Meaning this senior conservative columnist urges any not-insane republicans out there to hold your noses and help elect Ms. Clinton... and even a new democratic majority in Congress… then take the GOP ashes, stir them, and come up with a new plan for the movement. A model better suited to the 21st Century. Perhaps even a conservatism that no longer drives away all of the scientists and other knowledge folks.
Ms. Rubin offers examples
proposed by Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb) and others and concludes:
“Somewhere in that mix are
the contours of a platform that is contemporary and conservative and for which
there is arguably a broader demographic and geographic appeal. It should not
include (for there is no political appetite for these things, and they are
unattainable and/or unwise from a policy standpoint): opposition to gay rights;
large tax cuts for the rich; protectionism; expelling women from combat in a
volunteer army; rooting gays out of the military; obsessing over bathroom
assignments; fixating on local ordinances about wedding services; keeping the
status quo on entitlements; cutting out (as opposed to reforming) the safety
net; never, ever raising taxes on anyone; and mass deportation.”
“…Along with all of this,
conservatives have to end their intellectual isolation and self-delusions. They
need to stop pretending that climate change is not occurring (the extent and
the proposed solutions can be rationally discussed) or imagining that there is
a market for pre-New-Deal-size government. Conservatives must end their
infatuation with phony news, crank conspiracy theories, demonization of
well-meaning leaders and mean rhetoric. It’s time to grow up, turn off Sean
Hannity, get off toxic social media and start learning about the world as it
is. (Read a book authored by someone without a talk show, spend time with
non-Republicans, take an online course in economics.) Confirmation bias has
become pathological.”
To be clear about the source: Jennifer Rubin writes the
Right Turn conservative column for the Washington Post. Indeed, over the years her apologias have helped to justify the "see no evil" refusal of decent folks on that side to admit their "side" has been hijacked. Of course it was, long before Trump, who is merely channeling and focusing the inchoate rage stoked by Beck, Limbaugh, Hannity and the rest.
They are now like characters in a Tex Avery cartoon who have obstinately charged ten paces beyond the edge of a cliff and now face a dawning realization that they... must... look... down...
Still, confessions like this one offer hope! A germ-line or seed stock for a sane conservatism that might grow from the coming self-immolation. A new, more grownup version that can ditch the never-ever-negotiate “Hastert Rule” concocted by the GOP’s perverted former headman, in the 1990s. A new version capable of noticing, at last, that Supply Side "voodoo economics" has failed every predictive test and cannot ever work as anything but a destroyer of markets.
A new version of conservatism that might instead become a worthy partner in negotiations about moving ahead, across the 21st Century.
Only first? Before you can stir and seed those fertile ashes… the current lunacy must burn down.
They are now like characters in a Tex Avery cartoon who have obstinately charged ten paces beyond the edge of a cliff and now face a dawning realization that they... must... look... down...
Still, confessions like this one offer hope! A germ-line or seed stock for a sane conservatism that might grow from the coming self-immolation. A new, more grownup version that can ditch the never-ever-negotiate “Hastert Rule” concocted by the GOP’s perverted former headman, in the 1990s. A new version capable of noticing, at last, that Supply Side "voodoo economics" has failed every predictive test and cannot ever work as anything but a destroyer of markets.
A new version of conservatism that might instead become a worthy partner in negotiations about moving ahead, across the 21st Century.
Only first? Before you can stir and seed those fertile ashes… the current lunacy must burn down.
== New Directions? ==
Oh, we are in for fascinating times. For example: Trump veers to suggesting more tax on the rich? Okay, open question: can you name anyone else who predicted this, as I did, repeatedly, going back to last year? Just askin'. There will be several populist Reset Surprises during the Clinton-Trump debates, I promise.
Oh, but see how the tenor has changed re
President Obama's recent appointment to the Supreme Court: Suddenly, a wave of conservatives are calling for the Senate to confirm Merrick Garland, lest Prez
Hillary pick someone both more liberal and younger. Or President-for-Duration Trump goes for gonzo appointments.
Hey, I have no objections to GOP senators deciding suddenly to do their jobs. But... But what was all that guff about "let's let the next president choose"? Hypocrisy after hypocrisy, on down the line.
Hey, I have no objections to GOP senators deciding suddenly to do their jobs. But... But what was all that guff about "let's let the next president choose"? Hypocrisy after hypocrisy, on down the line.
1) If Trump wins the
presidency he will re-forge the GOP, top to bottom, in a replacement purge not
seen since the Night of the Long Knives. The party of Rupert Murdoch will be no
more.
2) The oligarchs' investments are
in serious danger amid a Trump instability. They know that democratic presidents administer well and run smooth executive government, and that economic outcomes are always, always vastly better across democratic administrations. Self-interest can "trump" dogmatism.
3) Also, growing
radicalism in both parties would frighten any smart mogul. The brightest are
probably resigned to reforms like an end to Supply Side Voodoo and full
regulation of Wall Street and a Court that shatters gerrymandering and Citizens
United. With Clinton, they’ll be heard enough to negotiate over the details, hoping
that incrementalism will fix the mess they made.
(Yes, I know that angers
some of you Sandersites, out there. But history shows incrementalism can lead
to more incrementalism. Look up a fellow
named Franklin Delano Roosevelt.)
4) The GOP moguls will be
pouring cash into congressional campaigns and especially keeping state
assemblies red. If they lose those once, they lose many of them forever.
Hence there will be arguments over how to get Trump-hating conservatives to the polls. A third party campaign? Possibly. See this article about desperate backroom efforts, as we speak: "If they are serious, they have only a couple of weeks to launch a credible bid. But these Republicans — including commentators William Kristol and Erick Erickson and strategists Mike Murphy, Stuart Stevens and Rick Wilson — are so repulsed by the prospect of Trump as commander in chief that they are desperate to take action."
(Quick litmus of seriousness... are they hiring the consultants that Michael Bloomberg used, before he dropped all thought of a third party run? Are they approaching Bloomberg himself?)
But I am betting these efforts will collapse. A far more likely gambit: the Kochs will pour money into the Libertarian Party, even though it's hopeless and they cannot control likely nominee Gary Johnson. Because a push for the LP may get a few million more Trump-skeptical Republicans to the polls.
Hence there will be arguments over how to get Trump-hating conservatives to the polls. A third party campaign? Possibly. See this article about desperate backroom efforts, as we speak: "If they are serious, they have only a couple of weeks to launch a credible bid. But these Republicans — including commentators William Kristol and Erick Erickson and strategists Mike Murphy, Stuart Stevens and Rick Wilson — are so repulsed by the prospect of Trump as commander in chief that they are desperate to take action."
(Quick litmus of seriousness... are they hiring the consultants that Michael Bloomberg used, before he dropped all thought of a third party run? Are they approaching Bloomberg himself?)
But I am betting these efforts will collapse. A far more likely gambit: the Kochs will pour money into the Libertarian Party, even though it's hopeless and they cannot control likely nominee Gary Johnson. Because a push for the LP may get a few million more Trump-skeptical Republicans to the polls.
5) Want the biggest reason some goppers will support Clinton? History shows it is
very hard for a party to keep the presidency for three terms. Post FDR, only
Reagan-Bush did it. But the score is zero for four straight terms. Hence, I bet some of the GOP
moguls are already looking to 2020, deeming it a shoe-in for their chosen boy,
likely Paul Ryan. Meanwhile they'll be pumping vitamins into Justices Roberts, Alito and Thomas.
But to get there, they must keep Trumpism from seizing the party and transforming it into something populist, uncontrollable and hostile to oligarchy. Hence they may view HC as a bearable place-holder - and to get through it they must sacrifice things like Supply Side, that have run their course and now threaten the health of the republic and to radicalize the nation.
The alternative - Unite the Party!
Craven, much? Congressional leaders rushing to make nice with Donald Trump.
Look, the logical elements that I laid out in the previous section will be clear, as well, to a sharp mind like Donald Trump's. He will be making deals and promises to prevent all of it!
Even more telling?
The masters of the masters of Macao's casino empire have okayed their bag-man, Sheldon Adelson, to channel millions into Trump-supporting super-PACs. Don't you believe for a minute that all the cash he's conveying is his own. He is way too smart for that.
The amazing thing is how easy it seems, for foreign powers to launder money through casino "profits" and convenient front men to influence U.S. politics. I mean, what are the odds that I'm the first to think of it? Nil.
But to get there, they must keep Trumpism from seizing the party and transforming it into something populist, uncontrollable and hostile to oligarchy. Hence they may view HC as a bearable place-holder - and to get through it they must sacrifice things like Supply Side, that have run their course and now threaten the health of the republic and to radicalize the nation.
The alternative - Unite the Party!
Craven, much? Congressional leaders rushing to make nice with Donald Trump.
Look, the logical elements that I laid out in the previous section will be clear, as well, to a sharp mind like Donald Trump's. He will be making deals and promises to prevent all of it!
Even more telling?
The masters of the masters of Macao's casino empire have okayed their bag-man, Sheldon Adelson, to channel millions into Trump-supporting super-PACs. Don't you believe for a minute that all the cash he's conveying is his own. He is way too smart for that.
The amazing thing is how easy it seems, for foreign powers to launder money through casino "profits" and convenient front men to influence U.S. politics. I mean, what are the odds that I'm the first to think of it? Nil.
== Hypocrisy abounds ==
We mentioned him earlier, regarding his famous "rule" forbidding any republican office holder from ever negotiatint with the opposition over anything, even national needs. Now...Among the prominent Republicans who still support convicted liar and revealed child molester Dennis Hastert: count convicted electoral cheater Tom DeLay, weepy tobacco spokesman John Boehner, plus Ayn Rand fanatic and perfectly accomplishment-free Paul Ryan… these are the annointed leaders of the legislative wing of the Republican Party, across the last 20 years, overseeing the most radically partisan and by-far laziest U.S. Congresses in a century, passing less legislation and holding fewer hearings than almost any other. (Though holding a record number of fundraisers.)
By comparison, Newt Gingrich - though twice divorced and a (shudder) science fiction author - was a comparative giant, who - between bouts of lunatic culture war - actually strove to negotiate some pragmatic bills to move the nation forward. And hence they crushed him. A giant. By comparison, that is. So is Tyrion Lannister. Compared to Lannisters.
This is what you get, when the majority party in Congress is content to do almost nothing, in the laziest, most corrupt and worthless national legislatures in a century. “The North American bison is the national mammal of the United States.” Yippee. Obsessed with symbolic nonsense like this, GOP senators and reps have also obsessed on the minutia of naming Naval Vessels in as petty and spiteful a fashion possible.
