Ross Douthat Cannot Figure Out Trump's Appeal Either

Ross Douthat, the liberal NY Times' favorite conservative writer, replacing or supplementing David Brooks proves he is just as inept at explaining Trump's appeal as the rest of the conservative chattering class. He finally figured out it is the White Working Class fueling Trump. But he still does not understand why.

He reinforces the problem with the conservative elite. For years they have drifted libertarian. They became fiscal conservatives and social liberals. Their attitudes mirrored their libertarian/libertine country club Republican mores.

So who was alienated by this? Well, certainly not the Left. After all they differ from the modern American libertarian/libertine, conservative Right only to the extent of how much taxes they will pay.

No, the people alienated by this were the White Working Class. The people who do not think that homosexual marriage, abortion-on-demand, marijuana legalization are noble crusades for which their lives should be sacrificed. 

The White Working Class does not think repealing civil forfeiture  laws, reducing the amount of drug dealers in prison, baking cakes for gay weddings, or removing crucifixes from national parks are the right things to do. But this is what is driving the libertarian/libertine, conservative, Republican elite establishment. They acquiesce to these demands.

So until the conservative elite figure this out Trump will prevail. He should. Trump is certainly no worse than those he is displacing and probably will at least acknowledge his debt to social conservatives insteading of belittling them. If nothing else, at least the Republican elite will now realize their mistake in abusing the trust of social conservatives.

Here is the link to Dothan:

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/28/opinion/sunday/from-obama-to-trump.html?_r=0

The Self-Righteous Ignorance of Contemners of GOP Candidates Lack of Decorum

I love these people who are so distressed and revolted about the lack of decorum among the GOP presidential candidates. For example, the high-minded Chris Wallace of Fox News said the last GOP debate was an "embarrassment."

Apparently, Mr. Wallace was appalled by their behavior. He was shocked by their language, and insults. According to Mr. Wallace, they did not address the issues at all.

Let me say two things about this. 

First, it was CNN that set the table for this. The rules of the debate were structured in such a way to encourage these verbal brawls. This is a perfect example of the free market at work. CNN is worried about making money not about addressing political issues, as is Fox News, MSNBC, CBS, ABC, NBC, the New York Times, Washington Post and all the rest.

So take that you libertarians. This is what the free market uber alles does.

Second, please read the following comments made by one of our most famous Founding Fathers about another delegate during the debate leading to the Declaration of Independence. John Adams said of Edward Rutledge:

"Excessively vain, excessively weak, and excessively variable and unsteady - jejune, inane, puerile."

But Adams did not stop there. He insulted Rutledge's appearance. Adams said Rutledge, "Shrugs his shoulders, distorts his body, nods and wriggles with his head, and looks about with his eyes, from side to side. and speaks through his nose."

Now keep in mind that this is in the 1700's when courtesy and manners were held in much higher esteem than today. I mean these must have been the 18th century equivalence of four letter words.

Much worse was said between Adams and Jefferson a few decades later. Surrogates called the two men such niceties as  "hideous hermaphroditical character, which has neither the force and firmness of a man, nor the gentleness and sensibility of a woman" and "a mean-spirited, low-lived fellow, the son of a half-breed Indian squaw, sired by a Virginia mulatto father."

So do not despair about the coarseness of the debate. It is normal for American politics.

Mike

Still Clueless After All These Months

All,

These GOP right wing pundits are still clueless. They refuse to understand Trump's popularity. 

The Left calls him a racist and fascist - which is what they call everyone who opposes them. But some on the Right, who oppose him, call him the same thing. This reveals a simple fact. Conservative and liberal elites are not very different except on fiscal issues. This was proven time and again when the disdain the Right Elite showed for pro-life or pro-religious liberty or pro-law enforcement working class citizens.

Meanwhile, nobody has really represented the sentiments of the middle since Ross Perot. Trump has tapped into this. 

But the GOP establishment at Townhall, National Review, Weekly Standard, Cato, and elsewhere are incapable of grasping this. This affirms how so out of touch they are with the common person. Even Peggy Noonan, who showed signs in her latest WSJ piece that she gets, was extremely condescending in her writing. She referred to  the "protected and unprotected" but describes her shoemaker as an old school Italian-American who supports "Troomp." Seriously?

There is a lot wrong with Trump. It is easy to see. But it is not his substance that is appealing. It is the sentiment that is at the root of his appeal. Why the Right Elite cannot see this says much about them.

The two best candidates in this election, one Democrat and one Republican, exited early. They were Jim Webb and Scott Walker. They lacked the leadership qualities of being inspirational but they were all substance. This is what the electoral process does - it weeds out those cannot inspire.

I heard a highly esteemed right wing pundit demean a radio talk show  caller who said Trump gave him goose bumps. He sarcastically said the last person who did that was Obama.

This is exactly the point. (This pundit, by the way, lacks both charisma and substance. He trades off his family's name.) This pundit is clueless to the fact that Obama was elected twice over the candidates he backed.

As I said before, the Founders like Dickinson, Jay, Livingston, Morris, and others recognized that they could go with the revolutionary tide and direct it or try to stand in the way of it and drown. 

They chose to direct it.

Mike