10 reasons Nat'l Review wants conservatives to dump Trump

[TGHusker]

Do you agree? Me: Yes. I want someone other than Trump

 

http://www.newsmax.com/TheWire/national-review-donald-trump/2016/01/22/id/710436/

 

 

National Review, the magazine founded by William F. Buckley, Jr., came out guns-blazing on Thursday with a special issue in which more than 20 big-name conservatives make the case for dumping Donald Trump.

Trump responded with a series of negative tweets, and the Republican National Committee reacted by disinviting National Review from co-hosting a primary debate scheduled for Feb. 25 in Texas.

Jack Fowler, publisher of National Review, responded in kind: "We expected this was coming. Small price to pay for speaking the truth about The Donald."

Gathered below are 10 reasons conservative leaders say the New York billionaire doesn't deserve the party's nomination.



1. NR Editors: Trump replaces conservative ideals with "free-floating populism" — In a scathing editorial, the magazine editors acknowledged that Trump "has shown impressive gut-level skill as a campaigner." They warn, however, that "Trump is a philosophically unmoored political opportunist who would trash the broad conservative ideological consensus." They note that Trump has in the past expressed support for "abortion, gun control, single-payer healthcare à la Canada, and punitive taxes on the wealthy."

2. Glenn Beck: Trump supported Obama's stimulus and bailouts — "Over the years, there have been endless fractures in the façade of individual freedom, but three policies provided the fuel that lit the tea-party fire: the stimulus, the auto bailouts, and the bank bailouts. Barack Obama supported all three. So did Donald Trump," wrote the founder of The Blaze and former Fox News host.

3. Michael Medved: Trump will be an easy takedown for the Dems — "According to conventional caricature, conservatives are selfish, greedy, materialistic, bullying, misogynistic, angry, and intolerant," wrote the prominent radio host. "The Left tried to smear Ronald Reagan in such terms but failed miserably because he displayed none of the stereotypical traits. In contrast, Trump is the living, breathing, bellowing personification of all the nasty characteristics Democrats routinely ascribe to Republicans."

4. Erick Erickson: Trump was a liberal until very recently — The radio personality and former editor of RedState cited scripture in his article against Trump: "If anyone aspires to the office of overseer . . . he must not be a recent convert, or he may become puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil" (1 Timothy 3:1,6). Erickson pointed out that Trump told Sean Hannity in 2011 that "I was [Obama’s] biggest cheerleader," and that he has supported liberal policies like universal government healthcare.

5. Katie Pavlich: Trump's a big-government crony — "Trump has made a living out of preying on and bullying society’s most vulnerable, with the help of government. He isn’t an outsider, but rather an unelected politician of the worst kind. He admits that he’s bought off elected officials in order get his way and to openly abuse the system," wrote the Townhall editor and best-selling author.



6. John Podhoretz: Trump coarsens American culture — "Donald Trump is the apotheosis of a tendency that began to manifest itself in American culture in the 1980s, most notably in the persons of the comic Andrew Dice Clay and the shock jock Howard Stern: the American id," wrote the editor of Commentary magazine. "In any integrated personality, the id is supposed to be balanced by an ego and a superego . . . Trump is an unbalanced force. He is the politicized American id. Should his election results match his polls, he would be, unquestionably, the worst thing to happen to the American common culture in my lifetime."

7. Thomas Sowell: Trump's egomania mirrors Obama's — The best-selling author and Hoover Institution fellow argued that it is "remarkable" that "after seven years of repeated disasters, both domestically and internationally, under a glib egomaniac in the White House, so many potential voters are turning to another glib egomaniac to be his successor. No doubt much of the stampede of Republican voters toward Mr. Trump is based on their disgust with the Republican establishment. It is easy to understand why there would be pent-up resentments among Republican voters. But are elections held for the purpose of venting emotions?"

8. William Kristol: Trump prioritizes wealth over freedom — "Hasn’t Donald Trump been a votary merely of wealth rather than of freedom? Hasn’t he been animated by the art of the deal rather than by the art of self-government?" asked the Weekly Standard editor. Kristol pointed to Buckley's famous statement that conservatism "stands athwart history, yelling Stop, at a time when no one is inclined to do so." "Isn’t the task of conservatives today to stand athwart Trumpism, yelling Stop?" he asked.

9. Yuval Levin: America needs more than a manager — The founding editor of National Affairs argued that "American conservatism is an inherently skeptical political outlook. It assumes that no one can be fully trusted with public power and that self-government in a free society demands that we reject the siren song of politics-as-management." He concludes that "a shortage of such skepticism is how we ended up with the problems Trump so bluntly laments."

10. Dana Loesch: Trump supported government seizure of private property — "As recently as a couple of years ago, Trump favored the liberal use of eminent-domain laws. He said that the ability of the government to wrest private property from citizens served 'the greater good.' Is that suddenly a conservative principle?" asked the nationally syndicated radio host. "I know Donald Trump . . . I genuinely like him. But not as my presidential pick," she added

• Beck: "Sure, Trump's potential primary victory would provide Hillary Clinton with the easiest imaginable path to the White House. But it's far worse than that. If Donald Trump wins the Republican nomination, there will once again be no opposition to an ever-expanding government. This is a crisis for conservatism."
• Bozell: "The GOP base is clearly disgusted and looking for new leadership. Enter Donald Trump, not just with policy prescriptions that challenge the cynical GOP leadership but with an attitude of disdain for that leadership—precisely in line with the sentiment of the base. Many conservatives are relishing this, but ah, the rub. Trump might be the greatest charlatan of them all."
• Kristol: "Isn't Trumpism a two-bit Caesarism of a kind that American conservatives have always disdained? Isn't the task of conservatives today to stand athwart Trumpism, yelling 'Stop'?"
• Loesch: "Just a few years ago, I and many others were receiving threats for promoting conservative policies and conservative principles—neither of which Donald Trump seems to care about. Yet he's leading."
• McIntosh: "These are not the ideas of a small-government conservative who understands markets. They are, instead, the ramblings of a liberal wannabe strongman who will use and abuse the power of the federal government to impose his ideas on the country."
• Moore: "Trump can win only in the sort of celebrity-focused mobocracy that Neil Postman warned us about years ago, in which sound moral judgments are displaced by a narcissistic pursuit of power combined with promises of ‘winning' for the masses."
• Pavlich: "In short, do our principles still matter? A vote for Trump indicates the answer is 'no.'"
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[BigRedBuster]

I just skimmed them. But, what I read I couldn't disagree with.

 

I view Trump as a political Howard Stern. Howard became amazingly popular simply because he was willing to say things everyone else wanted to say but was afraid to. He would have actually pretty dang good interviews because he was willing to ask questions that people wanted to ask but were afraid to. Sure, a lot of them were in appropriate....but....hey....inquiring minds want to know.

Problem is, that doesn't make him a good President. It makes him a popular jack ass.

 

I had some interesting conversations last week. I was at a convention and taking to some people from the NYC area. They were all small contractors. I asked how people from NYC think of Trump. The one guy is a very soft spoken and polite Italian from Long Island. He explained to me how Trump made much of his money in realestate in NYC. He would build a big building. He would have amazing media coverage of it and everyone would be so excited for this building. Well....after it was built, he would take bankruptcy on the building. He would still end up owning the building but he just screwed over all the small contractors that worked on the building.

 

I have never been a fan of his.

[Danny Bateman]

I was literally just about to create a topic on this. Here's an interesting, short read from Vox summing up articles from the Review:

 

http://www.vox.com/2016/1/22/10815092/trump-national-review

 

The basic arguments:

 

1. Donald Trump supported liberal policies, Barack Obama, other Democrats
2. Trump believes in an authoritarianism fundamentally at odds with conservatism
3. Trump has engaged in racial demagoguery and xenophobia
4. Trump is way too woefully ignorant to be president
5. Trump is just a really bad, evil dude

 

That's a great story, btw, BRB. Personifies what a ruthless douche he is.

 

Goes without saying, but I've lost all faith in the process if he wins. I've never gotten the impression that Donald cares about anyone but himself. But of course, he'll tell you he loves America, and God, and the working class, and the 9/11 first responders. Then goes out and butchers an easy pronunciation of one of the books of the Bible. He's never done anything for the working class man, and has in fact, crapped on them as BRB illustrated. And he's given $1000 total in relief funds for 9/11.

He's a phony and a poor excuse for a human being.

[TGHusker]

I was literally just about to create a topic on this. Here's an interesting, short read from Vox summing up articles from the Review:

 

http://www.vox.com/2016/1/22/10815092/trump-national-review

 

The basic arguments:

 

1. Donald Trump supported liberal policies, Barack Obama, other Democrats
2. Trump believes in an authoritarianism fundamentally at odds with conservatism
3. Trump has engaged in racial demagoguery and xenophobia
4. Trump is way too woefully ignorant to be president
5. Trump is just a really bad, evil dude

 

That's a great story, btw, BRB. Personifies what a ruthless douche he is.

 

Goes without saying, but I've lost all faith in the process if he wins. I've never gotten the impression that Donald cares about anyone but himself. But of course, he'll tell you he loves America, and God, and the working class, and the 9/11 first responders. Then goes out and butchers an easy pronunciation of one of the books of the Bible. He's never done anything for the working class man, and has in fact, crapped on them as BRB illustrated. And he's given $1000 total in relief funds for 9/11.

 

He's a phony and a poor excuse for a human being.

good link Dude: what I see is the total irrationality of Trump supporters. Listen to him in debates - he is all full of bluster but knows nothing. He thinks just the strength of his personality will solve all of our problems - we fell for that line in 2008. If in deed he becomes the nominee - the repub party is over.

 

 

from the vox article:

 

Case 4: Trump is way too woefully ignorant to be president

In 36 words: Trump has demonstrated no mastery or even basic comprehension of the many complex issues facing the American presidency. That level of ignorance alone is a national security risk that should disqualify him from the Oval Office.

Who is making this case most strongly: Andrew McCarthy and Mark Helprin.

The most convincing lines making this case: "Even the casual fan who does not know the players without a scorecard at least knows who the teams are and why they are competing." —Andrew McCarthy, contributing editor of National Review, on Trump's ignorance on foreign policy

"He doesn’t know the Constitution, history, political philosophy, nuclear strategy, diplomacy, defense, economics beyond real estate, or even, despite his low-level-mafioso comportment, how ordinary people live." —Mark Helprin, novelist

 

 

Case # 5

The most convincing lines making this case: "Worst of all, Trump’s brawling, blustery, mean-spirited public persona serves to associate conservatives with all the negative stereotypes that liberals have for decades attached to their opponents on the right." —Michael Medved, radio talk show host

"In any integrated personality, the id is supposed to be balanced by an ego and a superego—by a sense of self that gravitates toward behaving in a mature and responsible way when it comes to serious matters ... Trump is an unbalanced force. He is the politicized American id." —John Podhoretz, editor of Commentary

 

"The man has demonstrated an emotional immaturity bordering on personality disorder, and it ought to disqualify him from being a mayor, to say nothing of a commander-in-chief." —Mona Charen, senior fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center

[Landlord]

My most popular tweet ever:

 

 

[TGHusker]

My most popular tweet ever:

 

 

Good one. Yet many evangelicals are supporting the guy. Just because he hits a few hot button topics and they shallowly believe his rhetoric .

[Danny Bateman]

He is such a transparent phony. He has shown he is absolutely going to pander to whoever will give him votes. I'd like to see someone (preferably a WASP) stand up and (lie) ask about what Trump is going to do for Muslims already in the country. Or African Americans-- regarding the police. Or legal Hispanics. He'd crumble.

 

I watched him foxtrot around questions about legitimate foreign policy questions about the Middle East from Wolf Blitzer in an interview not two hours ago. It was under the guise of "being unpredictable," and he spent most all of his time deflecting or putting blame on past Presidents (Obama, Bush) for being weak or stupid.

 

He doesn't have a clue. Not a damn clue.

[cornographic]

Only 10........reasons?

[TGHusker]

Only 10........reasons?

I'm SURE we could come up wt many more. Corn - this is an area you and I are in agreement. See miracles do happen.