TOM/Smitty: Jonah, You Ignorant...
If you want a summary of Jonah's recent LA Times piece on Trump, it's "Orange Man Bad."
I agree with Jonah that character does matter. What Jonah misses is our choice in 2016 was not between Donald Trump and Abraham Lincoln--our choice was between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. Sometimes Donald Trump is his own worse enemy--still I will take Trump's character (with all its flaws) over Hillary Clinton's every day.
Some are making alternative history arguments (suggesting that we might have been better off with Hillary instead of Trump). From the perspective of all the entities and individuals who bought influence from her and her husband before the election, some GOPe members of Congress and the late Weekly Standard, you can make the case they would be better off if Hillary won.
Trump could be a contributing cause of his own destruction. One could make the case that the whole special counsel witch hunt/slow motion coup could have been avoided, with a bit more political deftness by the President. Maybe. Personally I think the set up was in place before he was sworn in and was going to happen regardless.
Still, the left should be careful what it wishes for. If that does happens (I think it is unlikely but it is possible), that is not a good thing for anyone (certainly not future presidents after Trump or the country). It won't turn out well for Jonah either. The left does not like him more for being NeverTrump. And no one likes anyone who says, "I told you so..."
Maybe Jonah is going for that coveted captive conservative gig on NPR or CNN. The one where they bring out the "conservative" for a few minutes like an organ grinder's monkey to dance for the lefty hosts and basically agree with them. Or maybe (given the way civil discourse in the media is going in this country) Jonah will be more like the gimp in Pulp Fiction. That future remains to be seen.
AoSHQ: Morning Report 12.28.18, 12.27.18, 12.26.18, 12.25.18, 12.14.18 and The Unfunny Musings of Jonah Goldberg
Legal Insurrection: CNN rats out troops for having Trump sign MAGA hats
Instapundit: When Narratives Fail and The New And The Old Gods
Instapundit: Jen Rubin, strike a pose
I thought we all died from the tax cuts. Or was it the net neutrality repeal? I can't keep track of all the times Trump policies kill us all. https://t.co/VEP5P3tTrD— Phineas Fahrquar (@irishspy) December 27, 2018
Fact check me on this, but I think the world is more stable than it has ever been, including politically, economically, and geo-strategically. Only the business model of the press has degraded. https://t.co/YlJ0jXiKVo— Scott Adams (@ScottAdamsSays) December 27, 2018
I like the "disaster looms" part.
ReplyDeleteIf you want to talk character, The Donald could give Abe a run for his money. The Civil War, when you look at the hows and whys of it, does not cast the Railsplitter in a very good light.
ReplyDeleteYes, abolishing slavery was a good thing, but hindsight is rarely anything but 20/20.
Trump has solved more problems than he has caused (except for the Left) and he is willing to fight back against them which, if you come from the Northeast, is something you've been waiting to see all your life. Yeah, he was a jerk when he was young, but show me somebody who wasn't.
ed, I love you man. But sometimes you go off the deep end. This is one of them. Abe Lincoln (other than his win triggering a mass of "Lincoln Derangement Syndrome" when he was elected) did not cause the Civil War. He purposely tried everything he could to stop or mitigate it. You do not need to attack Abe Lincoln to defend Trump.
DeleteTrump is not a paragon of character (he has his flaws). But he has been consistent with what he said he would do as a leader and mostly tried to deliver on it.