WHINOs, RINOs, Donald Trump, Bright, Shiny Objects, and The Intervention.

In the tech industry, many of us refer to a lot of the new technologies that come down the line as “bright, shiny objects” – things that tech people look at that are new and potentially interesting but rarely turn out to be anything other than an attention-grabber and a distraction from more important things.  Applied to the election season, this should sound familiar.  But if you’re missing the analogy..here’s a reality-check, people: Donald Trump is this week’s bright, shiny object, and he is not going to amount to anything but a couple of magazine covers and some (once again) very disappointed, misguided individuals who thought he was The Great Conservative Hope.

I don’t like “National Review” much, given the social liberal bent they often display. Right now, though, they seem to be on a tear.  And I do like two of the NR writers quite a lot: Jonah Goldberg and Kevin Williamson. They’re great writers, solid conservatives, and are virtually always spot on target. Williamson is more of a libertarian than most, but he doesn’t let it get in the way of his intellect…. This past weekend, both Goldberg and Williamson addressed the blonde-haired (toupee’d) gnat that is Donald Trump. Let’s take a look at how they characterize Trump and the Trump-pets (Jonah’s term for the fans of this election season’s allegedly conservative, GOP-wannabe bright, shiny object). Goldberg starts off:

I don’t like “National Review” much, given the social liberal bent they often display. Right now, though, they seem to be on a tear.  And I do like two of the NR writers quite a lot: Jonah Goldberg and Kevin Williamson. They’re great writers, solid conservatives, and are virtually always spot on target. Williamson is more of a libertarian than most, but he doesn’t let it get in the way of his intellect…. This past weekend, both Goldberg and Williamson addressed the blonde-haired (toupee’d) gnat that is Donald Trump. Let’s take a look at how they characterize Trump and the Trump-pets (Jonah’s term for the fans of this election season’s allegedly conservative, GOP-wannabe bright, shiny object). Goldbergstarts off:

There have been times in the past when I’ve gotten crosswise with certain segments of the conservative base and/or with the readership of National Review. And, because, like the Elephant Man, I am a not an animal but a human being, I have always had at least some self-doubt. That’s as it should be. People who share principles should not only hear each other out when they disagree; they should be able to see each other’s points and hold open the possibility that one’s opponents have the better argument.

This is not one of those times, at least not for me.

I truly, honestly, and with all my heart and mind think Donald Trump’s most ardent supporters are making a yuuuuuuge mistake. I think they are being conned and played. I feel like a guy whose brother is being taken advantage of by a grifter. I’m watching helplessly as the con artist congratulates him for taking out a third mortgage.

“Grifter” is the perfect word.

grift•er

n. Slang.

1. a person who operates a sideshow at a circus, fair, etc., esp. a gambling attraction.

2. a swindler, dishonest gambler, or the like.

Trump is a grifter.  He’s a sideshow act – an attraction. But that’s what Trump does. I don’t begrudge him being a business man. I begrudge him doing it as a fake conservative who is trying to promote his own interests. He’s a fraud. Goldberg proceeds to promote what I believe is a good course of action: an intervention for the Trump-pets.

I’ve written many times about how I hate the term RINO because conservatives should consider themselves Republicans in Name Only. The Republican Party is a vessel, a tool for achieving conservative ends. It’s nothing more than a team. Conservatism is different. It’s a body of ideas, beliefs, and temperaments. The amazing thing is that Trump is both a RINO and a CINO. I’m sure he has some authentic and sincere conservative views down in there somewhere. But the idea that he’s more plausibly conservative — or more loyally Republican — than Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) 100%, Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) 84%, Scott Walker, or any of the others is just flatly absurd. It is vastly more plausible that he is a stalking horse for his dear friend Hillary Clinton than he is a sincere conservative.

Trump supporters need an intervention. I want to sit them down at the kitchen table, reach into a manila envelope, and pull out the proof that he’s a fraud. The conversation would go something like this…

And then Goldberg proceeds to lay out the reality of Trump’s alleged “conservatism” and the reality of where he has stood for years. Could Trump have had an epiphany and changed course? Perhaps. But on ALL of these: Immigration, Abortion, Obamacare, Hillary, Economics? Bloody unlikely. (I’m not going to quote Jonah’s documentation of all of Trump’s left-wing beliefs on these topics. You can read his article or look at Isaac Cohen’s breakdown).

Via: Red State

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