Posted on 07/16/2024 1:20:45 PM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum
Donald Trump isn’t normally thought of as a consensus-builder, but in one sense that’s exactly what he is. Many of Trump’s most ardent fans and foes alike believe he is the leader of a political movement with a clear and defined set of principles and goals. They disagree only on whether that agenda is good or bad.
The tendency to cast Trump as a tool of the ideological right serves the purposes of both sides. The right needs to believe Trump is a warrior for its causes to justify its support for him, and the left wants to believe the same to justify its opposition.
I’ll concede that this is not an outlandish view. It’s certainly how he ran in 2016, when he promised in many respects to be an instrument of the Republican base’s will. He even quite brilliantly agreed to a list of potential Supreme Court appointments compiled by the Heritage Foundation and the Federalist Society to reassure skeptical conservatives that he would be their servant. And since he left office, Trump has frequently told right-wing groups that he remains their loyal champion. So maybe you can’t blame people for believing him.
Or maybe you can. While the notion that Trump is an ideological conservative isn’t outlandish, it is outdated. It’s certainly true that if Trump is reelected, he will do things that please the GOP and conservatives. But let’s not get the causality backward: His supporters will like what he does — and his enemies will hate it — because Trump did it. They’ll look up the arguments later.
Right-wing apologists’ attempt to construct an intellectually consistent Trumpism is one of the oldest stories of the Trump era. And time and again, Trump has beclowned them for it.
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
Strip the R and D labels, assess the values of each individual, and you’ll find there are roughly half a dozen expansive but distinct political parties within America, shoehorned into two major factions, red or blue. As one person on X put it: “MAGA was never a Republican movement. It’s a populist insurgency. [...] MAGA people are pirates taking the Republican Party as prize. That is why the corporatists and country club types hate Trump so much.” Much like the Tea Party. Conservatism itself is split along these factions, as when in days long gone it was common to see Southern Conservative Democrats and Northern Liberal Republicans. Jonah is not MAGA. Anything Jonah writes is from a perspective ignorant of the size of the Grand Old Party’s tent. Treating the Republican party as a monolith and then crying about it is either dumb or manipulative.
His mother, who was a conservative Jew, is rolling over in her grave.
Not ‘save face’ - this is the beginning of the playbook gaslighting.
You’re not supposed to believe what your lying eyes are seeing.
i bet she slaps him in his dreams every night...
Lucianne Goldberg was actually Episcopalian. Jonah was raised Jewish, but it is unclear if he actually converted.
Jonah’s mother was a wonderful woman. Jonah is annoying at best, a fifth columnist at wurst.
JB is a frustrated globalist Bushite pissed off that Trump is unwilling to keep the perpetual war faction in the money like everyone from Bush 1 to Biden has done
Feh ...
They expect me to believe that in 2020:
Mr. Trump campaigned vigorously.
Mr. Biden sat in his basement.
Mr. Trump got more votes in 2020 than the got in 2016.
Mr. Biden got votes than any Presidential candidate in the history of The Republic.
Not buying it.
Preponderance of the evidence (at least) says that the 2020 election was stolen.
Jar-Jar Fatberg weighs in, big ol’ Gungan ears a-flappin’ and goofy faux-conservative grin on his ugly mug.
His mother is a whore. He and Rich Lowry murdered National Review.
No one but pundits even read it.
Stuff it, Goldberg. Your shelf life has expired!
STFU, Goldberg. NOGAS.
Dude, you do realize you have a posting history, right? Lol. You are the last person I would expect to post what you just did. Just proves once again that you are all a bunch of frauds. Damn shame. I always believed this place was the real deal.
“President Trump is the only candidate since the 80s that actually states what his policies would be, and then followed through on them.”
that is so true ... and that is what really distinguishes Donald Trump from every other candidate who has ever stood election for Federal office ... all the rest except Trump have done nothing but mouth lame sentiments, speak in generalities, and make generic promises ...
OTOH, Donald Trump has elucidated dozens and dozens of very specific polices and explained in great detail EXACTLY how he intends on implementing those policies ...
no one who has paid attention to U.S. politics can fail to see the difference between Donald Trump and the vast congregation of pretenders and posers who have always made up the rest of the field ...
Goldberg is the scummiest of scum.
Jonah’s dad was an intel agency media exec plant. His spawn is indeed a neocon puppet.
NR was a controlled opp intel rag from the start.
Rational adults learn and grow
When we had troops in combat, I had their back. Once they were sent you spent all your time sniping them in the back
Really surprised you are here, of all places, bragging up your treason
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