The Demagogue Rises

[sinkspur]

http://freebeacon.com/columns/the-demagogue-rises/

The Demagogue Rises

     
BY: Matthew Continetti

July 22, 2016 12:37 am

Donald Trump delivered the longest, loudest convention speech in recent memory when he accepted the Republican nomination for president Thursday evening. He made no attempt to “pivot to the general election,” moderate his agenda, smooth over rough rhetoric. Gone was Mitt Romney’s Etch-a-Sketch, tossed into a dustbin with George W. Bush’s Freedom Agenda, George H.W. Bush’s Thousand Points of Light, Ronald Reagan’s Morning in America. Trump was his usual self: brash, boisterous, overbearing, defiant, inimitable, roiling with anger over the state of the country and the corruption, ineffectiveness, and arrogance of the nation’s elite. Trump won’t change, won’t learn, won’t listen, won’t apologize, won’t cavil, won’t conform to the traditions of presidential politics or adhere to the norms of political discourse. He doesn’t care about facts, he wants to overturn the postwar international order, he champions the will to power, he mercilessly attacks opponents. He’s a demagogue in dark suits, electric ties. I can only imagine what he’d be capable of if he were competent.

Because he’s not competent. He is actually truly, magnificently inept. The convention was a mess, haphazard, disorganized, weird. The botched roll call vote, Melania’s plagiarism, Ted Cruz’s hand grenade, the leaked speech draft—all of these gaffes and scandals occurred against the backdrop of dismal attendance, chants to put Hillary in prison, bizarre speakers, rambling addresses, early departures, and testimonies to Trump’s greatness. His campaign has practically no money, no advertising, no infrastructure, no grassroots operation. The other day, when he expressed uncertainty about whether the United States would lead NATO in defense of the Baltic States if they were attacked by Russia, Trump made history by provoking an international incident without even being president. Many GOP officials wouldn’t come near the convention, including Ohio’s popular governor. There are two Republican parties for the moment: the party led by Trump and the Republican Party in exile, the party of Kasich and Larry Hogan and Nikki Haley and Charlie Baker and Brian Sandoval and Mark Kirk and Ted Cruz. Election Day won’t just determine who will succeed President Obama. It will also determine the fate of Donald J. Trump’s hostile takeover of the GOP.

[hiram1950]

I have attended numerous political conventions up to the state level, but never the national. If the national is anything like the statewide versions that I have attended...I suspect it's pretty similar in many ways...they are more fun to attend than to watch on TV.

Watching conventions on TV is a really boring pastime. Most of the speeches are beyond boring. When I have attended them and a speech spilled into the boring realm, I left to go have a beer.

Another part hard to take is that some delegates are too tightly wound and like to put brakes on proceedings when such brakes delay without coming close to stopping inevitable ends.

I didn't watch Trump's speech live, but did watch a taped version. He seemed to tap all the hot buttons that made him the GOP nominee in the first place. He never ran as a regular politician, and that may be a good thing. For most of my life normal politicians have told me what they thought I wanted to hear while twisting real life into some unrecognizable stack of scrap. They have twisted common sense into something evil and told me I was insane for desiring sense that is common.

Trump's speech didn't insult my intelligence. It was political.

I have spent more than a year as a Cruz supporter. I didn't listen to his speech so can say I still like him and don't care who knows it. That is the disclaimer.

My main disagreement with Trump is that he has run as I would expect a professional wrestler to run. Even that isn't the end of the world. If people would stop trying to ridicule political correctness in favor of groin kicking it into the middle of next week, then Trump can take measureless pride in that. He may be able to win with just that quality. That would be good for the First Amendment, possibly saving all aspects of it, including the non-speech parts.

Trump, the GOP nominee is a gift to the GOP AND the American people. McConnell, Ryan, Boehner, the Bush family, George Will, Romney and lots of other "Republicans" sent him gift wrapped by agreeing with Democrats to rule against the will of the vast majority of the American voters and do so year after year after year. Even that would not have been so bad if their policies had not been SO destructive.

Right now Trump is their prescription to make things better. Trump will no doubt disappoint many of us many times. If he delivers on the Supreme Court and immigration he will be a success. If Ginsburg really moves to New Zealand, that will be a gift from Trump to the American people. If Trump replaces her with someone who has actually read the Constitution, that will be a plus.

Who knows? Maybe Trump will cause Ryan and McConnell to actually become men who take their jobs seriously...if we have the misfortune of having Ryan win his primary.

I didn't watch one second of the convention. I suspect for critics that found fault, it was their first convention. If they have seen others, they are just looking for something to whine about. 

[bilo]

FWIW, the Trump argument that we should vote for him because of SC appointments doesn't hold up. It was a Pub appointment that legalized obamacare. It was a Pub appointment that destroyed the institution of marriage. The SC hasn't supported individual liberty and Judeo-Christian values since I don't know when.

[geronl]

Trump gave the most liberal speech a nominee ever gave. It would have fit in well at the Democrat Convention

[geronl]

Right now Trump is their prescription to make things better. Trump will no doubt disappoint many of us many times. If he delivers on the Supreme Court and immigration he will be a success.

In his speech he said he would give immigrants legal status. That means amnesty. He is a liberal and will appoint liberals to the Supreme Court.

Anyone who thinks otherwise is only fooling themselves.