Posted on 08/01/2016 4:39:18 AM PDT by Kaslin
The primaries are over and Trump is the nominee, and instead of whining about it like a Millennial faced with having to get a job we need to step back and ask ourselves if we have learned anything from this bizarre turn of events. The GOP our GOP has nominated someone who is not a traditional conservative. Hes not even an untraditional conservative. Hell, theres probably not even a c or a v in whatever he is. So we can either try to figure out what happened or keep rending our clothes and gnashing our teeth about how our own voter base took one look at us and rejected us like any sober, sighted guy in a bar at 7 p.m. would reject Lena Dunham.
What have we learned from this? We cant answer that unless we get beyond the natural tendency to assume that the problem is that everyone else is wrong: Gosh, if the voters werent so stupid they would have totally fallen in line with our commands and right now wed be watching Jeb Bush being fitted for a gimp suit by Hillary instead of seeing Trump [checks current polls] uh, cleaning her clock. Wait, what?
Did we ever actually listen to our people? I mean all our people, not just the people who went to the same colleges as us and who hang with us at the same awesome restaurants and read National Review. I mean the actual voters out there in wherever actual GOP voters live. Did we pay attention to them and their concerns? Did we listen to them about illegal immigration, about the impact of free trade, about the wars we supported? And did we fight? I dont mean just give lip service to how bad and unwashed liberals are, but really get in there and stand up to these flag-hating, gender-inventing, God-booing jerks? Or did we look down on the very people we were depending on at election time?
In short, did we completely screw up? Nah, its clearly everyone else whos wrong. Theyre just too stupid to understand that they need to obediently fall in line. After all, their real interests are actually and super conveniently our interests.
Seriously is that where we are at? Because Im hearing a lot of such nonsense from people horrified at Trump and, by extension, the GOP voters who nominated him fair and square. Can we really blame them for voting for the one guy who actually paid attention to what they were saying?
Did we listen about illegal immigration? Heck, illegal immigration is just wonderful for us. We get cheaper restaurant food, cheaper houses, cheaper maids, and if we own companies we get cheaper workers. So whats not to love, right? Except maybe you didnt go to a university and wanted to work with your hands and found that you cant get a job because all the companies are hiring cheap illegal alien workers. Or your truck got hit by an uninsured illegal. Or your daughter got killed by an illegal who should have been deported. Well, if you have concerns about these things, clearly youre a racist.
And our response to their massive law breaking is Well, we cant possibly enforce the law! [clutches pearls tightly] Why, that would be mean! Do you think that when some red state Republican voter breaks the law he gets a pass? You think the IRS isnt going to empty his bank account to pay overdue taxes because he carries a sign reading I didnt cross the tax code; the tax code crossed me! We cant deport an illegal because his family, that shouldnt even be here, might be sad, but do you think anyone working for Uncle Sucker gives a half damn about an Americans family if he steps out of line? Our response to the legitimate grievances of the people we counted on in this election was to call them stupid and racist and people are surprised they flocked to the one guy who listened to them?
We love fair trade. But what about the guy whose job that he support his family with gets outsourced because of NAFTA? What are we supposed to tell him? That in aggregate fair trade is beneficial? Yeah, but what if youre not in the aggregate? I dont know the answer, but I do know that so far we've been telling him Suck it up cuz youre obsolete. Go retrain on computers, dummy. Yet were stunned that our voters have failed to embrace our innovative two-prong approach of ignoring their grievances while heaping abuse upon them?
And let's talk about wars. Generally, its our base that fights wars and we havent won one on the ground since Desert Storm. Our base doesnt mind fighting for a cause, but if we're not as dedicated as they are, if we can't even commit to win when they commit to doing the dying, why are we shocked when instead of answering the call for the umpteenth time they let it go to voicemail? And the stuff about NATO and Trump you know, our voters are not blind. If our allies were doing their fair share, his criticisms wouldn't resonate.
And did we listen when our base asked the establishment to show some fighting spirit? Or are we driven to effectively vote for Hillary because somebody scandalized out tender sensibilities by using the verb schlonged? Our base demanded someone who wouldnt be intimidated, who would fight. Instead, the establishment was dead set on dumping a steaming pile of Jeb on our collective lawn, the same durrwood you can watch on YouTube hanging a medal around Hillary Clinton's wrinkled neck. That pompous geebo cant even take his own damn side in a fight; why is anyone shocked that our voters saw he would never take theirs?
So what have we learned about ourselves? Maybe that many of us are snobs. There's a lot of class warfare going on here, a lot of backroom snark, with a lot of conservatives who want to believe that the only people who could ever support Donald Trump are knuckle-dragging morons who can't cut it when it comes to anything besides digging ditches. Too many of us choose cultural solidarity with the liberals we live among over political solidarity with the people we expected to vote with us.
Gosh, we tell ourselves. These people cant even see whats in their own best interest. Except maybe they dont like what they see. Maybe its because they decided we arent worth listening to. Maybe they dont like us conservatives. And maybe we better figure out how to fix that instead of whining.
Kurt nailed it. We are tired of being ignored, tired of the double standards, and tired of being told we are bigots when we stand up for our interests most of which are simply American interests. We don’t want our country to look and vote like California having been transformed out from under us by people who shouldn’t even be here to vote in the first place.
We’ve learned that there are a hell of a lot of liberal Democrats masquerading as Republicans.
You know what GOPe - I don't care if or how "conservative" Trump is or is not. He is not you. Let that sink in for a moment. Think about what that means. I've been on this Earth over five decades. I have never pulled the lever, filled in the circle, etc. for a 'rat. Modern day liberalism isn't just bad, it is utterly un-American and anti-American.
Used to be that was enough GOPe. It used to be that the 'rats and so-called "liberals" were so bad that anyone was better than them. Well, over the past few election cycles GOPe, you've shown yourselves to be nearly as bad, and getting worse every year. That's where Trump came from. As they say, the electorate hasn't left you, you have left them. You have become barely distinguishable from the 'rats. Sure, they propose or enact the dumbest, most damaging policies - you merely support them, or tacitly support them by paying only lip service to opposing them.
So be it GOPe, you're dead to me. Maybe the GOP can be salvaged. Maybe, if enough Trumps step forward and take a stand for me and what I believe in. Then actually act on those beliefs. They don't have to agree with me 100%. There are no perfect candidates for me unless and until I decide to run. They just have to be good enough, and actually show some spine. Something the GOPe lost a long time ago.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Grant_Deed
Not just snobs but hypocrites. I mean, you can worry out loud about what a danger The Donald is to American civil society, or you can spend six months or more trying to figure out how to work around the primary process when it’s not going your way. You can’t do both. You can call yourself a principled values voter, or you can cheer as Ted and Jeb and Little John take a walk on their word. You can’t do both.
Ohmygosh, really?! How'd that happen?
Let's take a look at the stewardship of the establishment "conservatives": Mitt Romney - Mr. "Severe conservative" - Nominally conservative.
John McCain - all over the map and more often an enemy of conservatism than an advocate.
George W. Bush - moderate republican who sold himself as a "Compassionate Conservative". GW sold out conservatism at every turn.
George H Bush - Tried to sell globalism as conservatism. "Read my lips"
What these people wanted was not conservatism - they wanted a safe establishment type like Jeb. I'd rather burn it all tot he ground rather than give what's left to the dhimmicraps.
Didn't know that he had voted for Obama. This says several things that we shouldn't ignore. One is that there are ideologues, pragmatists, and the self-interested in media - just like most other realms of society. For some pundits a job is a job, and if being a ‘conservative side’ commentator gets them paid, they will play the role. Don't know if Krauthammer is in this category or not, but I think it's important to remember these distinctions.
Another thing I think it says is that the beliefs, principles, and motivations of those who identify as Republicans or ‘conservatives’, or who consider themselves independents but who have voted for Republicans, are very broad. I think what Trump and this election cycle are making clear is that if you want to attract votes and support from a broad and diverse array of the voting public you have to appeal to those things that are common amongst them - basic beliefs that cross the lines that divide. Trump has done this much better than any other Republican candidate in decades, IMHO.
Similarly, the beliefs, principles, and motivations of those who identify as Democrats or ‘progressives’ are also very broad. IMHO, this election cycle is also showing us that to win democratic and independent voters one has to appeal to ‘basic’ intrinsic principles that are beyond political branding. I think we need to address this issue of 'branding' head-on, and will have to challenge long-held views that democrat and democrat-leaning voters have had - like the idea that the democrats are pro-social justice - and that Republicans are self-interested and/or uneducated bigots who aren't sophisticated enough to even ‘get’ these issues. Trump's approach has challenged the left in ways it has never been challenged before. It's a big topic that could eat up a lot of band-width..
what was Romney? McCain?
losers. that’s what they were. they may have passed your conservative ‘smell test’ but in the end, they couldn’t pull it off.
Trump can and will. even tho he has his own party whining while they win.
I actually think we should stop using that term, though I agree with the sentiment behind it. To me, the opposite of a globalist is a patriot. The left is at best ambivalent about patriotism, so I don’t think they’ll protest too loudly if we just take it over.
In the Senate, conservatives are so few as to be entitled to protection under the Endangered Species Act.
The majority of Republican Senators and House members do not represent the views of conservatives, though they realize they need our votes (in most states and districts). So they give us lip service.
We are able to pick off a few of the Republican weasels now and then, but haven't been successful to make a big change yet. But the threat is significant enough to keep the Big Government Republicans on guard.
But in our exasperation, we need to remember that the relatively few solid conservatives in the House and Senate are not our enemies and they are not “establishment” Republicans. If nothing else, they have staved off several attempts to enact amnesty and for that alone we should be grateful and try to elect more of them.
As far as Trump goes—he staked out a few conservative positions, mostly on immigration, but also on trade. If he sticks with them he can beat Shillary, which is a very good thing in itself. But we all know Trump is not a conservative: I don't hear him talking about cutting the bureaucracy, reeling in the EPA, balancing the budget without tax increases, stopping government snooping on the citizenry, closing down the “Civil Rights” division in the Department of Injustice, increasing individual liberty, etc. But he is our only horse now to stop Shillary. If he can do so, the struggle will turn to try to keep heat on him to close the borders, deport illegals, and restrict mohammedan immigration (if only temporarily).
From my perspective, it’s become very clear that the real battle is not between conservatives and liberals/progressives, but between anti- American globalists from both parties and their foreign allies and pro-American nationalists who want to restore American sovereignty.
What have we learned?
We are watching the last tottering steps of a dying Republic.
The Democrats are the party of Bread and Circuses. Of Free Stuff and Handouts. They chose a fraud and a criminal who achieved her position by theft, fraud, and possibly, murder. Her alternative was a basement-dwelling commie.
The Republican leadership has discredited itself so badly that its endorsement was the kiss of death for any candidate, and so we picked a billionaire carnival barker who was, until recently, a Democrat.
In their acceptance speeches Hillary! talked about collectivism (’strong together’) and Trump talked used the usual strongman rhetoric (’security and prosperity’).
It is important to noticed that NEITHER of them talked about Freedom or Liberty.
I don’t know what is going grow out of the corpse of our Republic, but I doubt it will be pretty.
Go Trump.
If I have to.
I guess.
Jeb Bush in a gimp suit? Really?
Have to disagree with you. Khan is rapidly being exposed for the plant/fraud that he is, and is already trying to step away from the fight that HE chose to start with Trump. Unlike the rest of the gutless, spineless "conservatives" we've had to endure, Trump is actually willing to fight back against the demogougery of the left, and just look at how shocked and ill-prepared they are for it.
“Its quite simple really. Many conservatives are sick of being fooled again and again by mere politicians playing conservative to get elected. Trump is the non politician.”
1) controlling immigration into our nation for the purpose of preserving our culture and our laws.
2) cutting taxes and regulations, so as to allow for growth in the economy. I seem to remember a rather conservative president during the 1980s who was in favor of the same thing.
3) cutting the government budget while allowing revenues to catch up to spending, so as to balance the budget and later repay at least a portion of our debt.
4) energy independence, to be accomplished by curtailing or removing burdensome and obstructive regulations on the energy industry, and leasing Federal lands containing enormous energy resources to companies who can extract those resources.
5) protecting the Second Amendment.
6) not entangling ourselves in the affairs of nations where our direct interests are not at risk. I seem to remember one George Washington wishing to avoid the same thing, and if he wasn’t a Conservative, then I don’t know who ever was.
7) nominating justices to the Supreme Court who actually respect, and will uphold, the Constitution as it is written. He even put forth a list of people from which he will choose nominees, which list was formulated by the Federalist Society. Those guys are the very definition of conservative.
I simply do not understand how conservatives can legitimately oppose Donald Trump, once they have looked at what he is calling for. Further, we face a binary choice in 99 days. Either Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton will be elected as our next president. If anyone reading this believes that Hillary Clinton has one molecule of conservative in her entire body, then I invite them to stop snorting coke and smoking crack. The choice between 100% opposed to your views and values, vs. potentially 30% or 50% opposed to your views and values, is an EASY choice. It is not the choice that most of us would wish to have, but wishes and reality are not the same thing. We are not supposed to be 5 year old children who can’t tell the difference, or deal with reality.
It is time for a lot of the people on Free Republic and elsewhere who are upset that a doctrinaire conservative is not the nominee to snap out of it. It is time to grow up, and to take a cold, hard look at the choice that we face. Hillary Clinton is the antithesis of everything that the Founders wanted in a leader, and sitting on your rear end on Election Day is a betrayal of the ideals of the Founders, as well as everything that they bled and suffered for. Ditto for all the generations of unnamed common people who bled and died for our freedom. It is time to man up, and to vote for somebody who will turn this country around, and who will certainly adhere to our core values a lot more than Hillary Clinton.
Trump is also for trade protectionism which was the cornerstone of the Republican Party platform up to the time of the second WW.
I know I’ve learned that I get very angry when the DemocRATS put one of their Muzzie stooges up on their stage to bad mouth me and wag his finger and my Constitution at me.
Let's hope he doesn't fall back to sleep.
Although how you are an American without being a Nationalist is a conundrum.
Trump may be the only outsider who has a chance to win the presidency to come along in our lifetime.
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