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The Never-Trumpers Are Never Coming Back
Townhall.com ^ | July 6, 2018 | Pat Puchanan

Posted on 07/06/2018 12:57:29 PM PDT by Kaslin

With never-Trump conservatives bailing on the GOP and crying out for the Party of Pelosi to save us, some painful truths need to be restated.

The Republican Party of Bush I and II, of Bob Dole and John McCain, is history. It's not coming back. Unlike the Bourbons after the Revolution and the Terror, after Napoleon and the Empire, no restoration is in the cards.

It is over. The GOP's policies of recent decades -- the New World Order of George H.W. Bush, the crusades for democracy of Bush II -- failed, and are seen as having failed. With Trump's capture of the party they were repudiated.

There will be no turning back.

What were the historic blunders?

It was not supporting tax cuts, deregulation, conservative judges and justices, or funding a defense second to none. Donald Trump has delivered on these as well as any president since Reagan.

The failures that killed the Bush party, and that represented departures from Reaganite traditionalism and conservatism, are:

First, the hubristic drive, despite the warnings of statesmen like George Kennan, to exploit our Cold War victory and pursue a policy of permanent containment of a Russia that had lost a third of its territory and half its people.

We moved NATO into Eastern Europe and the Baltic, onto her doorstep. We abrogated the ABM treaty Nixon had negotiated and moved defensive missiles into Poland. John McCain pushed to bring Ukraine and Georgia into NATO, and even to send U.S. forces to face off against Russian troops.

Thus we got a second Cold War that need never have begun and that our allies seem content to let us fight alone.

Europe today is not afraid of Vladimir Putin reaching the Rhine. Europe is afraid of Africa and the Middle East reaching the Danube.

Let the Americans, who relish playing empire, pay for NATO.

Second, in a reflexive response to 9/11, we invaded Afghanistan and Iraq, dumped over the regime in Libya, armed rebels to overthrow Bashar Assad in Syria, and backed Saudi intervention in a Yemeni civil war, creating a humanitarian crisis in that poorest of Arab countries that is exceeded in horrors only by the Syrian civil war.

Since Y2K, hundreds of thousands in the Middle East have perished, the ancient Christian community has all but ceased to exist, and the refugees now number in the millions. What are the gains for democracy from these wars, all backed enthusiastically by the Republican establishment?

Why are the people responsible for these wars still being listened to, rather than confessing their sins at second-thoughts conferences?

The GOP elite also played a crucial role in throwing open U.S. markets to China and ceding transnational corporations full freedom to move factories and jobs there and ship their Chinese-made goods back here, free of charge.

Result: In three decades, the U.S. has run up $12 trillion in merchandise trade deficits -- $4 trillion with China -- and Beijing's revenue from the USA has more than covered China's defense budget for most of those years.

Beijing swept past Italy, France, Britain, Germany and Japan to become the premier manufacturing power on earth and a geo-strategic rival. Now, from East Africa to Sri Lanka in the Indian Ocean, and from the South and East China Sea to Taiwan, Beijing's expansionist ambitions have become clear.

And where are the Republicans responsible for building up this potentially malevolent power that thieves our technology? Talking of building a Reagan-like Navy to contain the mammoth they nourished.

Since the Cold War, America's elites have been exhibiting symptoms of that congenital blindness associated since Rome with declining and falling empires.

While GOP grass roots have begged for measures to control our bleeding southern border, they were regularly denounced as nativists by party elites, many of whom are now backing Trump's wall.

For decades, America's elites failed to see that the transnational moment of the post-Cold War era was passing and an era of rising nationalism and tribalism was at hand.

"We live in a time," said U2's Bono this week, "when institutions as vital to human progress as the United Nations are under attack."

The institutions Bono referenced -- the U.N., EU, NATO -- all trace their roots to the 1940s and 1950s, a time that bears little resemblance to the era we have entered, an era marked by a spreading and desperate desire of peoples everywhere to preserve who and what they are.

No, Trump didn't start the fire.

The world was ablaze with tribalism and was raising up authoritarians to realize nationalist ends -- Xi Jinping, Putin, Narendra Modi in India, Erdogan in Turkey, Gen. el-Sissi in Egypt -- before he came down that elevator.

And so the elites who were in charge when the fire broke out, and who failed to respond and refused even to recognize it, and who now denounce Trump for how he is coping with it, are unlikely to be called upon again to lead this republic.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Editorial
KEYWORDS: dingbatpat; gope; paleoliar; paleolib; paleolibs; patbuchanan; patrickbuchanan; patrickjbuchanan; pitchforkpat; puchanan; seeya; tds
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To: Kaslin
never-Trump conservatives bailing on the GOP and crying out for the Party of Pelosi to save us

There are a few conservatives who still hate the President despite him delivering key conservative wins. However none of the handful of pundits and party operatives leaving the party appear to be conservative, they are all spouting liberal propaganda. No conservative who is not mentally ill would ever endorse the democrats no matter how he feels about Donald Trump. The handful of swine who have left are people we are better off without, let them openly be enemies of America, they'll lose the ear of the few GOP voters who still bother to listen to what they have to say.

101 posted on 07/06/2018 3:24:57 PM PDT by Impy (I have no virtue to signal.)
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To: Kaslin

The Never Trumpers are leaving the Republican Party. They want to form their own party. I believe they will call themselves the Whigs.


102 posted on 07/06/2018 3:30:06 PM PDT by MIchaelTArchangel
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To: Kaslin
Anyone from the GOP who is #NEVERTRUMP at this point is plain stupid.

We haven't had this much conservatism in the White House since Ronaldus Magnus. And the GOP hasn't had as many elected officials since the Depression.

Sour grapes.

103 posted on 07/06/2018 4:07:24 PM PDT by Lysandru
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To: Dr. Sivana
They remind me of Dr. Smith on the original Lost in Space, always willing to turn for the lamest promise of riches or return home by the most vile of space aliens.

I was a young boy when I first saw "Dr. Smith." I said immediately "They need to kill him. If they don't, he will likely get them killed."

104 posted on 07/06/2018 4:21:37 PM PDT by DiogenesLamp ("of parents owing allegiance to no other sovereignty.")
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To: PapaBear3625
There never was a real conflict between Democrat and Republican leadership before Trump. It was all Kabuki theater. The real conflict has been between the UniParty oligarchy and the middle class.

With Trump in the White House, the masks are coming off.

Indeed.

105 posted on 07/06/2018 4:22:48 PM PDT by DiogenesLamp ("of parents owing allegiance to no other sovereignty.")
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To: Kaslin

here’s a link that works:

http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/political_commentary/commentary_by_pat_buchanan/the_never_trumpers_are_never_coming_back

at rasmussenreports, not townhall, and is Pat Buchanan, not Pat Puchanan


106 posted on 07/06/2018 4:31:02 PM PDT by catnipman ((Cat Nipman: Vote Republican in 2012 and only be called racist one more time!))
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To: Kaslin

Bump


107 posted on 07/06/2018 4:31:53 PM PDT by Oldeconomybuyer (The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money.)
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To: CodeToad
Never-Trumper = RINO.

Liberals that sometimes vote republican.

That isn't true of all of them. I've argued for hours with some extremely religious social conservatives who object to Trump on issues of morality and ethics.

They skim through news articles to find any example of his behavior that they consider immoral, (such as "grab them by the P***y") and then bitch about it.

I've counted close to a dozen of them on another website at which I no longer participate due to their tendency to censor my commentary.

108 posted on 07/06/2018 4:32:16 PM PDT by DiogenesLamp ("of parents owing allegiance to no other sovereignty.")
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To: Lurkinanloomin

Bushism needs to be totally repudiated by the GOP. No more Bushes!


109 posted on 07/06/2018 4:38:46 PM PDT by jpsb
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To: Dr. Sivana

“So when they said they didn’t want Trump because he couldn’t win, they were lying. They were really afraid he could win”

yep.


110 posted on 07/06/2018 4:48:39 PM PDT by catnipman ((Cat Nipman: Vote Republican in 2012 and only be called racist one more time!))
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To: jpsb

A young Bush politician in Texas is (pretending to ?) support PDJT. I don’t trust him.


111 posted on 07/06/2018 4:49:15 PM PDT by Freee-dame (Best election ever!)
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To: Freee-dame

Yeah, George P, he might be the only good Bush in the bunch, didn’t vote for him last time, this time I’m thinking I might since he seems to be on the Trump Train. But I haven’t made up my mind yet on George P.


112 posted on 07/06/2018 4:56:47 PM PDT by jpsb
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To: DiogenesLamp

Those people fully support Hitlery when they refuse to support Trump. They, themselves, are not so perfect, which makes them hypocrites. I think there is something in the Bible about pride being a sin.


113 posted on 07/06/2018 6:09:04 PM PDT by CodeToad
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To: OldMissileer
I have been watching the logarithmic increase in their craziness and now they are about to blow.

I agree, except that I think Democrats have blown for a l-o-o-o-o-o-n-g time...:-)

114 posted on 07/06/2018 6:17:22 PM PDT by grey_whiskers (The opinions are solely those of the author and are subject to change without notice.)
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To: marktwain

John McCain.


115 posted on 07/06/2018 7:17:17 PM PDT by tinamina
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To: CodeToad
Those people fully support Hitlery when they refuse to support Trump.

Told them that repeatedly. They said Trump is equally evil as Hillary. I told them they were morons.

They, themselves, are not so perfect, which makes them hypocrites.

I constantly posted the "Pharisees Prayer", but they couldn't recognize their behavior as the same thing.

I think there is something in the Bible about pride being a sin.

Yup. It was like talking to a wall.

116 posted on 07/06/2018 7:28:00 PM PDT by DiogenesLamp ("of parents owing allegiance to no other sovereignty.")
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To: Psalm 144

Agree 100%. The interests of the American people are all that matter.


117 posted on 07/06/2018 7:47:06 PM PDT by techworker
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To: Architect of Avalon

Yeah! What he said...


118 posted on 07/06/2018 8:01:21 PM PDT by DoughtyOne (01/26/18 DJIA 30 stocks $26,616.71 48.794% > open 11/07/16 215.71 from 50% increase 1.2183 yrs..)
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To: Hugh the Scot

Probably Israel, but other than that, I’m not sure.


119 posted on 07/06/2018 8:02:15 PM PDT by DoughtyOne (01/26/18 DJIA 30 stocks $26,616.71 48.794% > open 11/07/16 215.71 from 50% increase 1.2183 yrs..)
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To: jpsb

George P. Bush is addicted to abuse of imminent domain, and needs to be removed from the land commissioner post haste.. A democrat can’t do any more damage in that post than Jebbie Junior, and at least if its a dim then their party garners the ill will from such shenanigans.


120 posted on 07/06/2018 8:14:02 PM PDT by MrEdd (Caveat Emptor)
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