OPINION

How Never-Trumpers Have Become Unhinged

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There are many terms for turncoats.  Benedict Arnold, who turned on the Colonies in the Revolutionary War, comes to mind. Judas turned on Jesus. A “quisling” has become a commonplace term used for people who betray a cause or a country.  Most people do not know Quisling was actually a Norwegian traitor during World War II.  Never-Trumpers are not exactly up on the traitor standards of these three collaborators, but their actions border that.

After the Kavanaugh hearings, many people who had previously questioned President Trump came home to the Republican Party.  They saw the savagery of the Dems against the former member of the Bush administration, Bush appointee to the Appeals Court, and perceived mainstream Republican.  

Recently, I spoke with a prominent Bushie asking whether the appointment of Kavanaugh and now William Barr to be Attorney General, after having the same position under President George H. W. Bush has caused Bush supporters to support Trump.  The answer was “No, it is because of the policies that Trump has put in place.”

That has not paused some people in the unrelenting attacks on Trump which gave fodder to the liberals and helped Democrats win in this most recent election cycle. One of those people is Bret Stephens who now works for the NYT.  When he left the Wall Street Journal, I questioned if he would be influencing his new colleagues or they him. It is apparent which way that has gone.

Stephens recently wrote “This week’s elections were, at most, a very modest rebuke of a president reviled by many of his opponents, this columnist included, as an unprecedented danger to the health of liberal democracy at home and abroad.”  Mr. Stephens, how exactly is he an “unprecedented danger to democracy”?   

His column was written concurrent with a crowd of people gathering outside the residence of a journalist, Tucker Carlson, threatening his family and his home.  This kind of behavior has gone on regularly -- whether it is formally members of Antifa or whether it is just people prodded by MoveOn.org or A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition. Where has your newspaper been in calling for the end of such belligerent and sometimes illegal behavior? Where was the NYT editorial calling for this behavior to end?  Where was Stephens’ op-ed attacking these groups?

The New York Times has maybe once addressed the Black Bloc.  I have been one of the few to actually write about this hateful, highly violent group. The MSM virtually ignores it and plays this game that Antifa is just an anti-fascist organization.  

Somehow Trump is the unprecedented danger to our democracy.  From Trump’s activities I can think of two incidents where he has caused violence.  One is the guy in his 70s who smacked a 20-something being escorted out of a rally after interrupting it with a disruptive protest.  The other is this nutcase in Florida that was a Trump fan apparently.  But this guy was sick for years and I don’t believe any of these nut jobs should be blamed on any political figure of either party.  They are just mentally ill people grasping onto some thought at the moment.  We are told to accept manifestly demented individuals have a rational political agenda.

The comparison of the supposed negative, violent rhetoric coming from Trump and the negative violent actions coming from the Left is not even close.   Who is the real unprecedented danger to our society?   

Any action against Trump is OK in these people’s minds because he is a “clear and present danger.”  Though they cannot point to exactly what he has done that is so dangerous.  They just echo chamber the opposition and then it becomes the truth to them even though it cannot be substantiated with actual examples.

The latest proof of Trump being a “danger to all free people” was his recent run-in with CNN’s Jim Acosta at a press conference after the mid-terms.   Never-Trumpers used this as proof that Trump is on the road to dictatorship and suppression of our free press.   

I watched the entire press conference.  Trump answered two questions from Acosta even though he tried to only answer the first one, if you can call the first one a question.  Acosta began his comments by saying “I want to challenge you.”  He went on to lecture President Trump about the migrants coming in mass groups to our border from countries in Central America.  We know how that turned out.

The reason Acosta had his WH press credentials taken away was for his ensuing rude and selfish behavior.  He insisted on keeping the microphone, trying to either ask another question or further lecture the president. Other members of the press were waiting their turn to address the issue they were concerned with at the time.  Acosta does this regularly with Press Secretary Sanders.  

Michael Goodwin wrote that day in the NY Post about the difference in treatment of President Obama: “Many in the press corps may have found him overbearingly arrogant. They may have resented the way he looked down on them and bristled at critical stories or tough questions. They knew he started more leak investigations than any other president, and might have feared him because his Justice Department wiretapped a Fox News reporter during a leak case.”  This was in addition to a significant number of sources for journalists who were charged/jailed by Obama.

Goodwin went on to state about Acosta: “It is also long past time for his colleagues, including those from other outlets, to remind him that his shameful conduct is making all of them look bad.  More important, scenes like Wednesday’s further erode the public’s already declining trust of the media and fuel resistance to the First Amendment.”

To the Never-Trumpers, though, the president is the root of all evil.  Everything he does is questionable.  Every comment is derided on Twitter and in their newspapers.  People like Max Boot consider themselves heroes.  They are not.  He challenged any conservative to debate him about Trump.  I accepted that challenge on Twitter and through a surrogate, but he never responded.  That is because people like Boot are just unhinged individuals seeking attention from their new-found friends.  They want to proceed with their attacks unchallenged.

What they are doing is aiding and abetting their former political opponents. You call them what you wish, but after this last election I consider them to be the traitors.