The blatant display of hypocrisy by Democrats
on The House Floor!
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This memo is exclusively devoted to John Agresto's essay and my response
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Dick.
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1)The Stockholm Republicans
The
Culture Wars are over, and we conservatives have lost.
For
years we fought a hard fight. We stood in opposition to liberal statism. We believed
in limited government and individual initiative. In arguing against affirmative
action we fought the notion of rewarding or punishing people on the basis of
their color, or last names, or pedigree. In contrast to the progressive
penchant for thinking America to be no better, or perhaps worse, than all the
failed states and monstrous tyrannies that make up so much of the globe, we
always viewed America a leader in human freedom and increased prosperity. We stood with our allies and alliances. We
argued for the sanctity of life, for traditional morality, for family unity and
stability, and for the notion that character counted – especially in the people
our children and the world would look up to.
We
always knew the culture wars would be hard to win. Formidable, modern enemies
were arrayed against everything we believed in.
To talk about the importance of self-restraint, adherence to traditional
values, and the right to life always ran counter to the more contemporary, more
“progressive” values of self-esteem, self-gratification, and
self-indulgence. To argue for America’s
salutary involvement in the world ran counter to an everyday human desire to
not get entangled in the affairs, the foolishness, and the suffering of
others. To argue for limited government
and constitutional forms always ran counter to democratic impatience and the
desire to get the job over and done with.
So,
we on the Right, always knew that what we stood for could easily be beaten by
an impatient, egalitarian Left that would play on popular desires to reward the
many by punishing the few, to dispense with constitutional niceties, and to
demean our military and try to degrade our standing and influence in the world.
How foolish we were -- how blindsided we were – not to see that the onslaught
would come not from the Left but from within the ranks of the Republican party
itself.
So
now we are presented with a presumptive “Republican” candidate for president
who accepts so much of what we fought against on the Left and combines it with
qualities of moral relativism, with conspicuous and prideful mendacity, with ignorance
of even the most basic issues of world affairs, and with an impulse to
authoritarianism that even the most radical leftist might be ashamed to avow.
One
would have thought that belittling our men and women in uniform – including
those captured and tortured by the enemy -- would disqualify Mr. Trump from the
presidency. Nope. You would think that encouraging his
supporters to violence and offering to pay for their defense if caught would
cause good Republicans to turn away. Think again. Perhaps the constant public
lying – witnessing American Muslims cheering the fall of the twin towers,
falsely suggesting President Bush was a war criminal for sending soldiers to
die in Iraq on cooked up evidence, declaring the vast majority of illegal
immigrants to be rapists and criminals – perhaps you might think these and
dozens of other proudly proclaimed lies would disqualify Mr. Trump from holding
high office. Sadly, it seems not so.
There
are scores of additional offenses we all can name. Indeed, my fellow
Republicans, before you resign yourself to voting for Mr. Trump, make a mental
list for yourself of all his insults – transgressions against common decency,
against American interests, against the well-being of ordinary working men and
women, and against the principles we once tried to adhere. Think of how we
reviled the Clinton-Reno cabal that sent federal marshals to deport Elian
Gonzales at gunpoint. Now multiply that offense by eleven million. Think of how
we cringed when Mr. Trump smiled as he said how much he would like to “date”
his daughter. Or when he crumpled (“proud” to help, he said) when he was
confronted with evidence that Obama wasn’t born in Kenya after all. Or when he
again crumpled, then whined, after an obvious question about his ferocious sexism
from Megyn Kelly -- then skipped the next debate supposedly to “raise money”
for vets. Or how we cringed when we heard him praise Kim Jong Un or watched his
bromance with friend Vladimir, with whom he knows he can do business because,
apparently, he has. Perhaps Ann Coulter said it all when she fretted that poor
Mr. Trump, our presumptive leader, might be “mental.”
But,
you say, the alternative is Hillary. All
I know is that the last time we jumped on the Stop Hillary Express we paved the
way for someone arguably worse. In any
event, the Republic has survived any number of bad Democratic presidents. It will again. But will the country and the party survive
Mr. Trump? Will it survive and still be
a country and a party we’re proud of?
But,
you say, Mr. Trump is the nominee of our party, and we have to support our
party, no? Well, no. I joined – I imagine we
all joined -- the Republican Party because it seemed to support the ideas and
values, the principles, we believe in. We all joined and supported the party
for the sake of those ideas and because it nurtured those ideas, not the other
way around. The party is not our
country, to which we owe respect and allegiance. It’s a vehicle for the realization of our
ideas and ideals and for the effectuation of public policy in accord with those
ideals. It has to win our allegiance; it cannot demand it.
But,
you say, Mr. Trump has promised us a Supreme Court if we just fall in
line. Oh, is that so? Or is this just another part of the art of
the deal – promise the weak and helpless something, anything, and watch them
fall in line. Then, when you have them
on your side, promise your opponents even more, and win altogether. What else will you, my fellow Republicans,
give up in exchange for hope – false hope -- and promises?
But
what about all those ostensibly good Republicans who have already fallen in
line? Well, perhaps when they talked
about standing up for our principles, they were simply fooling us, and maybe
themselves as well. Or perhaps when they
said such things as “Character Counts,” or touted the importance of limited government,
they simply used those words to beat down others and advance themselves. Or
perhaps, for those in power, they’re afraid that standing up to the bully will
lose them their congressional seat or their insider power when Mr. Trump wins.
Perhaps, that is, the Trumpsters are on to something when they say that most
politicians stand for nothing but themselves; that their words are just that,
words. (And when the electorate turns ‘round on them and defeats both Mr. Trump
and his new-found acolytes, will they come back to us and ask for our support
once more? We’ll see.)
But
all these objections – fear of the opposing candidate, party loyalty, the
seduction of new promises, and the love of power -- actually speak to the heart
of the matter: We may have lost the culture wars, our ideas might be temporarily
or even permanently kicked to the ground, but not all of us have to submit to
Mr. Trump’s threats, or his advances, or convince ourselves that having beaten
us he will someday lead us forward and make us happy. He may have won, but we owe neither him nor
the party he presumptively will lead allegiance.
There
is no disgrace in being beaten. There is
only disgrace in pretending that switching our allegiance is something we want
to do, or should do, or are afraid not to do.
The only disgrace is cozying up to a man of Mr. Trump’s manipulative
arrogance and asking to be taken in. Or,
to repeat the degenerate image Mr. Trump gave us when gloating over Mitt
Romney: kneeling before him and willingly doing what he asks.
Will
the convention give us an honest candidate?
I hope so, even as I doubt it.
Would I vote for a solid conservative third party? If such a one were to arise, of course. It
would hardly be a wasted vote even if it were simply a gesture. Would I vote for the opposite party, or simply
not vote? Perhaps. But what I will not do is submit to the new
Republican Party Stockholm Syndrome and willingly cast my vote for my arrogant assailant
and captor. No, not under any
circumstances.
John
Agresto
Author
of Rediscovering America: Liberty,
Equality, and the Crisis of Democracy.
Upon his retirement from St John's, he was called to reconstitute the Iraq University System by President Bush and wrote a book about his experience, which was not a gratifying one.
John is one of the brightest men I ever had the distinct pleasure of calling my friend and he has always spoken out because he is one of the most principled men I have ever met, an Italian version of my father.
John is now retired, lives in Santa Fe and has written his latest book, which I have read, and reviewed many memos ago.
I asked John to come and speak about his book but he demurred and said he no longer does a lot of traveling.
I also told John, I would respond to his essay though, I apologize in advance, I am not as erudite.
My response:
I understand John's discomfort with the loss of the high principled ideals Conservatism sought by embracing The Republican Party, though personally I am not a party person. I never thought Republicans should have touched all the social issues (3rd rails) they did because I thought it was a losing battle and they would ultimately fall on their sword, as they have, and John acknowledges. John is Catholic and his adherence to his faith has driven him to support certain issues beyond where my less adherence to my Jewish faith would have me venture.
That said, I do not see Trump in the same light as John and am willing to be less rigid in my judgement of him . Why? Not because I find him less repugnant and boorish as John but simply because Hillary is far more dangerous and after 8 years of Obama even more so. As a stand alone, following a successful presidency, Hillary would be more tolerable but after Obama, I have to ask myself how much more punishment and ravages can our Republic endure?
I believe I am principled, have standards but I am unwilling to maintain these standards by allowing Hillary to win by default.
Trump has moved the Republican Party to the center in some ways, some to the right in other ways but he is the candidate disgusted conservatives have chosen because the Republican Party has failed to measure up to the challenge. Politics is a nasty business and Republicans, like Goldwater, Dole, McCain, Romney and yes, even George Bush 41, were too Patrician, too unprepared, lacked cunning or whatever, so we enter battle with The Donald, who, based on his efforts, appears prepared to give more than he gets and I am willing to give him my vote, cross myself like a pretzel, and pray he will become the president we need at this time in our nation's history.
I have sent this to John before I posted.
What I watched tonight was more Liberal hypocrisy and pandering on The House Floor and it made me sick as they violated House rules and pranced, preened before TV in their blatant, puerile display of showmanship.
Dick
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