Post by NFA on Nov 9, 2020 21:38:35 GMT 8
The NeverTrump Never Again
Perhaps bad men can do a few good things, but they cannot do a lot of good things. And Trump did a lot more good for the country than had prior supposedly good presidents.
By Victor Davis Hanson November 8, 2020
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In the ashes of a Trump defeat, the Republican NeverTrump Phoenix bird of prey would arise with a new doctrinaire creed under sober and judicious leadership—maybe someone like a younger Romney, a wonkish clone of Paul Ryan, a rebranded and reenergized Jeb Bush—or a MAGA-veneered, reverse-engineered Marco Rubio or Nikki Haley, who now claims to be suspicious of China or wants fair rather than just free trade.
More likely, they believe that the Trump agenda could be repudiated and replaced with a new NeverTrump “contract with America”—détente with China, an end to the Israel-Arab alliance with the Palestinians again funded by the United States at the center of all negotiations; NAFTA resurrected; the wall torn down and borders again porous, along with blanket amnesties; an end to presidential jawboning about outsourcing and offshoring; more moderate judges than polarizing jurists like Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett.
The NeverTrumpers likely never envisioned themselves in their fading moments as orphaned grifters begging for left-wing cash to play the role of useful idiots—only to be cast off by their paymasters after their inept roles have been played out—which is now their immediate fate. Yet they were never able to capture any popular constituency, largely because of their incoherence. Trump received 93 percent Republican support in some 2020 exit polls—increasing in party support the more Republican gatekeepers damned him.
More likely, they believe that the Trump agenda could be repudiated and replaced with a new NeverTrump “contract with America”—détente with China, an end to the Israel-Arab alliance with the Palestinians again funded by the United States at the center of all negotiations; NAFTA resurrected; the wall torn down and borders again porous, along with blanket amnesties; an end to presidential jawboning about outsourcing and offshoring; more moderate judges than polarizing jurists like Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett.
The NeverTrumpers likely never envisioned themselves in their fading moments as orphaned grifters begging for left-wing cash to play the role of useful idiots—only to be cast off by their paymasters after their inept roles have been played out—which is now their immediate fate. Yet they were never able to capture any popular constituency, largely because of their incoherence. Trump received 93 percent Republican support in some 2020 exit polls—increasing in party support the more Republican gatekeepers damned him.
