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Burst your bubble: five conservative articles to explain who Trump has left Burst your bubble: five conservative articles to explain who Trump has left
(35 minutes later)
After everything else – after Flynn, after the failure to replace him, after the Ice raids and the impromptu strategy session at Mar A Lago, and after yesterday’s bizarre press conference – who does Trump have left on his side? After everything else – after Flynn, after the failure to replace him, after the Ice raids and the impromptu strategy session at Mar-a-Lago, and after yesterday’s bizarre press conference – who does Trump have left on his side?
There’s the shrinking minority of Americans who believe he’s doing a good job. There’s Breitbart, the ‘alt-right’ Pepe brigade on Twitter and presumably some within the thinning ranks of his already meager executive branch. And then there’s an increasingly beleaguered band of conservative writers. There’s the shrinking minority of Americans who believe he’s doing a good job. There’s Breitbart, the “alt-right” Pepe brigade on Twitter and presumably some within the thinning ranks of his already meager executive branch. And then there’s an increasingly beleaguered band of conservative writers.
This week, Trump lost people on the right who had been warming to him, and forced others to explain themselves to their readers. Some were driven to speculate anew on his mental state, and one of the writers on the right who was Trump’s staunchest defenders is now too busy to respond – he has a new job in the White House. This week, Trump lost people on the right who had been warming to him, and forced others to explain themselves to their readers. Some were driven to speculate anew on his mental state, and one of the writers on the right who was one of Trump’s staunchest defenders is now too busy to respond – he has a new job in the White House.
Congress should investigate allegations of Trump–Russia ties Congress Should Investigate Allegations of Trump–Russia Ties
Publication: National ReviewPublication: National Review
Author: “The Editors”, who still speak on behalf of Movement Conservatism, even though Trump has shown that there may be little correspondence between this and actual conservative movements.Author: “The Editors”, who still speak on behalf of Movement Conservatism, even though Trump has shown that there may be little correspondence between this and actual conservative movements.
Why you should read it: National Review has gone back and forth on Trump. Famously, during the primary, they dedicated a print issue to tearing him down, and one of their writers flirted with running against him. Later, during and after the general election, a few of them came around to the view that if the left hated him so much, he couldn’t be all bad. Now, an organ forged during the mid-century anticommunist mania has drawn a line at Russia ties. They try to finesse it, and to make it sound reasonable, but there’s an unmistakable whiff of panic in this piece. They want Congress, where they still have friends, to rein Trump in. Why you should read it: National Review has gone back and forth on Trump. Memorably, during the primary, they dedicated a print issue to tearing him down, and one of their writers flirted with running against him. Later, during and after the general election, a few of them came around to the view that if the left hated him so much, he couldn’t be all bad. Now, an organ forged during the mid-century anticommunist mania has drawn a line at Russia ties. They try to finesse it, and to make it sound reasonable, but there’s an unmistakable whiff of panic in this piece. They want Congress, where they still have friends, to rein Trump in.
Best paragraph: Following the Times’s story, some on the left are eager to draw up impeachment articles. Meanwhile, some on the right are eager to chalk up any criticisms of the president to “fake news”. Both are wrong. The questions facing the Trump administration are still just questions, but they warrant sober, fair-minded examination. This is not a job for the media and its anonymous sources; it’s a job for Congress. Best paragraph: “Following the Times’s story, some on the left are eager to draw up impeachment articles. Meanwhile, some on the right are eager to chalk up any criticisms of the president to ‘fake news’. Both are wrong. The questions facing the Trump administration are still just questions, but they warrant sober, fair-minded examination. This is not a job for the media and its anonymous sources; it’s a job for Congress.
The Flight 93 election The Flight 93 Election
Publication: The Claremont ReviewPublication: The Claremont Review
Author: Here, Michael Anton is writing under the pseudonym Publius Decius Mus Anton. He was just made deputy assistant to the president for strategic communications on the United States National Security Council. He has long experience puffing up inarticulate ultraconservatives – he used to write speeches for Rudy Giuliani. During the election he and some collaborators caused a stir by trying to bootstrap an “intellectual Trumpism” into being.Author: Here, Michael Anton is writing under the pseudonym Publius Decius Mus Anton. He was just made deputy assistant to the president for strategic communications on the United States National Security Council. He has long experience puffing up inarticulate ultraconservatives – he used to write speeches for Rudy Giuliani. During the election he and some collaborators caused a stir by trying to bootstrap an “intellectual Trumpism” into being.
Why you should read it: Anton is the only one of the deeply weird rightwingers surrounding Trump who has written anything like a manifesto. It’s worth revisiting this effort to get a feel for the mental atmosphere of Trumpland. The pseudonym and the clumsy classical allusions give you a whiff of the crusty Euro-trad dreamworld these guys live in. The hope he has for Trump is, more or less, that he will either restore white supremacy, or blow everything up.Why you should read it: Anton is the only one of the deeply weird rightwingers surrounding Trump who has written anything like a manifesto. It’s worth revisiting this effort to get a feel for the mental atmosphere of Trumpland. The pseudonym and the clumsy classical allusions give you a whiff of the crusty Euro-trad dreamworld these guys live in. The hope he has for Trump is, more or less, that he will either restore white supremacy, or blow everything up.
Best paragraph: “Oh, right – there’s that other issue. The sacredness of mass immigration is the mystic chord that unites America’s ruling and intellectual classes. Their reasons vary somewhat. The Left and the Democrats seek ringers to form a permanent electoral majority. They, or many of them, also believe the academic-intellectual lie that America’s inherently racist and evil nature can be expiated only through ever greater “diversity.” The junta of course craves cheaper and more docile labor. It also seeks to legitimize, and deflect unwanted attention from its wealth and power by pretending that its open borders stance is a form of noblesse oblige. The Republicans and the “conservatives”? Both of course desperately want absolution from the charge of “racism”. For the latter, this at least makes some sense. No Washington General can take the court – much less cash his check – with that epithet dancing over his head like some Satanic Spirit. But for the former, this priestly grace comes at the direct expense of their worldly interests”. Best paragraph: “Oh, right – there’s that other issue. The sacredness of mass immigration is the mystic chord that unites America’s ruling and intellectual classes. Their reasons vary somewhat. The Left and the Democrats seek ringers to form a permanent electoral majority. They, or many of them, also believe the academic-intellectual lie that America’s inherently racist and evil nature can be expiated only through ever greater ‘diversity.’ The junta of course craves cheaper and more docile labor. It also seeks to legitimize, and deflect unwanted attention from its wealth and power by pretending that its open borders stance is a form of noblesse oblige. The Republicans and the ‘conservatives’? Both of course desperately want absolution from the charge of ‘racism’. For the latter, this at least makes some sense. No Washington General can take the court – much less cash his check – with that epithet dancing over his head like some Satanic Spirit. But for the former, this priestly grace comes at the direct expense of their worldly interests.”
Trump isn’t the antichrist, but he is anti Christ Trump Isn’t the Antichrist, but He Is Anti-Christ
Publication: Christian PostPublication: Christian Post
Author: Eric Sapp is an evangelical Christian political consultant. Yes, he has mostly worked with Democrats, but he’s not alone in making the judgement that Trump’s policies are an affront to the teaching of the Gospel. Author: Eric Sapp is an evangelical Christian political consultant. Yes, he has mostly worked with Democrats, but he’s not alone in making the judgment that Trump’s policies are an affront to the teaching of the Gospel.
Why you should read: Even in the campaign, there were Christian Right-ers saying that Trump was not worthy of their support. By and large, they were not heeded, and Trump won on the strength of the evangelical vote. But over time, more and more believers have publicly come to this assessment. Sapp flirts with apocalyptic rhetoric on the way to the conclusion that Trump recognizes no power higher than his own ego.Why you should read: Even in the campaign, there were Christian Right-ers saying that Trump was not worthy of their support. By and large, they were not heeded, and Trump won on the strength of the evangelical vote. But over time, more and more believers have publicly come to this assessment. Sapp flirts with apocalyptic rhetoric on the way to the conclusion that Trump recognizes no power higher than his own ego.
Best paragraph: “It’s not because he was born the night of a blood moon or has more connections to 666 than he does to Kevin Bacon. It’s because his is a spirit of fear and emptiness, that seeks only to fill his bottomless insecurity with worldly affirmations and idols, instead of humbling himself before the only One who can make him whole. And it is that antichristian spirit that is both leading so many Christians astray and gathering such evil human forces around him in his alt-right and Russian enforcers.”Best paragraph: “It’s not because he was born the night of a blood moon or has more connections to 666 than he does to Kevin Bacon. It’s because his is a spirit of fear and emptiness, that seeks only to fill his bottomless insecurity with worldly affirmations and idols, instead of humbling himself before the only One who can make him whole. And it is that antichristian spirit that is both leading so many Christians astray and gathering such evil human forces around him in his alt-right and Russian enforcers.”
Trump’s theofascistTrump’s theofascist
Publication:The WeekPublication:The Week
Author: Damon Linker literally wrote the book about the “theocons” who wanted to weld traditionalist Catholicism to other forms of conservative religiosity in order to bolster American political conservatism.Author: Damon Linker literally wrote the book about the “theocons” who wanted to weld traditionalist Catholicism to other forms of conservative religiosity in order to bolster American political conservatism.
Why you should read: Here, Linker distinguishes Bush-era traditionalist “theocons” from the gloomier “trads” around Trump – principally Steve Bannon. Bannon differs from other trad Catholics in his relish for the prospect of war between Islam and “Christendom”, and his view of “religious affiliation wholly as a function of ethno-national identity” cross the line into something much darker. We need to be careful here – whitewashing Bush-era conservatism has become a national growth industry. But when even the right are calling Trump’s people fascists, we owe them a hearing.Why you should read: Here, Linker distinguishes Bush-era traditionalist “theocons” from the gloomier “trads” around Trump – principally Steve Bannon. Bannon differs from other trad Catholics in his relish for the prospect of war between Islam and “Christendom”, and his view of “religious affiliation wholly as a function of ethno-national identity” cross the line into something much darker. We need to be careful here – whitewashing Bush-era conservatism has become a national growth industry. But when even the right are calling Trump’s people fascists, we owe them a hearing.
Best paragraph: “Although Bannon enjoys much greater proximity to power than the original theocons ever attained, the mood of his political and religious pronouncements is much closer to the existential gloom (and political extremism) that has (so far) gripped First Things only at its bleakest, most unhinged moments. It’s the same gloom that once permeated the Catholic Church, back in the late 19th century, when it considered itself under siege by and locked in a death-struggle with democracy, liberalism, and modernity.”Best paragraph: “Although Bannon enjoys much greater proximity to power than the original theocons ever attained, the mood of his political and religious pronouncements is much closer to the existential gloom (and political extremism) that has (so far) gripped First Things only at its bleakest, most unhinged moments. It’s the same gloom that once permeated the Catholic Church, back in the late 19th century, when it considered itself under siege by and locked in a death-struggle with democracy, liberalism, and modernity.”
The New Battle for AfghanistanThe New Battle for Afghanistan
Publication: The American ConservativePublication: The American Conservative
Author: Freelance defense reporter Kelley Vlahos offers another timely piece of analysis at The American Conservative. Author: Freelance defense reporter Kelley Vlahos offers another timely piece of analysis at the American Conservative.
Why you should read: At the next presidential election in 2020, there will be voters who were born after the US first invaded Afghanistan in 2001. Vlahos shows why there is little prospect that Trump will extract us from this mess, and why, in her judgement, it is almost inevitable that Trump will double down. In the chaos of Trump’s first month, few noticed that Gen John Nicholson, commander of US forces in Afghanistan, told the Senate that more troops were needed to break the “stalemate” there. Trump’s defence secretary seems to be on the same page. Trump flirted with isolationism in his campaign rhetoric, but in office he is falling in line with the long-term policy of endless war. Why you should read: At the next presidential election in 2020, there will be voters who were born after the US first invaded Afghanistan in 2001. Vlahos shows why there is little prospect that Trump will extract us from this mess, and why, in her judgment, it is almost inevitable that Trump will double down. In the chaos of Trump’s first month, few noticed that Gen John Nicholson, commander of US forces in Afghanistan, told the Senate that more troops were needed to break the “stalemate” there. Trump’s defense secretary seems to be on the same page. Trump flirted with isolationism in his campaign rhetoric, but in office he is falling in line with the long-term policy of endless war.
Best paragraph: “According to Nicholson, Afghanistan is ‘a stalemate,’ with no fewer than 20 different terror groups operating there now. In addition to the well-known Taliban and al-Qaeda, there is also an Islamic State franchise, IS in Khorasan Province (ISKP), which has taken responsibility for a recent spate of ruthless suicide bombings in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Without a trace of irony, the general said that after 15 years of war in Afghanistan, the country now ‘has the greatest concentration of terrorist organizations in the world.’”Best paragraph: “According to Nicholson, Afghanistan is ‘a stalemate,’ with no fewer than 20 different terror groups operating there now. In addition to the well-known Taliban and al-Qaeda, there is also an Islamic State franchise, IS in Khorasan Province (ISKP), which has taken responsibility for a recent spate of ruthless suicide bombings in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Without a trace of irony, the general said that after 15 years of war in Afghanistan, the country now ‘has the greatest concentration of terrorist organizations in the world.’”