No One Will Admit It But Never-Trump Conservatives Are Now Officially Vindicated

[corbe]

No One Will Admit It But Never-Trump Conservatives Are Now Officially Vindicated

by John Ziegler | 12:24 pm, April 15th, 2017

   
“I’m very capable of changing into anything I want to change to.”

–Donald J. Trump, February 10, 2016

Of all the statements that caused me to be one of the few conservatives to never give in to the temptation of selling out to the “Republican” presidential candidacy of a liberal conman who was uniquely unqualified for the job, this one has always stood out. As most people intrinsically understand, the devil you know is usually better than the one you don’t. I have always seen Donald Trump as fitting into the latter category.

It has been obvious for quite a while that Trump was never going to being able, or even willing, to fulfill most of his often insanely unrealistic campaign promises. It was also clear that he was very likely to move to the left, just as Arnold Schwarzenegger did here in California if things didn’t immediately work out for him politically.

Now, even after all the back-wrenching flip-flops of his fledging administration, the changes have come at an accelerated pace in past few days. Trump has altered his entire persona as if he is a man in the midst of a mid-life crisis. Like Madonna or Lady Gaga, he has suddenly reinvented himself into an almost completely new character, without even a hint of concern for what he consistently promised previous to taking office.

The campaign version of Donald Trump is officially dead. Having catastrophically crashed against the jagged rocks of reality, not even 100 days into his presidency, Trump is clearly abandoning his original ship and setting a new course in a vastly different direction.

Just this week Trump drastically altered his position on:
•China and the prospect of his promised a trade war with them
•The importance of NATO
•Steve Bannon’s role in his White House
•Whether Wikileaks is good, or bad

All of this was quite shocking, even to media veterans who have been highly skeptical of Trump in the past. Meanwhile his press secretary, taking a page right out of George Orwell’s 1984, actually claimed, with a straight face, that Trump isn’t the one who is “evolving,” but rather, it is the issues that are moving towards him!

On top of all of this, the man who ran of a platform of “America First” and who routinely mocked an interventionist foreign policy, specifically in Syria, has instigated immediate military action in… Syria, apparently at the behest of his… daughter. He has also gotten credit (dubiously) for dropping a huge bomb on Afghanistan and has been rattling his saber with regard to North Korea.

Oh, and apparently Russia is now our enemy again and we even seem to be bragging about how horrible relations with them suddenly are.  Of course, that all does seem a bit like a man going out of his way to distance himself from his mistress once he realized that his wife was getting too suspicious.

There have been many interpretations of this remarkable transformation. The Washington Post says that Trump is now a “conventional” Republican. Glenn Beck believes that he is looking like another Republican who didn’t keep his promises. Politico suggests that Trump is now basically just like Hillary Clinton.

I think that there is truth in all of that analysis. However, there seem to me to be a few things missing from what appears to be the emerging (and almost always wrong) “conventional wisdom” about this (not really) stunning turn of events.

Part of why Trump is so “capable of changing into anything” is that he believes in absolutely nothing except what he thinks is good for him at that moment. So, while some in the media have given him credit for some sort of instant maturation or recognition of the realities of governance, I see him simply adapting via his finely-honed survival instincts.

It seems clear that he had no idea what he was infor with regard to how impossible it is to get things done in Washington. As a guy who has been a dictator most of his business career, he was very poorly suited for this job. The healthcare debacle made him realize this and he quickly, somewhat to his credit, turned exclusively to things over which a president has almost complete control.

Consequently, renegotiating trade deals, building massive walls, draining the swamp, repealing Obamacare, putting Hillary in jail, and maybe even drastically reducing taxes, are all out. What remains are, usually vastly overblown executive orders and military strikes.

Effectively, Trump is feeling impotent in most of the job, so he is now going to basically ignore the areas where he lacks real power and simply focus on the parts where people pretty much have to do exactly as he says. Military strikes also happen to be super fun and probably really good for his already sadly sagging poll numbers.

Now, to be clear, some of this is good. As long as we don’t go too far, a strong show of US military force can pay dividends elsewhere around the world. Trump’s rhetoric on illegal immigration has, on its own, apparently drastically reduced the flow across the border (at least until they realize that it’s all a bluff). A trade war with China would have been an economic disaster.

“Never Trump” conservatives like me have been ridiculed because Neil Gorsuch was, thankfully, confirmed to the Supreme Court, thus ensuring that no matter what Trump does from here, it can’t be worse than what we would have gotten with Hillary. However, this denunciation from our “conservative” critics is extremely shortsighted.

The upgrade from Merrick Garland to Gorsuch may indeed be significant for many years to come. But much like a sports trade where one team gives up its future for a small immediate gain, I believe that “conservatives” will be paying a very dear price for Trump in ways which most of us haven’t even fully contemplated.

Obviously, since that won’t be known for quite some time, this isn’t the reason that this week was a vindication for the “Never Trumpers.” That happened because we warned the Trump cult that he would never be able to deliver what he promised and that he would change in unpredictable and potentially very unsatisfactory ways if he was ever somehow elected.

<..snip..>

http://www.mediaite.com/online/no-one-will-admit-it-but-never-trump-conservatives-are-now-officially-vindicated/

[Cripplecreek]

And then some.

[INVAR]

People who stand upon their principles without surrendering them to the voices of 'pragmatism' and thus betray them - are ALWAYS vindicated.

[DCPatriot]

A little secret you guyz should know.

It's YOU...on display behind the glass...not us! 

Sad...really.     

[Wingnut]

I'm perfectly happy with how things are going.    I was a #nevertrump.  Then I grew a pair. Accepted the fact and discovered peace and tranquility, and some fine single malt.

[TomSea]

Trump Pence have saved lives of babies. Ted Cruz has praised Trump numerous times.  No racial strife, no mass shooters since Trump Pence came into office, border crossings down. Trump has inherited a lot of foreign policy issues.

Who is the author? John Ziegler?

] Talkers Magazine listed John Ziegler as number 54 on their "Heavy Hundred" list of the most important U.S. radio talk show hosts in 2007.[2]

Ziegler is, however, an agnostic,[8] referring to himself as a "recovering Catholic".[9]

He then began a career in talk radio, working at various stations before ending up at WWTN in Nashville, Tennessee, where he was later fired after having said the word ____ on the air, in, according to Ziegler, "a rather academic discussion about the way whites and blacks view each other".[12]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Ziegler_(talk_show_host)

/

Nothing really damning here; nothing about this guy seems remarkable either.

[DCPatriot]

I'm perfectly happy with how things are going.    I was a #nevertrump.  Then I grew a pair. Accepted the fact and discovered peace and tranquility, and some fine single malt.

 

[Silver Pines]

A little secret you guyz should know.

It's YOU...on display behind the glass...not us! 

Sad...really.   

@DCPatriot

On display behind glass?  For what?  For not voting for the person you thought I should have? For not liking him?

It doesn't work that way.

I don't like Trump.  That's fine.   Disliking any president, politician, or whatever isn't shameful, despite the attempts from some to make it so.

[Silver Pines]

Trump Pence have saved lives of babies. Ted Cruz has praised Trump numerous times.

@TomSea

Ted Cruz?  That guy you've eviscerated in post after post as a lying sack of garbage?  Who cares what he thinks?

[TomSea]

@TomSea

Ted Cruz?  That guy you've eviscerated in post after post as a lying sack of garbage?  Who cares what he thinks?

You must have me confused with someone else and you are using hyperbole.

[Silver Pines]

You must have me confused with someone else and you are using hyperbole.

LMAO!

Maybe you just forgot which account you're posting under?

[TomSea]

LMAO!

Maybe you just forgot which account you're posting under?

@CatherineofAragon

 

I voted for Ted Cruz  and also, voted for him almost daily at the other place. I can prove it.  Also, IPA provides identification of whom one is.  So, your allegations are off. 

[TomSea]

Ziegler works for KFI, I station I enjoyed extensively from SoCal. I'm sure he's a good guy, he's probably libertarian bent. I would definitely listen to his show if I could.

[Silver Pines]

@TomSea


"The historical parallel to what Cruz did is Nelson Rockefeller. Cowpalace, 1964, just like Buchanan wrote. Cruz is done.  Cruz and Rockefeller basically backstabbed."


"Cruz ran a dirty campaign and it should not just be about "plausible deniability" per "Oh, well, Ted had nothing to do with that". It was all over the trail, if people launch what they find wrong about some candidates, then this is valid too.
He's close to done."


"Ted Cruz loves himself more than he loves going along to get along. He is not a man of principle. This is very hard for Cruz supporters to understand.
This is just to parlay the kind of remarks we have here.
Ted "words" Cruz, Rand "words" Paul can talk all that they want to about their philosophies, but people want action not just words."


"Ronald Reagan, Governor of California, long list of accomplishments.
Ted Cruz, no bills passed, virtually nothing.
Reagan and Rockefeller were governors, can one compare them? No, according to the apparent reasoning of a number of Cruz supporters. "


And that's just the first google response, and one page of the forum.

So you can just sit down with that "you have me confused with someone else" nonsense.


http://www.gopbriefingroom.com/index.php?topic=216922.75

[InHeavenThereIsNoBeer]

Far from it, IMO.

He's tripped over his own feet a few times, but that's to be expected.

He's done some things wrong, and he's done some things right.  There's still plenty of time for him to go down as our greatest POTUS or our worst POTUS (though I personally suspect he'll end up nowhere near either extreme).

[American Faith Today]

A little secret you guyz should know.

It's YOU...on display behind the glass...not us! 

Sad...really.   

What is that even supposed to mean?

If people want to stare at me like a zoo animal because I worked to keep my principles as a conservative and as a Christian and used my discernment to recognize Trump, win or lose, was going to fall far short of what people wanted him to be, then I guess I'm fine with that as long as I stay true to those same things.

But this is silly.  Trump voters aren't on display.  Never Trumpers aren't on display.  Trump is on display- for the country and the entire world to see.

[TomSea]

@TomSea


"The historical parallel to what Cruz did is Nelson Rockefeller. Cowpalace, 1964, just like Buchanan wrote. Cruz is done.  Cruz and Rockefeller basically backstabbed."


"Cruz ran a dirty campaign and it should not just be about "plausible deniability" per "Oh, well, Ted had nothing to do with that". It was all over the trail, if people launch what they find wrong about some candidates, then this is valid too.
He's close to done."


"Ted Cruz loves himself more than he loves going along to get along. He is not a man of principle. This is very hard for Cruz supporters to understand.
This is just to parlay the kind of remarks we have here.
Ted "words" Cruz, Rand "words" Paul can talk all that they want to about their philosophies, but people want action not just words."


"Ronald Reagan, Governor of California, long list of accomplishments.
Ted Cruz, no bills passed, virtually nothing.
Reagan and Rockefeller were governors, can one compare them? No, according to the apparent reasoning of a number of Cruz supporters. "


And that's just the first google response, and one page of the forum.

So you can just sit down with that "you have me confused with someone else" nonsense.


http://www.gopbriefingroom.com/index.php?topic=216922.75

Didn't see where I called him a lying sack.  We all say things on here. So what? That's not much.

Also, that you pull something like accusing one of posting under another name is highly frowned upon in some forums. That is a total fallacy. Now, I'm going to pull up the FR polls that show I voted for Cruz almost daily.

[American Faith Today]

Trump Pence have saved lives of babies. Ted Cruz has praised Trump numerous times.  No racial strife, no mass shooters since Trump Pence came into office, border crossings down. Trump has inherited a lot of foreign policy issues.

Who is the author? John Ziegler?

Nothing really damning here; nothing about this guy seems remarkable either.

What baby lives have they saved?

I don't know what to say if you think all of a sudden racial strife isn't out there.

I also didn't realize the president had control over mass shootings.

[jpsb]

Hillary would have been so much better /s

[EC]

Don't need to be vindicated. Anyone who needs the agreement and approval of others is a muppet.

[TomSea]

@CatherineofAragon

Post #252 Vote Cruz

And my vote was nearly every day for Cruz on any poll one looks at over there.
http://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3399019/posts?q=1&;page=251

[Silver Pines]

Don't need to be vindicated. Anyone who needs the agreement and approval of others is a muppet.

@EC

Agree completely.

[bolobaby]

Look at those emoticons! They really add so much weight to whatever argument they accompany. Truly.

[truth_seeker]

If you like your obsession, you can keep your obsession.

When I think of #nevertrumpers, I think of the leader of your pack:

[Silver Pines]

If you like your obsession, you can keep your obsession.

When I think of #nevertrumpers, I think of the leader of your pack:

@truth_seeker

No, see, that "leader" thing is up your alley.  I follow no human being.