At some point, I need to write something about my resentment of Rick Perlstein and others who see a seamless continuity from Reagan to MAGA. Trumpism is different in degree and kind from what came before. Those of us who came up in the old conservative movement would not be so frightened and passionate about defeating Trump if he was jus…
At some point, I need to write something about my resentment of Rick Perlstein and others who see a seamless continuity from Reagan to MAGA. Trumpism is different in degree and kind from what came before. Those of us who came up in the old conservative movement would not be so frightened and passionate about defeating Trump if he was just a blunter Romney. I will concede *a lot* of blind spots, willful ignorance, an excuse making over the years, but there has been a fundamental shift. Why do think Liz Cheney was more aggressive than the Biden DoJ and many congressional Democrats? Why do you think people like Bill, Tim, Sarah, etc. are willing to chuck aside decades of friendships, professional networks, and all the comforts of conformity? Among other problems, I think Perlstein's damn-them-all characterization enables progressive complacency. If Trump is not a break with the past, then you think you can endure another four years of GOP rule and then the pendulum will swing back again. In truth, under Trump 2.0, it could get a hell of a lot worse than the worst of the Iraq War and the Great Recession. Even Democrats can't seem to imagine the global aggression that would seize on a weakened NATO. Nor do people seem willing to face the crimes against humanity that will unfold under the "Mass Deportations Now" banner. Such things were not the secret wishes of, say, George H.W. Bush or his voters. We now need the broadest coalition, one that includes sincere, good-willed people who cannot be dismissed as self-deluding proto-MAGAs.
Well stated. Long ago I voted Reagan as a better alternative to the projected international weakness and national malaise of late '70s Democratic leadership. Since then I varied my support between conservatives and liberals, triangulating towards centerist policies.
However, Trumpism and MAGA isn't conservative.. it's a category error, an evil movement, and NOT the: "natural outcome of conservative policies" as some are want to tell us.
At some point, I need to write something about my resentment of Rick Perlstein and others who see a seamless continuity from Reagan to MAGA. Trumpism is different in degree and kind from what came before. Those of us who came up in the old conservative movement would not be so frightened and passionate about defeating Trump if he was just a blunter Romney. I will concede *a lot* of blind spots, willful ignorance, an excuse making over the years, but there has been a fundamental shift. Why do think Liz Cheney was more aggressive than the Biden DoJ and many congressional Democrats? Why do you think people like Bill, Tim, Sarah, etc. are willing to chuck aside decades of friendships, professional networks, and all the comforts of conformity? Among other problems, I think Perlstein's damn-them-all characterization enables progressive complacency. If Trump is not a break with the past, then you think you can endure another four years of GOP rule and then the pendulum will swing back again. In truth, under Trump 2.0, it could get a hell of a lot worse than the worst of the Iraq War and the Great Recession. Even Democrats can't seem to imagine the global aggression that would seize on a weakened NATO. Nor do people seem willing to face the crimes against humanity that will unfold under the "Mass Deportations Now" banner. Such things were not the secret wishes of, say, George H.W. Bush or his voters. We now need the broadest coalition, one that includes sincere, good-willed people who cannot be dismissed as self-deluding proto-MAGAs.
Well stated. Long ago I voted Reagan as a better alternative to the projected international weakness and national malaise of late '70s Democratic leadership. Since then I varied my support between conservatives and liberals, triangulating towards centerist policies.
However, Trumpism and MAGA isn't conservative.. it's a category error, an evil movement, and NOT the: "natural outcome of conservative policies" as some are want to tell us.