1. They get pretty darned upset if anyone dares to question their commitment to the conservative cause. Which is odd, because #NeverTrump means there is something more important than that. Right? That’s the meaning. They’ve sequenced their priorities in a way that makes the most sense to them, and defeating liberalism, supporting conservatism, these didn’t make the cut. Why then all the anger directed against whoever notices?
2. They do share a close kinship with liberals, as a matter of fact, in that they’re just so anxious to show what a supreme command they have over the subject matter under discussion. They fancy themselves to be authorities. They want to be thought of as authorities. It is their way of convincing, however, that interests me, much more than the fact that they want to do this convincing: Their method of persuasion is to demonstrate the extraordinarily high level of difficulty that is involved in telling them anything. The foundation of what they seek to argue, therefore, is that people know best after some extended period of time spent not learning anything.
3. They are putting a great volume of energy into bringing about a disaster, for which they will not take any ownership. Some of them are already getting ready to blame the opposition, the “Trump supporters,” for Hillary Clinton’s impending victory. This is unseemly, at best, and a sign of mental illness at worst.
4. They see themselves as independent thinkers. Independent thinkers, by definition, are hard to manipulate, if they can be manipulated at all. They demonstrate this, unfortunately, by being easily offended. That’s a problem, because it’s not hard to manipulate you if it’s easy to offend you.
5. They are very bothered by the lately emerging signs that character no longer matters, or is no longer valued. But they themselves care nothing about their bedfellows in the #NeverTrump orgy, what level of character they possess. Very rarely do I see a #NeverTrump protest that a statement injurious to Donald Trump, while tantalizing, is just too demonstrably untrue, too easily proven false, too craven, too low-balled. Nothing is too low for them. Anybody who shares this common enemy, with them, must be their friend. And then they wonder what happened to valuing character.
Sense and more at The Blog That Nobody Reads. RTWT
Posted by gerardvanderleun at October 17, 2016 1:41 PM
Most cogent explanation of #NeverTrumpism I've seen,as is Severian's comment. What to do? Reasoned arguments mean nothing to the Cloud People. I'd have better luck teaching my dog ballet.
Posted by: Nori at October 16, 2016 6:13 AMWould you give your checkbook to the 7 year old child of a stranger? Your credit card? The keys to your ride? Your gun? Anything important at all?
This is where all of us are, to a certain degree.
You are blindfolded and handcuffed in the back of a windowless soundproof van with a strange child driving it and the only communication available between driver and passengers is the radio speaker telling you what the child, and other passengers in the van are thinking and doing.
The child is crashing into other vehicles, running over people, and the radio is lying about all of it.
The passengers are conversing among themselves, some say the child is insane and the radio is criminal, some argue the child is a perfect driver and the radio is truthful.
You are sitting there filled with angst and despair wishing you were in your wicker chair on the front porch and the van would go off in the distance and explode, finally leaving you alone.
~23 days and a wake up~
Posted by: ghostsniper at October 16, 2016 7:28 AMI would say cut their nuts off, but that would likely be a wild goose chase.
Posted by: BillH at October 16, 2016 7:39 AMWhy is it that pathetic douchebags all like to use ridiculously pretentious pen-names like Severian or Publius Decius Mus?
I would have liked to have fisked this editorial, but finding enough substance there to argue with is impossible.
Posted by: David Zincavage at October 16, 2016 9:07 AMLet me explain it to you lunchmeat. I am a conservative. I don't support crooks, liars, democrats, non-conservatives, or unbalanced charlatans for the presidency of the United States.
It is not my fault that the misbehavior and clownish antics of a certain Reality TV celebrity struck some kind of chord with you and led you to support him, despite his obvious lack of real principles and basic qualifications, over a huge field of legitimate, mostly really conservative, genuine Republicans.
My vote will not prove decisive. What is decisive is your stupid, stupid choice of Donald Trump, who is currently --quite predictably-- collapsing as a candidate and delivering the election to Hillary in what ought to have been a Republican landslide year.
I and other conservatives declining to follow your moronic example and make fools of ourselves are not to blame. You shit-for-brains imbeciles are to blame. Donald Trump is not one of you. Donald Trump doesn't love you. Donald Trump is not conservative. Hell, he is not ideological in the slightest. Trump says all sort of things, and when he says shit you like, you think he is sincere. When all this is over, Trump is probably going to sell every one of you some bad steaks, useless courses from Trump University, and a bunch of shares in a failing casino.
What a bunch of suckers! Personally, I think the chances are very good (It's impossible to know for sure) that the whole, entire Trump Campaign has all along been a calculated operation to elect Hillary. (The Clintons and Trump are long-time pals, you know.)
Trump keeps telling you that the election is rigged. You should believe him on that one.
DZ
Posted by: David Zincavage at October 16, 2016 9:22 AMDisclaimer: I did not coordinate with this person to provide supporting evidence of the observations I made. Although I can certainly see how someone might think so...
There's a lot of anger out there.
Point taken, Morgan, and allow me to add one more element on the periodic table of NeverTrumper idiocy:
They don't know either why Trump's succeeding, why Trump is saying very pointed things no anti-progressive ever has (and no Lyin' Ted ever did either, for that matter), or what's really going on, including that the MSM has well outed itself and its skewed polls in plain view as being part of the system. The system that tolerated all the failures with R after their names NeverTrumpers lever-pulled for the last forty years.
Seems odd that NeverTrumpers would miss all this yet possess the singular key to political enlightenment. I suspect it has something to do with their other delusions.
Posted by: Ten at October 16, 2016 10:14 AMWhat irks is Trumps behavior, past and present, as the king of jerx.
Self-sabotage in the service of egomania is not a great attribute for a candidate.
Still, as Cruz recommended, vote your conscience AND for the candidate most likely to promote governance by principles of our Constitution.
In the present case, it's Clinton or Trump, that is, either certain catastrophe or probable catastrophe.
Vote for the country if not for the candidate.
Via a non-paywalled WSJ link:
“There is only one way to take part in protecting this nation from Hillary Clinton, and that is to vote for Donald Trump. A vote for anyone else or for no one might be an honest, admirable gesture in principle, but we don’t need conscientious objectors in this war for the country’s international standing and hence for the safety of the world and the American way of life. It’s too bad one has to vote for Mr. Trump. It will be an unhappy moment at best. Some people will feel dirty, or pained, or outright disgraced.”
Posted by: Vanderleun at October 16, 2016 12:42 PMDave Gelernter is a smart guy, but his reasoning fails this time. It's certainly important to vote for Republicans down ticket. But this whole Trump-the-Great-Leader-of-the-Revolt-against-the-National-Elites jazz is just a fantasy. Donald Trump doesn't live in West Virginia. Donald Trump is not a good old boy. Donald Trump is only blowing the smoke he's blowing right now because it sells to his audience of rubes and suckers. Donald Trump lives in Manhattan. His idea of a good time is not going deer hunting with the gang from the volunteer firehouse. Trump's idea of a good time is golfing with Bill Clinton and similar establishment big shots. If Trump were elected, he would stiff you patsies the same way he stiffed all those contractors and suppliers in Atlantic City. But, he isn't going to be elected. He was never going to win. Trump is running, but unless Julian Assange & Vladimir Putin come up with a last minute miracle, Trump is unelectable. Those Alt-Right imbeciles you quote can complain away about #NeverTrump-ers, but Trump would still be unelectable even with all the #NeverTrump votes there are. Gelernter's dreaming.
Posted by: David Zincavage at October 16, 2016 12:55 PMfeel better now?
Posted by: ghostsniper at October 16, 2016 1:13 PMZincavage keeps validating his critics. This time it's all about cultural optics, a derivative of the projected character canard.
Like I said, #NT doesn't know what's going on. This is for a reason.
Posted by: Ten at October 16, 2016 1:34 PMDamn,that's some righteous anger,David. The Dirt People have SO disappointed the Cloud People. Would'nt be so concerned,though. Queen Hillary will work with the Republican Quislings to take proper care of us,count on it.
Posted by: Nori at October 16, 2016 1:47 PMDear David,
Like ghost said, feel better now?
You stupid motherfucker, you and all your "conservative" pals can go jack off together in a corner to your "Well, I could've" buttons.
Maybe Hillary will kill you last, you pathetic coward.
Posted by: Rob De Witt at October 16, 2016 11:33 PMDavid, you're the very reason why conservatives never gather any power.
Instead of being up in the stands working to get a victory, you are down under the bleachers pulling your pud.
Posted by: Vermont Woodchuck at October 17, 2016 4:03 AMMouth off like that to my face sometime, De Witt, and see what happens to you.
Posted by: David Zincavage at October 17, 2016 8:58 AMoooooohhhh, the BIG man has spoken
gotta go find me a hidey ho....a deep, dark one....where nobody can scare me.....
Posted by: ghostsniper at October 17, 2016 1:07 PMDave,
Since I'm (a) 71 years old and (b) so crippled that many days I can't lift my arms, I have little doubt that you could and would kick my ass. And wouldn't that be a cogent and "conservative" response....I still think you and your cohort are pussies.
You sound more and more like a secret liberal: stand on principle until it doesn't matter anymore, and then resort to thuggery when you have no answer. It's not gonna get any bigger just because you put on your button shoes and high collar and loudly proclaim your vote for Millard Fillmore.
Posted by: Rob De Witt at October 17, 2016 2:56 PMI'm a mere 68 myself. If there was any actual argument in that next-to-last post of yours, my reading glasses weren't good enough to find it.
Millard Fillmore was a Know Nothing, so Alt-Right-ers ought to like him.
Facts: Trump is unqualified for the presidency and a disgraceful human being. Additionally, he is not conservative and is not even really a Republican.
Trump is unprincipled and an opportunist and a shameless liar, so it is just a bit credulous to believe in his supposed recent conversion.
Hypothesis: Since we know that Trump and the Clintons were longtime pals, and since Trump is campaigning with notable ineffectiveness, some people (myself included) lean to the theory that Trump entered the race specifically to sabotage GOP prospects and to elect Hillary. Any normal and legitimate GOP candidate would be mopping the floor with Hillary. All Trump has to do for us to win is to step aside and let Pence run.
Posted by: David Zincavage at October 17, 2016 3:45 PM"Any normal and legitimate GOP candidate would be mopping the floor with Hillary."
================
Trump has, and is doing just that, just like he did with all the primary cucks.
The only people that don't know this are american communists and retards that STILL believe the media.
It's a bold testament to the effectiveness of the gov/media that a person can get to the age of 68 and STILL be as stupid as a giant walmart bag of dicks - and roam all over the web bragging about it.
Keep it up, maybe you'll make the cover of Covergirl.
Posted by: ghostsniper at October 17, 2016 6:01 PM"Facts: Trump is unqualified for the presidency and a disgraceful human being. Additionally, he is not conservative and is not even really a Republican."
Not a fact in the carload.
1) Trump fulfills all the Constitutional requirements to be president. See The Constitution of the United States. Here, I'll help you out. Read slowly and for comprehension, David.
=======
"Clause 5: Qualifications for office
Beginning of the clause in the 1787 document
Section 1 of Article Two of the United States Constitution sets forth the eligibility requirements for serving as president of the United States:
No Person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President; neither shall any person be eligible to that Office who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty five Years, and been fourteen Years a Resident within the United States."
======
2. He's a normal human being with faults and features. Your "opinion" of his character is not a fact, it's just your gassing.
3. He is as "conservative" as he wants to be and as conservative as his various positions and policies make him
You don't get to whip out some internal idea of what makes a conservative. You are not the defining person on perfect conservatism.
4, He is a registered Republican and the official Republican candidate for President of the United States. That's just about as "Republican" as you can get.
As with the Constitution, Humanity, and Conservatism questions nothing you've said here is a fact. It is merely your outgassing David.
That's all you've got. No facts. Just opinions.
Thank you, Gentlemen. That was superb.
Posted by: Nori at October 17, 2016 8:11 PMIn reference to the above appeal by David for voting for a TRUE Conservative and Trumps lack there of ---------------
What's a "Conservative" to conserve if there's increasingly
less and less to conserve. This Civic/Culture war is a rearguard action on the part of the Right and there's not much more ground to give up before we're grounded up. Conservatism as defined by GOPe for so long has looked askance at those who said "It's the Culture stupid" and has only given get-out-the-vote token lip service during the election cycles to placate the rubes - Us. We always talk about the virtue-signaling of the Left, yet this #NT on the Right amounts to the same kind of posturing. There's something else at play and I believe it is that many elite establishment Repubs are absolute Global Corporate Colonialists with their crony capitalist Wall Street partners, and therefore have far more in common with Hillary than the populism of Trump. At heart this really is a question of; Is our allegiance to a party and ideological labels, or to the nation as defined by the kind of people who believe in the Constitutional principles and are willing to ultimately go even so far as declare a 2nd Independence if NEED be. The Republican Party as it's currently constituted is not putting the Country first.
I'm curious. Were the other Republican nominees in the tank for Hillary, too? Was Cruz? Because in my opinion, Donald Trump was very much beatable in the primaries. If you couldn't take your record and your positions, contrast them to his, "here's him, here's me, here's him, here's me, I'm the better choice" and have a majority of primary voters agree, either there was something wrong with your record and positions, or you weren't even trying.
Posted by: Rich Fader at October 18, 2016 4:18 AMCandidates. My bad.
Posted by: Rich Fader at October 18, 2016 4:19 AMIn August, 1974, I observed the staff of Human Events celebrating over Nixon's just-announced resignation.
So, "purist conservatism" has been around a very long time. Insular, pretentious, and oblivious to the notion that they could ever be in power.
Now Reagan did happen not long after. But, how long did that last? Bush I crushed the fledgling "Reagan Revolution" in no time at all.
Now these virtue signaling inneffectuals are "#NeverTrumpers."
Posted by: DonRodrigo at October 20, 2016 1:29 PM
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