Now, I spend a tiny bit of time on Twitter, and it can get intense. People disagree about the proper reaction to the The Donald. Some board the Trump Train, and others want to blow up the tracks and derail it. I think of myself as embracing the least-worst option, pumping on a hand car behind the caboose, occasionally weeping.
Let me be the first to admit that it boggles my mind when people don’t see how clearly, unequivocally, and completely correct my position is. Yet, the people who have come to a different conclusion also suffer mind boggling when people don’t see how clearly, unequivocally, and completely correct they are. It’s almost like people of good faith can look at the same evidence and come to different conclusions.
But it’s pretty important that we all work to make sure good faith disagreements remain a thing. Now, here are some suggestions on how to be constructive with other conservatives who see things differently.
Realize You Don’t Have The Moral High Ground: I’m doing what I think is morally right and so are you. And I don’t need lectured about how I’m not meeting your exacting standards and I’m pretty certain you won’t welcome me lecturing you. Plus, if you’ve suddenly decided that you’re vastly more moral than everyone else you’ve been fighting for conservatism alongside for the better part of a decade, then you should also concede that your moral sense is somewhat defective since you only recently noticed that everyone else is terrible.
Stop Trying To Play The America/Vets/Apple Pie/Puppies Card: The “If you [like/hate] Trump, then you hate [America/Vets/Apple Pie/Puppies]” gambit never works. Who is the guy who is told “You clearly hate your fellow vets!” who thought, “Gosh, I should totally pull a 180 because some guy on Twitter said that if I don’t conform to his viewpoint I must hate my fellow vets?” That sort of nonsense always seems to end up embarrassing the guy who tried to play that card (Yeah, it’s snarky – I didn’t say being chill was easy).
These People Did Not Become Terrible Overnight Because They Disagree With You On One Point: I am simply not going to disregard people I’ve read and listened to for years because we disagree on this one thing. That’s crazy talk. In fact, I’m going to read and listen to them more closely because echo chambers where you hear only what you want to hear tend to make you dumb. Look, the guys I disagree with have some good points – regardless of whether any of them think I have any good points. Ben Shapiro, Jim Geraghty, Jonah Goldberg and Bill Kristol are suddenly wrong about everything because I think they are wrong about one thing? That’s an actively stupid notion, and I refuse to embrace it.
We’re Not Purging Anyone: I sometimes hear how various mainstream cliques, clans, crews, and coalition components must be purged from the GOP upon Trump’s victory/defeat. Nope. Besides the practical problems of actually purging large chunks of the coalition, there’s the troubling insanity of thinking that subtraction equals addition. So one’s purging anyone. Now, you can choose to leave – America’s a big country with plenty of sulking space. But no one gets to ethically cleanse anyone else.
Be Nice: Channel Swayze in Roadhouse, and be nice even when your erstwhile allies are jerky. It’s hard. I can’t always be nice. But I’m going to try, because it’s less important that I get the transitory satisfaction of smacking someone around than making it possible for my opponent to be there with me in the fights to come. It doesn’t mean don’t disagree – it means be nice about it.
How does this work in the real world? Let me give you an example. There’s a guy out there who holds a completely opposite view of the Trump voting strategy than I (We largely agree on Trump himself). To call him #NeverTrump is way too mild; he’s against allowing the name “Trump” to ever be uttered aloud again. I won’t name him, but suffice it to say he is associated with a lesser war college than my own Army alma mater.
Now, he’s a solid guy. He says important things. And he’s come to his conclusions for coherent reasons and after a lot of thought. We interact, and I point out where I think he’s off base and he returns the favor. Sometimes he gets frustrated with me and vice versa, and when that happens we walk away and chill – like freaking adults. Oh, and when he’s unfairly attacked by people sort of on my side, I defend him – and he does the same for me.
And when November rolls around, regardless of the outcome, I expect we will be able to work together again to try and save our country.
Sure, I get plenty frustrated, especially when someone on Team Conservative floats the electoral air biscuit of voting for Hillary. But when I do need to vent, I do it somewhere where it is not going to create problems down the road when I need to be in the foxhole with these folks again. That’s why there are private Twitter DMs. There are some things you just don’t say if you ever want to have a constructive relationship, so don’t say them.
And yes, we need that constructive relationship again. The parties (both of them) are in flux. Coalitions are shifting. We’re cursed to live in interesting times. And we need all hands on deck if we are going to fight on to save our country. So don’t be in a hurry to jump, or toss anyone else, overboard.
He’s dreaming. They’re democrats pretending to be conservatives wiling to put us all on the road to Venezuela.
I think that many people who live in a concentration of illegals, even new migrants, fail to see the destruction of a once great culture. Peggy Noonan’s last column discussed this very thing.
The elites making the political decisions in the US and Europe live far enough away so that they are unaffected by the consequences. Noonan said that the disconnect in Germany between Merkel and the common people was based upon the fact that those living in the upper echelons can feel righteous and stay unaffected.
Kaslin is also a Democrat Party hack and is putting us on the very same, i mean keeping us on that very same path.
Kaslon oppose’s free speech
I do not like Schlichter’s half in and half out attitude regarding Trump, but at least he possesses rudimentary common sense with regard to the importance of voting in this coming election. I believe most of the tepid Trump Republicans have not taken the time to get to know Trump. While I do not personally know him, I have watched many hours of him speaking to me and other Americans at his rallies. You can get to know a candidate this way, especially an unscripted guy like Trump whose every speech is different and original. You get to know his personality, why he behaves the way he does. Trump is an authentic American patriot. He is not a mealy mouthed, camouflaged politician, but a man who at his age and status doesn’t give a damn about political correctness or soft peddling what is wrong with this country. His proposals to fix the mess are original approaches that only after they are criticized for days do others get around to concluding they may not be all that bad after all. When it comes to Trump, many approach anything he says with a knee jerk negative bias. Recognize this is standard fair and recoil by those who are naturally intimidated by a confident true leader, someone we have not had the pleasure to have as our president since Reagan.
No person who loves this country could vote for Hillary. I have had to write off a lot of so-called conservatives, Kristol and his ilk, for even suggesting this. Hillary represents nearly 25 years of DC corruption, bribery, scandal, and globalism. I am not sure there is ANY candidate who can possibly do more than make a little dent in our country’s DC ELITE problem, but Hillary will do nothing. And that’s what these so-called conservatives want— a continuation of the gravy train. I am at the point where I now believe Romney was convinced of the value of the losing the 2012 election and did it on purpose.
No person who loves this country could vote for Hillary.
I’d expand that: No person who loves this country would be AWOL from the battle to stop CINC Hillary and her SCOTUS picks. The masks are truly off, IMO.
Felonia Milhous von Pantsuit..
Bwahahahahahahaaaaa
What a pot of crock! In EVERY conflict in life there are winners and losers. This article promotes Neither-Nor, Either-Or and I’ll have no part of it. My opinion counts for me and I don’t need the semi-approval of someone I disagree with to be comfortable in my skin. WOW has this country turned into a bunch of wimps!
I’m not with you on that. He’s a great article poster. Without Kaslin and before him JohnHuang2 and others, FR would have no debates.
This is about the most hilarious nonsense I have ever read.
Both my husband and I have I have registered in 1979 for the Republican Party and neither he or I have never voted for a rat. Ronald Reagan was our first president we voted for in the general election and we always voted for the republican nominee.
Kaslon oppose’s free speech
You have given yourself away as a progressive by using a typical left-winger projection. I who always says people have the right to their opinions, does not oppose free speech
Now stop boring me
Bravo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I am with stockpirate. Townhall is Kaslin’s BIBLE! I quit reading Townhall garbage a long time ago. I don’t need to see it twenty times a day on FreeRepublic.
The primaries are over.
If they can't 'fight on together' now against Hillary, they will never be together.
After the election the "Never Trumpers" will fight against making America Great Again tooth and nail.
The writer is a fool, and by their actions the majority of his friends are traitors to America.
I agree with both of you.
Thanks, I appreciate that.
I will post from whichever site that I want to. Got it? Now get lost.
Don’t try to impress me with the Colonel designation because I have earned that grade as well. And, unless you are Col Schlichter in real life, I do not understand why you consider my comment as a personal reflection on you.
Think up something new. Start by denying Townhall is your Bible. And then you can start learning proper English and sentence structure. Get it? You are a NEGATIVE FACTOR with regard to Trump and many have noticed it.
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