Just about everyone who isn’t carrying a “Deplorables” sign is bewildered and trying to figure out what a Trump victory means for our future as a country. And this includes Republicans. Last night Kossacks went through various stages of resignation, horror, defiance, grief and depression with the prospect of a Republican president, a Senate majority, a Congressional majority, and a clear path to nomination of Supreme Court candidates from the far right. But all of this horror and grief regarding Republican majorities is based upon the worst case scenario that Trump is in lock-step with the Republican caucuses and his advisors. And we already know that he is not. He isn’t a politiican. He has no background, education or information about how the White House works. He probably never even watched an episode of the West Wing. So this morning, considering the weakness of Trump’s support on his own side, I took a gander on Redstate to see what activist Republicans — many of whom joined the NeverTrump bandwagon (and are still on it!) are saying about Trump’s unprecedented victory.
A bit of a sample:
A bit of a quote from this diary:
In closing, let me address one other item. The ugly, gross, newly empowered group known as the alt-right are going to see this as a validation of their vile worldview. They will see this as a successful conquest and takeover of the Republican party. If you leave, and leave it to them, then they have what they wish. A party, a platform, and the reins of power. Do you want racist xenophobes to have that kind of power in the United States? No?
Then don’t hand it to them. In January, begin holding President Trump (which he will be) accountable. Hold your representatives and senators accountable. Do what political activists are supposed to do, especially conservative activists. Fight the bad, encourage the good. Fight the power, and also use it.
We’re going to have to rebuild the conservative movement. Maybe one day, maybe even soon, that might mean a different party. But right now and for the foreseeable future, you should have one goal in mind. To put it in the parlance of the social media armies: don’t let the haters win.
This diarist, for one, and other NeverTrumpers as a whole, are not in bed with the alt-right, Trump’s core constituency. He vows to fight, just as Kos is calling us to action, so the Republican establishment is calling the NeverTrumps to action, to fight the alt-right. The civil war is just beginning.
Congratulations to Donald Trump: Now Let's Rein Him In
Highlights from this diary:
Congratulations to Donald Trump. I think he’s a terrible human being, but I’ll choose to be optimistic about what this means for the country. I was resigned to the idea that conservatives had lost the Court. Now we haven’t. Somewhere, Antonin Scalia is looking down on these results and smiling. I hope this means we can finally take measures to secure our border. I don’t think anyone believes Donald Trump will build a wall and make Mexico pay for it — but hopefully he will do more than Hillary Clinton would have.
When Trump seeks to do things that promote classical liberal principles — of liberty, the free market, and the Constitution — I’ll be with him. When he seeks to damage those principles, I’ll oppose him. I won’t let partisan bias stand in the way of offering you honest commentary. Hopefully readers have learned that.
Meanwhile, I’m going to enjoy watching the lefties show a Strange New Respect for the separation of powers and the need to resist executive overreach. I’m with them on that. Let’s pass some now. They’ll support them for partisan reasons, and I’ll support them for principled reasons, but no matter. Let’s restore Congress’s proper place in government and start chipping away at the imperial presidency. You don’t even have to wait until Donald Trump takes the oath of office to do it. In fact, you probably shouldn’t wait.
On the more whacky end of things:
Trump is an antichrist because he wants others to worship the same system that he worships. He wants you to think that you can worship both God and mammon. He doesn’t care to lead you directly away from Christ, because he doesn’t care about Christ. He isn’t antichrist because he is intentionally waging war against the saints, but because he doesn’t regard God as important at all.
Ultimately, Trump is not dangerous because he is immoral, but because he is amoral. Trump has already bought into the system entirely. He is as vacuous a candidate as there can be, giving no thought to the moral questions and the theological issues that underpin those questions. He doesn’t care about who he hurts or what philosophy he takes, as long as it gains him power. He is an antichrist not because he is explicitly evil, shouting and screaming against God, but because he disregards God and morality all together. It’s easy to fight against someone who says, “Reject Christ or die” but it is far more difficult when the person never brings up God at all and only makes promises of prosperity and happiness.
There is a lot of thoughtful analysis in this ‘whacky’ religious evaluation of Trump, though, which is why I include it here. It shows that the evangelical right, who supported Trump in unprecedented numbers, are not hewing to a religious ethic, but to a newfangled “prosperity gospel” that we have seen growing stronger among the religious right in recent cycles.
I think the almost uniformly negative and dire assessments from the activist RIGHT, I don’t think Trump has either a mandate or a strong following. He has determined and horrified conservatives who want to get their party back from the extremists, and the struggle has now begun in earnest. I can’t help but think (somewhat hopefully perhaps) that there are enough of these people in Congress and the Senate who can make common cause with the more realistic Democratic caucus who can, indeed, rein in our unexpectedly horrible President-elect.
