Donald Trump has passed through the gauntlet and is the Republican nominee
Its been a personal quest to stay out of the presidential contest debate to whatever extent possible.
Now the nominee is clear. Though not surprising today, it was not the person most folks would have predicted in July of 2015. In fact it was likely that even Donald Trump thought he could roll for a while, be outrageous, and then get back to business as usual.
The more he stretched credibility however, the more he appealed to those looking for the ‘not normal’ in politics. Many, whom we might describe as angry and disaffected with politics-as-usual, found his antics refreshing and (in some strange way) appealing. They see in him a willingness to confound convention and ‘normalcy’ in the body politic; “normalcy,” being a condition which has proven inadequate for our nation, and has created a slow road to some bizarre and unrecognizable dystopian squalor.
At the same time, those who created this environment through passive aggressive politics and (even worse) outright compromise of principle, have been freaking out. The #NeverTrump brigade was born and now faces a conundrum with an impending Hillary presidency. ‘Moderates’ who give in to the liberal agenda frequently, screamed “He’s not a conservative!”
As-if conservatism was ever really important to them.
Indeed, I was personally hoping for a Cruz nomination, but had resolved to support the eventual nominee early on. The Cruz loss to Trump is about a 2 or 3 (out of 10) on my give-a-crap meter. There are certainly better things to do than re-wage a battle already over.
However, I know Trump’s history. I see no reason to do a happy dance from a conservative perspective. He is hardly the guy who will fight for the life of the unborn, and his callous campaigning tactics reveal a bit of a dishonorable trait.
I can only gain solace in that he is a far better manager than the Governor of our state Rick Snyder, and that he will likely select some real talent for positions of responsibility. It is entirely possible that the respect he showed Cruz in his speech Tuesday night might also foreshadow future collaboration with Cruz in a way that brings our constitutional condition some relief.
One can truly hope.
This respect shown to Cruz, even after trashing him in a most strange manner, clearly demonstrates a “I play to win at any cost” attitude, which can seem harsh, but admittedly has results. Think in terms of ‘bomb the crap out of them, subdue, rebuild, and be friends.’ OK, I suppose I get it.
Some people don’t know when to stop dropping the bombs however.
Ugliness in politics is universal. And surely another reason to stay out of the fray was the number of friends who had staked all of their credibility on either candidate, and had left little to no wiggle room for when the results of the contest played out. Some people with little or no credibility IMO, also chose sides and became simply unbearable in the process.
It was clear that engaging in the issue would never be a productive enterprise, and that hard feelings would be the side effect. For my own purposes, casual support of my candidate became the rule early on I Frankly, the end of this Republican contest is more than welcome in my eyes. Trump being about 4th on my list at the beginning, is now the candidate.
I must say that there are some folks who cannot stop poking the dead horse however. This part of the process is over, yet one character in the ‘doesn’t-know-when-to-stop’ play couches a unification statement that is laughable. Never having supported anyone but Trump, and viciously attacking any others he pretends unity for the sake of the Republic, writing:
Our Republic is at the Crossroads
Do conservatives want to risk a Bernie or Hillary and four more years of destruction? Haven’t we seen what eight years of Obama has done to this country? While I feel the pain of the Cruz supporters it’s time to let it go and get behind Donald Trump unless of course the future of our Republic matters none.Why is it that so many “conservatives” are only conservative when it suits their purposes and not when it doesn’t? When men like Bobby Knight, Gene Keady and Lou Holtz that generations of young men grew up learning what it means to be a man of integrity and honor and simply to be a winner all endorse Trump shouldn’t that speak volumes? It does to me.
Several months ago, this is the same guy who had to be removed from the RightMichigan.Com facebook page because of his spamming anti-Cruz propaganda.
Some of the propaganda presenting the Texas Senator as the devil, a druggie, a philanderer, a Wall Street crony, to name a few. The posts were vicious, polluting, and plentiful, and took away from other items of interest. He could not control himself, so he lost his page privilege, something that rarely happens.
The first paragraph in the statement above mentions “pain” he feels for Cruz supporters. And yes, we can appreciate the call for unity. If we had selected a Bush, Rubio, Cruz, etc ticket, then the prevailing side would certainly attempt to endear itself to former political opponents. Its how things roll.
The vitriol and past messaging from some however is beyond redemption. There exists zero credibility in such statements when they have seriously propagated such nonsense as Cruz being a satanist seeking the presidency.
“Feeling the pain?”
And what about the statement about Bobby Knight, Gene Keady and Lou Holtz? Really? So its compulsory and honorable to examine the records of those men; to consider their past for credibility, while endorsing a man who’s history is littered with very non-Republican or non-Conservative acts, and who’s past might in actuality serve as a warning?
I am so confused.
There will have to be some ‘healing’ in the party to be sure, but Trump advocates will seriously have to learn when to stop insulting those whom they want to bring along. It’s bad enough that there will be those who have been telling us forever that “once the candidate is chosen, its our responsibility to play along” will not heed their own words.
The thought of Hillary in the white house should be enough to scare a person bowel-empty. That screeching criminal has plans for energy, guns and even more unimaginable terrors to unleash on this nation.
Yeah. Its Trump now.
Lets make it work, but don’t pretend we aren’t a little skeptical.
(20)Nuh Uh.
(1)
Good breakdown, Jason.
The only thing that I would add, is that now we are literally looking at another go-around of the age old question what happens when the unstoppable force meets an immovable object. I'll let readers of my post decide which is which.
I have stated earlier who was on my short list of the (then) current field.
Yes, campaigns can (and very often do) get very ugly.
But to be honest, the level of which the this year's race began to auger into the dump surprised even me. The Detroit debate was literally the tipping point where it was next to impossible to discuss anything relevant about candidates with anyone (outside of my political circles) without the whole thing turning into a caricature of itself. And this is even before arguing any "differences" between "Team r" & "Team d".
In the past, I would've cautioned about waiting for who the Constitution or Libertarians parties would be running this year. Taking into account the MSM's bipolar love/hate thing with Trump, I just don't see that as an option this year.
I pray for continued help from God, show me MY faults oh Lord. Show me where I'm seeing through my own preferences. Show me, God, how to act even when I see the truth. Thank you for Your grace that empowers, helping me to trust You. Help me, God, to attend to the large beam in my own eye. Show me if there be any way in me that is not Your way and help me to change my mind. I pray for help to not participate with any stirring of strife or conflict, let my words always be seasoned with grace. Lord, you know my heart and how all my life I've been tempted to render an eye for an eye and hurt for hurt. Though some may hate me or just misunderstand, my desire is not to choose this way or that way but Your way, dear God. Help me to yield to Your ways being higher than my ways. I'm not ashamed of Him. He brought me good news when I was afar off.
It's not my focus today to pray that people be turned to this man or that man but to the man who gave Himself up so that we could be called the sons of God, Jesus our savior. I pray that we would be drawn to Him who is always right. I pray that we forget not any of His benefits. I pray that we remind ourselves who He is and what are the fruits of those who follow Him.
Fair write-up. Believe me, there are thin-skinned assholes going way overboard on both sides of the primary fence on this one. Been a great experience being involved the campaign, tho. Probably why I no longer identify as a Conservative™ or allegiance to Party℠.
Once the dust settles with Trump taking office in January, I may revisit the aforementioned.
Someone (a Trump supporter) actually called me a leftist for this post.
Still trying to figure out the mental acrobatics to get there, but it shows that the sensitivity on these races can reach incredible heights. I would caution those who want to build a coalition around Trump that there are a lot of folks who might still come on board, but can be turned away forever if the wrong attitude is displayed. The ego can be a fragile thing.
Leftist? Jeeezus, the stupid runs thick in some people. Leftist you are not. Easily cucked into the trap of rallying for piety-based talking points of marginal support? Without question. Look, I've heard all the same Leftist shit from your Bible-thumpin', Holier than thou Cruz side and, absolutely the worst offender in the state is the Kashube broad with her head up The 'Grate' One's ass that sits between you and me. That's a genuinely narrow-minded nasty bitch. Do I care? Nope. She's a very, very, small percentage of this state and America, which cares even less.
As for Mr. Trump building coalitions, well, I'm confident that an extraordinarily accomplished businessman with holdings spanning the globe has a handle on such things but, I certainly will get busy passing said advice along. Ironically, tho, throughout this entire primary it has not been about pandering to those who are willfully destined to remain ignorant, it has been about those who go listen to what the man believes, his clearly stated platform, and genuine character that has built its powerful movement or, in your words, coalition. The truly ignorant gleans their information from the chattering class be it TV or talk radio, which has its own agenda. That's a given.
You're right about fragile egos. The Chalkening on campuses is no better example than that. Feminism has led to a matriarchy society of grrrrlpower, beta manlet pussies and, gelatinous hermaphroditic Eloi. All social justice tomfoolery. Hell, even within your comment the aforementioned elements are there in said advice regarding the populous of Safe Space butthurt that walk among us. The thing I am truly enjoying now is that there is a New Right coming into its own that is exposing, deposing and, disposing the chains of the old paradigm where The Left has exhausted any ideas to remain relevant and, The Right who has survived by pandering to them.
Mark my words, political correctness will fall in the near future. How it will be accomplished is through free speech and fuck your feelings.
What a great time to be alive!
Oh lookie here? Two assholes say Jason is a Leftist!
Perfect. Now, it's three assholes who think Jason is a Leftist. The dipshittery of republicants in Michigan never fail to amaze!
Was one of those three votes Bill Schuette?
Could be...
Having seen that comment last night, the troll had no credibility. Therefore we can't call it a Trump supporter though it tried desperately to insist it was such. It was a far lefty, bored and trying to cause chaos and mayhem.
Like it Jason. There are very few folks out there who understand the machinations of this election cycle--and the involvement of Mitt Romney/Paul Ryan since October 2015. They hedged their bets and got mainstream media to spew the brokered convention manipulation at that time. Romney continued this election meddling by spewing endorsements for which I thank him as who cares what he thinks. Does anyone really believe that the Utah outcome was real? The Minnesota outcome was the best--Scott Walker's/Paul Ryan's state--watching that unfold--pretending that a Romney endorsement of Cruz save the day. All this really did is rally the electorate not to stop Cruz or Trump--but to put Romney in his place. To piss off the Electorate even more came Colorado--the straw that broke the camel's back. Romney made huge miscalculations in his manipulation of the primary election process. He never factored in the intelligence of the electorate--or the fact that his old-school ideas no longer work. Nonetheless, I would not be surprised if Scott Walker is Trump's VP choice to appease the Romney/Ryan camp. But, how cool would it be if Trump choose Elizabeth Warren. This would bring us full circle of the original intent of the Constitution that the VP be a member of the opposing party. But mostly, I'd like to see a true conservative like Judge Andrew Napolitano for VP and if not that--my choice for SCOTUS.
Now, let's be of one mind and keep our eye on the ball. I appreciate your sentiments and enthusiasm. The heart of this article by Jason, I believe, is to be able to say, that's history and encourage healing. God bless you!
Perhaps we should go from the opposite end.
Perhaps they, the Trump and Cruz supporters, should be told to create their own party: what is a political cannibal? Enough of ripping this one apart.
Reading my mind, Jason???...I just posted this on FB not 5 minutes ago...
Okay, enough!!!...Here's the deal, Mr. Trump...
Do not presume, demand, or expect the conservative vote...
We pay attention, we expect action, and truth...So far, you have offered little of either...It is time for you to get off "The Apprentice" stage, and start acting like the leader your resume' and track record indicate...Start with some specific policy statements, and some names of those people that you will surround yourself with; politicians, business leaders, legal experts and the like...
Our votes are not yours automatically, you have to earn them...
If you wish to lead this country, show us how...
Grow up. You're either with or, you're with dipshits like Snyder, who made it clear that he wants no friend in the White House other than Hillary.
No fool like an old fool comes to mind...
Thanks Mr. Backers, for reminding.
“I’m a Republican; I ride for the brand,” said state Attorney General Bill Schuette, a possible candidate for governor in 2018 who had helped organize former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush's campaign in Michigan, as he confirmed he’d support the Republican nominee for president without saying Trump by name. “But,” he added, “I’ve been one of the first to say the disparaging comments about Hispanics and Mexicans are deplorable to me. His comments about women and the disabled, that’s not Bill Schuette. That’s not how I view America should be.”
That ^ kind of DNC cultural Marxism pandering republicanism is going to the dustbin of history this election.