One of the new deep thinkers on the right, Ross Douthat of the NYT (natch), is in a dither about the plight of the conservative intellectual. Populism is too much for him to handle, and he’s lost in the woods, and doesn’t know where to go. Richard Fernandez sets him straight at PJ Media. You don’t have to read his whole article. His final line says it all. Trump is leading this movement primarily because no one else is.
Trump is ignorant, but he’s not stupid. He figured things out right away. People were so pissed off that they’d vote for a reality TV star who was a sexist pig, as long as he told them what they wanted to hear. Because he was telling the truth, and they knew it. They’ve been screwed over in the new economy, and nobody really cared. They weren’t the right type of people. They’re collateral damage, and a declining force in our society. To hell with them.
The first wave of populism was led by Andrew Jackson, and it succeeded. He killed off the Second Bank of the United States and began the Age of Jackson. Donald Trump is no Andrew Jackson. If he was, he’d win in a landslide. He’ll lose because of his pride, his inability to admit error, his refusal to acknowledge his past sins. It certainly won’t be because of his populist message, which boils down to America First.
What do you think Mike Pence will say in his concession speech? It’s all over, we’ve lost the country, we can’t ever get it back? Or, rather, don’t give up, fight on, and never never surrender? Which is it?
And if it’s the latter, who will lead the fight? Trump, the loser? I don’t think so. The reason he’ll lose is because of who he is, and no other reason, and everyone will know it. And he’s not going to change. Take Trump out of Trumpism and you’ve got a winner. And who is in a position to do that?
I wonder about guys like Douthat and Fernandez. Have they ever worked on a campaign, or run for office, or directly helped a candidate get elected? What have they actually done in their lives, besides scribble?
I see where the Koch brothers are scaling back. What a couple dopes. They’ve spent hundreds of millions of dollars, and have nothing to show for it. Meanwhile the BBA Task Force, working on a shoestring, has got 28 States, and a clear path to 34 and the first Amendment Convention in American history. And we’ll get it done in 2018 at the latest. With no help from the Kochs or any other big donor. Everybody wants to have conferences and discussions and write policy papers — and accomplish diddly squat. We’ve got two guys, Loren Enns and Bill Fruth, who, at great personal cost, are out meeting State Legislators and lining up votes. Have Douthat and Fernandez ever accomplished as much? I guess they’re above such actual, real, work.
These guys are thinkers, not doers, so I guess that makes them intellectuals. They have their place, just as William F. Buckley did. People like Reagan and Pence are doers, not thinkers. And lest you forget Reagan was no intellectual. With him, it was America First, period. Deep thinkers like Buckley wanted to give up the Panama Canal. That just didn’t cut it with a common sense patriot like Reagan. Mike Pence is cut from the same cloth.
A lot of people don’t realize yet that from the ashes of the Trump fiasco a new leader has emerged. He’ll take Trump’s populism and ground it on constitutional principles, and the Great Republican Division will be over. Thank God we’ve got Mike Pence.
reaganproject.com 