Posted on 01/22/2016 2:41:08 PM PST by Isara
The rise of The Donald has been remarkable. He is, it seems, supported by conservative Republicans and independents. At least that is the what they claim to be. He is supported by people who impose strict litmus tests on politicians-ready to denounce them as RINOs or liberals at the drop of a hat. And yet, those litmus tests don’t appear to apply to Trump.
On the contrary, he can do no wrong. And everything he says must be good-because he is “speaking his mind” and “telling it like it is.” Trump supporters have excused his flip-flops (something they would have never done for Mitt Romney) on issues like abortion and guns. Trump supporters have ignored his current faults, including his continuing defense of single-payer healthcare. Trump supporters have also ignored his personal and business failings, including but not limited to: his fake brand of Christianity, his three marriages, his four bankruptcies, his four draft deferments, his use of eminent domain, and his unabashed buying-off of politicians (including the Clintons).
Trump supporters are rightly angry about the state of the country, but they have also bought into a cult of personality. Personality cults are always dangerous, especially when someone as charismatic (and wealthy) as Donald Trump is at the helm. If Trump decides to run independent ala fellow-protectionist Ross Perot, you can be sure millions of people will follow him and torpedo the Republican candidate.
Let’s give credit where it is due: Donald Trump was smart enough to make this happen. Despite never holding office, he knows how to be a politician. Jeffrey Tucker summed up Trump’s strategy best (please read his entire article):
As of this writing, Trump is leading in the polls in the Republican field. He is hated by the media, which is a plus for the hoi polloi in the GOP. He says things he should not, which is also a plus for his supporters. He is brilliant at making belligerent noises rather than having worked out policy plans. He knows that real people don't care about the details; they only want a strongman who shares their values. He makes fun of the intellectuals, of course, as all populists must do. Along with this penchant, Trump encourages a kind of nihilistic throwing out of rationality in favor of a trust in his own genius. And people respond, as we can see.
Rick Perry has tried to tell the truth about Trumpism. Now Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) is taking up the baton. I hope they are successful, and they should be commended for standing up against The Donald and his lynchmob.
But people were sounding the warning bells back when Trump was last threatening a presidential bid in 2011. Among them was the now-deceased Andrew Breitbart. Here is what he had to say:
Of course, he's not a conservative. He was for Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), before he was against Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA)...celebrity is everything in this country if these guys don't learn how to play the media the way Barack Obama played the media last election cycle and the way that Donald Trump is playing the election cycle-we're going to probably get a celebrity candidate.
Ironically, the Breitbart website has seemingly been the online driving force behind Trump’s candidacy. Andrew Breitbart, if he were still alive, would have never allowed that to happen.
Michelle Malkin has had a very public feud with Trump going back to 2011 as well…and it has continued. She wrote a devastating column about “Donald Trump’s eminent-domain empire.”
Trump has attempted to use the same tactics in Connecticut and has championed the reviled Kelo vs. City of New London Supreme Court ruling upholding expansive use of eminent domain. He told Fox News anchor Neil Cavuto that he agreed with the ruling "100 percent" and defended the chilling power of government to kick people out of their homes and businesses based on arbitrary determinations:
"The fact is, if you have a person living in an area that's not even necessarily a good area, and government, whether it's local or whatever, government wants to build a tremendous economic development, where a lot of people are going to be put to work and make (an) area that's not good into a good area, and move the person that's living there into a better place - now, I know it might not be their choice - but move the person to a better place and yet create thousands upon thousands of jobs and beautification and lots of other things, I think it happens to be good."
Like most statist promises of bountiful job creation, government-engineered redevelopment math rarelyaddsup. Trump's corporations have backed casino industry bailouts and wealth-redistributing "tax-increment financing" schemes - the very kind of taxpayer-subsidized interventions we've seen on a grand scale under the Obama administration.
Undoubtedly, hardcore Trump supporters will read this piece and add Breitbart and Malkin to their hate lists. But it is my hope that their conservative credibility will help open the eyes of others who may be considering Trump. It would be a grave mistake to put an ego-driven, pro-government New York billionaire anywhere near the White House (yes, that also applies to Michael Bloomberg).
Now is the time to #DumpTrump.
Outrageously excellent post.
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Trump is like “climate change;” if you are against him you are a denier, and should be jailed for life.
WE HATE POLITICIANS !!! We hate the revolving door bull$hit that we have put up with for 50 years.
We hate paying GD near 50% taxes so scumbags can do eff all.
First Three Pages
Anti-Trump threads 13
Anti-Cruz threads ZE-RO
jusssst sayin. . .
Would that be anchor baby, Michelle Malkin?
Trump is awesome! Rush said it right...this is bigger than anything we as a nation have ever seen in politics...this is MOMENTUS!!!
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>> “Now the scum will all pile on the Donald.” <<
How you tell where the Donald is?
but that’s just me
Hey - a dn00b's got to earn his pay...
And George Orwell warned us about Redstate.
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If ignorant self importance is awesome, then Trump is.
I knew Andrew personally, he hosted a dinner for me, was at his house, know John Nolte and the Breitbart crew. You, and this author, don’t know what you’re talking about.
Meese, “need positive, unifying leadership”. TRANSLATION Amnesty, and simpering Rino behavior.
Spot on....Andrew and Malkin would/do NOT approve of the OpenBorders cabal.
Malkin has praised Trump for his tough immigration stance.
The fact that “this is bigger than anything we as a nation have ever seen in politics” doesn’t mean that it is a good thing. Many Germans in the early 1930’s got caught up in the zeitgeist of their time and would have had a similar sense of excitement before it led to their deaths at Stalingrad.
Andrew Breitbart died before the November 2012 elections. A lot has happened in 3 years. He might have sung a different tune had he still been alive.
But, what’s really happening here is that now we Trump fans are being guilt tripped by the establishment. Kind of an “How dare you insult the life, work and memory of Andrew Breitbart?” kind of trip.
No dice. We get enough guilt tripping from President Petulant when he doesn’t get what he wants from us.
RedState has gone full tilt OpenBorders/Amnesty.
The amnesty dirty $$ must be good.
“You guys are good conservatives”
Actually the holier than thou Cruz cult have made it clear that we are not.
They can all pound sand. They can scrape through church multi-purpose rooms to find enough old ladies to make up the difference.
Meese could not be more wrong. Another poll out today showing Trump beating Cankles. That’s about three in last two weeks.
Reagan had his style. Trump has his. They both work.
But keep it up. Trump is closing in on 60 now in Reuters “likely GOP voters.” Maybe more of these STUPID articles will push him to 75.
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