More and More Trump Supporters Celebrate His Character Flaws

[EasyAce]

He’s not the engine but the hood ornament for a movement that now feels liberated from traditional rules of decent behavior.
By Ben Shapiro
http://www.nationalreview.com/article/449644/donald-trump-character-flaws-supporters-russia-collusion-investigation

During the campaign, conservatives said they were embracing Donald Trump despite his character. They were willing
to overlook his flaws in order to achieve policy victories. Yes, he was a vulgar boor, a charlatan, a comic buffoon wandering
the landscape, stepping on political land mines. But at least he would appoint the right people. Even if he didn’t, he would
never be Hillary Clinton.

This was true for probably the majority of conservatives who voted for Trump: They weren’t fans of his p-word comments,
but they’d rather have an imperfect Trump than a Clinton. Trump’s character represented a bug, not a feature.

But for a minority of conservatives, Trump’s character was always a feature, not a bug. He fought, and even if he didn’t fight
smart, he was willing to hit anyone with a glass vase at any time. He was an unpredictable force, a brutal hurricane tearing
apart the old political institutions. For this group, Trump’s character recommended him rather than counted against him.

Under President Trump, one inconvenient and morally disquieting fact has become increasingly clear: More and more
conservatives fall into the second group . . .

. . . Without cheating and lying and acting in Trumpian fashion, Republicans in 2016 won massively at the state level, including
governorships, and retained control of the Senate and House. And Democrats, for all their horrible perspectives, are not
ISIS or Nazis. That means that the means we use matter.

But we don’t want them to matter.

And so we castigate as “weak-kneed” anyone who says that colluding with Russia to defeat Hillary Clinton is wrong. We suggest
they just don’t get it. They must have wanted Hillary! They must be idiots or rubes. We must fight anyone who opposes Russian
collusion, because that would undercut our fun.

A year ago, many conservatives said that ends justified means — and that the end was the implementation of conservative
policies. Some conservatives still feel this way. But now that Trump isn’t actually implementing conservative policies, the truth
is coming out: For most conservatives, the ends don’t just justify the means, the means are the ends. All that matters is the
punching, even if the punching is both counterproductive and immoral.

[INVAR]

But for a minority of conservatives, Trump’s character was always a feature, not a bug. He fought, and even if he didn’t fight
smart, he was willing to hit anyone with a glass vase at any time. He was an unpredictable force, a brutal hurricane tearing
apart the old political institutions. For this group, Trump’s character recommended him rather than counted against him.

Proof of that very statement can be found right here:

About Those Trump Supporters

[Cripplecreek]

Garbage in Garbage out.

Oh well, they'll have to explain it to their maker.

[RoosGirl]

Proof of that very statement can be found right here:

About Those Trump Supporters

You know, I can understand people who would support Trump and give his behavior a pass because of his campaign promises.  But I can't understand being *proud* of his behavior, even though as you point out we see it here every day.

[INVAR]

You know, I can understand people who would support Trump and give his behavior a pass because of his campaign promises.  But I can't understand being *proud* of his behavior, even though as you point out we see it here every day.

Because payback, retribution and vengeance requires approval and pride in the justification of all means to mete out punishment.

So they become the very thing they pretend to oppose.

[RoosGirl]

Because payback, retribution and vengeance requires approval and pride in the justification of all means to mete out punishment.

So they become the very thing they pretend to oppose.

Thinking about it more I think it's also like some teenage behaviour where they don't just rebel, but take delight in rubbing it in their parents' faces.