NeverTrump Conservatives Think They Deserve A Medal
A judgment, so-called, of Kathleen Parker
Joshua Gottlieb-Miller, poet, writer, and so-called judge, lays down the law on political acts of (criminal) cravenness, hypocrisy, ineptitude, and general stupidity.
Among President Trump’s supposed enemies, it’s hard to understand those “Never Trump” Republicans walking around with hands raised in perfect high-five position, waiting to receive centrist adulation as they repeat the Pledge of Allegiance.
They lost in the Republican primaries, and when it really mattered they voted for John McCain. They mostly regret that Pence has to wait a few more months before the long knives (maybe) come out.
The clarity of opposition just makes their empty talk louder and the weakness of their pre-election resistance forgotten amid an avalanche of cruel Republican governance.
But hey, they are not conspiratorial neo-Nazis, so congratulations, I guess. They aren’t hypocritical, useful idiots busy Russia-groveling or useless optimists pinning their hopes to a vapid scion lacking in any self-awareness. Essentially, they don’t like Trump. (Welcome to over half the country!) For this, we’re supposed to cheer them on.
When Kathleen Parker, like many Never Trump conservative pundits, calls him a liar and a king, and accuses his supporters of being monarchists, it’s clear she does not appreciate what Trump reveals about his enablers and voters and party — as well as her own conservative ideology, of which Trump was the inevitable conclusion.
Keep up the good work!
That ideology, of course, has given us a new healthcare crisis that really has nothing at all to do with Trump and everything to do with mainstream, traditional, good ole freedom-loving, life-defending Republican lawmakers sentencing Americans to death by repealing the ACA and replacing it with a giant Fuck You to the old, sick, and poor. It’s Republican lawmakers pretending they care about children with pre-existing conditions as they cynically tout that their own children have pre-existing conditions, too, conveniently neglecting that their children are on superior Congressional health plans or are rich enough to have access to whichever super-expensive insurance strikes their parents’ fancy. One Republican — Cathy McMorris Rodgers — turned her own son with Down Syndrome into a shameless prop.
So where’s the reasonable Parker on these buffoons? Here’s her column from November 4, which tells you everything you need to know about Never Trump at its worm-ridden core: “Calm down. We’ll be fine no matter who wins.”
Here is Parker on the hysterical media, just before the election: “To tune in is to believe that Western civilization is nearing collapse, regardless of who holsters up and swaggers into the White House in January.”
Aside from falling into the ever-popular fallacy of false equivalence, Parker probably doesn’t realize she’s literally describing Bannon’s woozy fantasies. His fear of Western civilization swept away by immigrant hordes is now informing official policy.
Here is Parker on why you shouldn’t worry what Trump could do, days before he became the second most powerful man in the free world. Then third. Then fourth. Then fifth. (The current ranking is: 1. Putin, 2. Bannon, 3. this guy, 4. literally the last world leader Trump’s spoken with, 5. Trump — for now; who knows who else we’ll find out is manipulating the soggy brain controlling the lumpy sack of jaundice sitting behind the Resolute Desk?) Anyway, Parker: “What we feel now was mass-produced by a propaganda industry that profits most when people are worked up.” Yeah! Trump definitely hasn’t tried to do any of the awful things he said he would!
But go on . . .
- “There won’t be a wall.” Oh, right, that.
- “He won’t impose any religion-based immigration restrictions.” Whoops. Still, good thing the US let “some judge on an island” stop him for now. I hope the President doesn’t get to appoint judges or anything. Well, you know, at least before he only has a year left of being President. I’m sure the party in power will agree that the president only really has three years to do things.
- “If Trump wins, he’ll be held more or less in check by the House and Senate because that’s the way our system of government is set up.” Oh yes, Nunes definitely left his “independent Russia hearings” to coordinate a response with the White House in order to better keep them in check. And for no other reason . . .
- “He won’t assault women.” I suppose it’s hopefully possible the increased visibility will convince him to keep his busy little fingers to himself.
- “He and Vladimir Putin will hate each other, respectfully.” Is there an acronym for laughing so hard you sound like Paul Ryan driving by an understocked food bank?
So yes, let’s all cheer on Parker and the other Never Trump Republicans who struggle nobly to hang onto their decency against their other hopes that Trump just sit around and pass whatever retrograde piece of codified cruelty he’s empowered the GOP legislature to put in front of him.
These same folks will cheer if Mike “The Intimidator” Pence takes over and does pretty much the same stuff — minus the twitchy foreign policy.
I will of course admit that Kathleen Parker was right about one thing: no matter who was elected, she’d be fine.
The so-called verdict:
Here are some conservatives who actually took a hard stand against Trump, and continue to do so: Ana Navarro, Jennifer Rubin, Charlie Sykes, David Frum.
“Oh God, is that really it?” you ask.
More or less.
“When does America get to go bankrupt and separate itself from Trump, just like his other businesses?” you ask.
It took Trump four years owning the New Jersey Generals to ruin the USFL. Maybe our country will take longer?
Joshua Gottlieb-Miller is based in Houston.
