The Rise of the Tough-Guy Right

[EasyAce]

Too many conservatives mistake the admission of inconvenient truths for weakness.
By David French
http://www.nationalreview.com/article/445032/donald-trump-supporters-tough-guy-right-internet-debate

It’s not worth spending much time talking about Donald Trump’s press conference yesterday. He was the same guy
we’ve watched since he came down that escalator on June 16, 2015. Heck, he was the same guy we watched at WrestleMania
23, body slamming Vince McMahon and shaving his head in front of 80,000 screaming fans at Michigan’s Ford Field. The
same guy who could seize the spotlight even from the likes of Gary Busey and Dennis Rodman on Celebrity Apprentice.

The only thing astonishing about the press conference is that people are still astonished when Trump acts like Trump.

What’s far more worrisome is the way Trump feeds some of the worst impulses in the conservative movement, turning otherwise
sane and smart people into Facebook commandos and Twitter SEALs. Trump is a man of the moment, and that moment belongs
to the tough-guy Right.

We conservatives love to point and laugh at liberal melodrama. Thanks to a brilliant 2015 piece from Lutheran pastor Hans Fiene,
we even have a term for it: “Selma envy.” Scratch away at all too many liberal activists and you’ll find that they pine for the noble,
heroic moments of yore. They wish they had been there standing for justice when the dogs were turned loose, so they cast their
present activism in the most dramatic terms. They’re not just the opposition; they’re the #Resistance. They’re not just fighting for,
say, police reform; they’re declaring that black lives matter.

Unfortunately, conservatives embrace their own dramatic narrative; they just have different kinds of heroes. Scratch all too many
conservative keyboard warriors and you’ll find that they pine for their own heroic moment — not Selma, but perhaps Omaha Beach
or Fallujah. They wish they had been there fighting evil when the bullets flew, so they cast their present activism in the most dramatic
terms. They’re not just typing; they’re “fixing bayonets.” They’re not just tweeting; they’re “firing back.”

They are the tough-guy Right, and you can always tell when you’re dealing with them. Express concern that, say, Trump’s first
national-security adviser lasted less than a month on the job before being fired, and you’re “pearl-clutching.” Call out lies on your
own side and you’re accused of angling for a gig at the New York Times, or of attempting to curry favor with the crowd that frequents
those ubiquitous Beltway cocktail parties. Criticize these tough guys and they’ll call you a mealy-mouthed “beta male,” looking at the
liberal elite and begging for love. (Trump is, of course, an “alpha,” and they all want to be one, too.)

The irony is that these tough guys are followers, part of a conservative herd that is right now mistaking lying for “fighting” and
incompetence for “disruption.” While I understand and agree with the idea that we should give a new administration time to find
its sea legs before making judgments about its ultimate success or failure, mistakes are still mistakes and lies are still lies. In fact,
one of the primary ways that administrations improve is through hearing and responding to legitimate and informed critiques.

But don’t tell that to the tough-guy Right, which collectively acts as Trump’s Pravda, turning a blind eye to the man’s faults in acts
of collective rage against both the “deep state” and the mainstream media. While the media’s activism and bias is open and obvious
— you have to love the spate of stories about how journalists “strike back” and have a “renewed sense of mission” — all too many
conservatives’ blatant and reflexive double standards are also beyond parody.

Remember when it was a problem that Barack Obama aggressively prosecuted leakers? Remember when it was a distraction for
Democrats to cry bloody murder about Russian hacking in the wake of WikiLeaks’ publication of the Podesta e-mails? Trump would
rather you didn’t. The Bat-Signal has gone up, you see. The man who relished every WikiLeaks disclosure in the 2016 campaign
now says this:

Donald J. Trump ✔ @realDonaldTrump
The real scandal here is that classified information is illegally given out by "intelligence" like candy.
Very un-American!
5:13 AM - 15 Feb 2017
  28,206 28,206 Retweets   122,332 122,332 likes

And just like that, in lockstep, the tough-guy Right pivots. The herd moos aggressively and goes to war. It’s just as big a joke as a
Democratic party that once pitched its own fits about hackers and leakers and now casts leaking in the most heroic possible terms.

None of this is honorable. It’s low and partisan. I don’t care how many war allusions you use, how insulting you are on Twitter, or
how many times you accuse your opponents of “pearl-clutching” and “bed-wetting.” Unless your argument is honest, principled, and
consistently applicable to both sides, you’re just being tribal.

There’s nothing tough about tweeting and nothing weak about telling the truth. Selma envy is driving the activist Left to extremism
and hysterics. The tough-guy Right is doing the same thing to conservatives. But try as they might, they won’t find Omaha Beach
online.

— David French is a staff writer for National Review, a senior fellow at the National Review Institute, and an attorney.

[geronl]

As tough as marshmallows these followers of the Orange one. Real tough guys are independent from cultic leaders

[INVAR]

I agree with the essay and have noted much of the same observations.  However, I disagree with this:

"What’s far more worrisome is the way Trump feeds some of the worst impulses in the conservative movement, turning otherwise
sane and smart people into Facebook commandos and Twitter SEALs. "

Trump does not feed the impulses of Conservatives.   He feeds Republicans and Joe Sixpack the desire for payback and revenge.

Conservatives are not governed by such raw emotion and impulses.  Conservatives are governed by principles. 

Others, not so much.

[EasyAce]

Conservatives are not governed by such raw emotion and impulses.

You haven't seen The American Spectator lately . . . ;)

[truth_seeker]

Too many self described "conservatives," think it better to lose with gentility, than to do whatever is necessary to win.

Gentility=McCain, Romney, Dole etc.

At this time Pres. Trump is ticking off issue, after issue that "conservatives" have asked for over recent decades.

[Victoria33]

@EasyAce

Excellent evaluation of the present situation.   

[Weird Tolkienish Figure]

Aka Internet Tough Guys.




[attachment deleted by admin]

[Hondo69]

I agree with the essay and have noted much of the same observations.  However, I disagree with this: . . .

Trump does not feed the impulses of Conservatives.   He feeds Republicans and Joe Sixpack the desire for payback and revenge.

Conservatives are not governed by such raw emotion and impulses.  Conservatives are governed by principles. 

Others, not so much.

Good points.   

I too have observed some of the same reactions to Trump and have realized I am guilty at times myself.  It's often an emotional reaction of the moment and after I settle down realize it's just an outburst of years, heck decades, of frustration.  Blowing off steam as it were.  And I also realize there's plenty of steam still boiling inside that most likely won't go away anytime soon.

But as mentioned above Conservatives are governed by principles.  And we realize not everything is a black and white situation, in fact very few things are.  It's perfectly fine to think, "I like this part of Trump's latest Executive Order but disagree with this other part over here".  What's more, I can explain why.  The larger point being it's not a binary choice, we don't have to be all in or all out.

As much as the media tries to force us to choose sides we understand life doesn't work that way at all.  There's lots of grey areas and taking the good with the bad is pretty much standard operating procedure.  When Bush was president Conservatives hammered him on a regular basis.  Me too.  But there were also plenty of times when I liked what he was doing as well.  It was a mixed bag with Bush and it will be a mixed bag with Trump.

-----

As I've said for some time now it is my belief this past election was about one thing - class warfare.  Elites vs The Little People.

Elites are always trying to make that case that "we're special and we need special considerations".  On the other hand The Little People know all too well life just doesn't work that way and say, "no, you're not special at all, just another schmuck doing the best you can given the many frailties of the human condition".  In other words, life is hard, wear a cup.

The article mentioned Vince McMahon and WrestleMania.  It brings up a good comparison with that vs the NBA for a sports analogy.  WrestleMania is all about the fans, and everything from the ticket prices to the production to the drama is all about the fans.  On the other hand the NBA is all about the owners and the players.  The rules of the game, the ticket prices, the union contract and the TV contracts are all about the owners and the players.  The Little Guy can tag along if he wants, but only if he's willing to pay the fare.

WrestleMania doesn't make a move without first considering the impact on the Little Guy.  They don't so much as twitch a finger without making sure the Little Guy wins when they make a decision.  What would happen if our fearless leaders in Washington did the same?

[EC]

Anyone who "wishes they were there when the bullets were flying" shouldn't be allowed out without a keeper. No one wishes for that. Not even the damned bullets want to be there - most of them leave the area at high speed! 

The younger ones, reared on a diet of First Person Shooters (with respawn points), bad movies, and lionization of rebels by the educational establishment are the worst offenders, of course. Pretty sure peoples brains don't kick in until they are in their 30s. Have a snoop around 8chan when they are planning something and it's all pseudo-military terminology if you don't believe me.
The elders, who should know better, get caught up the same way for a couple of reasons. One is it's a rather extreme form of virtue signalling, where one upping the previous poster in "punishments" becomes far too important. Happens here too, and can happen to anyone - just watch any thread covering a particularly foul crime.
Another reason is the same basic reason people instagram their meals and post ridiculous amounts of personal trivia on their facebook - they want to matter.

It's people being people, in other words, and isn't going to change.

[240B]

I avoid those macho threads. Never post to them.

If you want to do an experiment simply post a thread about gun control. You will get 25 posts each one trying to top the last.
_________________________________
If the government tries to take my guns, they'll wind up with a [insert large caliber weapon of choice here] up their freaking ass!

If they come around here, I'll give them 30 rounds of hell from my  [insert semiautomatic rifle here] and then I'll sic my dogs on um!

And on and on and on and on and on...........

[jmyrlefuller]

I don’t care how many war allusions you use, how insulting you are on Twitter, or
how many times you accuse your opponents of “pearl-clutching” and “bed-wetting.” Unless your argument is honest, principled, and
consistently applicable to both sides, you’re just being tribal.

If not trusting Trump makes me a bedwetter, than pass me the Goodnites.

[Weird Tolkienish Figure]

I avoid those macho threads. Never post to them.

If you want to do an experiment simply post a thread about gun control. You will get 25 posts each one trying to top the last.
_________________________________
If the government tries to take my guns, they'll wind up with a [insert large caliber weapon of choice here] up their freaking ass!

If they come around here, I'll give them 30 rounds of hell from my  [insert semiautomatic rifle here] and then I'll sic my dogs on um!

And on and on and on and on and on...........