Leaping lemmings!
Paraphrasing Abba Eban, the GOP seemingly never misses an opportunity to inflict harm on itself. Or, as Golda Meir might have put it, “the GOP will never find success until it loves its base as much as it hates the true leaders of that base.”
Following Donald J. Trump’s overwhelming victory in Indiana, a Fox commentator asked one of the architects of McCain’s and/or Romney’s disastrous campaigns about November’s options, and that genius said he could never support such an unqualified person (Trump) to be president.
As is said in Spanish of such statements: ¡Qué vergüenza!
Every serious conservative should be embarrassed and shamed by such thoughtlessness.
The base is angry!
Trump’s campaign voices that anger, the base has heard that voice, and the base overwhelmingly supports Trump. And it is the base, not Trump, that has killed the moribund Old GOP, and it is the base, one must needs hope, that will preside over a Phoenix-like rise of a New GOP from the ashes of the Old.
And some of the strongest of the early opponents of Trump’s candidacy are now, reluctantly, falling into line. I speak particularly of the four great writers over at Powerline who, to a man, now have so done.
If readers do not have the time to read all of Wednesday’s Powerline posts, I recommend that attention be paid to Scott Johnson’s latest:
Republican voters have spoken. Donald Trump will be our nominee[.] … I didn’t anticipate that Donald Trump would prevail[.] ... Congratulations … are in order. He beat a raft of formidable candidates. He has a certain genius and a great energy that have served him well. He has a true insight into the yearning among us to restore the greatness of our country[.] ... I hope Trump prevails against [HRC] in November even if I doubt that he will.
When I must, I’ll always accept the horse presented by some Hobson rather than use my shoes for the journey or use my own back to bear my burdens. That is the course of action that must be taken in November when Trump is presented to our country by the GOP.
Many people see November’s choice as being between the lesser of two evils and, as suggested in this piece, like Charles Spurgeon, will choose neither. That is not only oxymoronic, but also silly. In November, like it or not, one must choose, and, as put vividly on these pages, “[t]he fate of the Republic [in the future] will be in either [Trump’s] hands or Hillary Clinton’s. Choosing between them requires no more than a millisecond of thought.”
A person that refuses to change his/her/its #NeverTrump position vis-à-vis Trump is like a gambler throwing good money after bad, or following a bad decision by one that is worse. The brilliant artist John Cox gives us a perfect example of such a person:
To those obdurate anti-Trump people, I again implore: stop digging!
And in the name of all that’s holy, don’t follow the other lemmings over that cliff!
The author is retired, his profile may be found on LinkedIn, and he usually replies to comments sent to bilschan@hotmail.com.