This morning at around 2:00 as I lay awake in bed (I was having one of my insomniac nights), I realized that my appetite for continuing to post on this page has dried up. In particular I was thinking about the next episode of my political podcast in which I was planning to give a brief overview of the stretch of time from June 2015 to the 2016 conventions, tracing how Donald Trump became the nominee. But the thought that struck me was, ‘What’s the point?’ I’ve been posting my own and others’ articles for well over a year and half, spending hours that could have been allocated better, and to what avail? I know there are people who have really appreciated my efforts and have been introduced to writers and publications they wouldn’t otherwise have known about, and that’s a good thing. But have I changed any hearts and minds? I would say that, sadly, the answer is almost certainly no.
The story of “How’d We Get Here?” has now been pretty much overtaken by events, as the Trump Presidency plunges closer to the cliff edge towards which it has been heading ever since the election in November 2016. At this point the truth about the man whom Americans have put in office is becoming ever clearer, as he is obviously panicking about the Mueller investigation’s progress. As has been said by many observers, if Donald Trump is innocent, why is he acting so guilty? He has now hired a new lawyer, Joseph diGenova, who trumpets the idea that the Mueller investigation has as its only purpose to “frame Donald Trump with a falsely-created crime.” That should fly well with his other, harried, legal staff. DiGenova will encourage Trump’s worst impulses, thus hastening the series of firings aimed at getting rid of Mueller. I expect that to happen any day, and when it does—who knows? Much will depend upon the willingness of Congress to speak up. If there’s no real pushback, then the blue wave coming in November will get even wavier.
Well, I could go on, but I’m going to close with two quotations that sum up where I stand myself:
I do believe that the personal character of political leaders is important, and I am a bit chagrined at having people from the religious right suddenly tell me otherwise. I can also warn evangelicals that they should get used to the name “Stormy Daniels,” because they can expect to hear it for the rest of their lives, every time they want to inveigh against the depravity of modern culture. They won’t get the luxury of making peace with Trump’s dissolute personal life now and still being allowed to draw any kind of moral lines in the future. (Robert Tracinski, “Why the Stormy Daniels Story Is a Sign of the Apocalypse” in The Federalist, March 19, 2018).
Of course, no one should underestimate the ability of the Democrats to screw up an election, and it’s possible that the midterms and the 2020 election will end up breaking for Trump’s GOP. If that happens, the Republican Party has no future. I and many others, including younger people, will leave, and the GOP will become largely a regional party, confined to islands of older white voters in the South, the Rust Belt and the mountain states who will be gone in 30 years and who will take the GOP with them.
At that point, some other party — not a “third way” but a new conservative party — will have to take the GOP’s place. That process will take decades, and I will not live to see it. And so I’d prefer to revive the GOP after it is forced back into the minority, when we can have a real fight within the party about what it stands for and who it should support by reforming the Republican National Committee, the primary process and the platform.
The GOP needs to be returned to its foundations in conservative ideas instead of left to drift in mindless rage and willful ignorance. It does not need to be abandoned, nor does it need to be burned to the ground. But it definitely needs to be temporarily evacuated and fumigated.
And so, for the near future, the GOP losing is the only way to win.
(Tom Nichols, “I’m still a Republican, but my party needs to be fumigated” in USA Today, February 12, 2018.)
I would encourage you, if you’ve enjoyed following the various authors and outlets that I’ve posted, that you make the effort to do that on your own. And, most of all, I would urge an exit from any bubbles or silos that you currently inhabit. If you listen to only a couple of extremist voices your views are inevitably going to be skewed. Hey, the air outside can be cold and windy, but it’s pretty bracing, after all.