Trump Embodies Conservative Ideals by tristero

Say what you want about Trump the man, but he has some good ideas. 

Here’s the latest example.  It’s titled “I Voted for Trump. And I Sorely Regret It.” Let’s not dwell on the fact that the title is a gross distortion of fact (Krein didn’t merely vote for Trump. He founded an entire far-right magazine devoted to glorifying Donald Trump and Trumpism). And there’s no reason to directly engage  Krein’s op-ed, because, thankfully,  Eric Armstrong has so thoroughly ripped Krein’s reasoning to shreds. 

Let’s just briefly focus on the intellectual conceit behind the entire Krein initiative, the notion that Trump articulated actual ideas during the campaign. We will be hearing this a lot going forward from rightwing pseudo-intellectuals and apologists. Sure, Trump’s a moron, but he was on to something with that Wall. Or yes, Trump’s a racist who hired racists, but white lives matter, too. 

Don’t be fooled. It’s just an attempt to separate the walking stink bomb that is Donald Trump from the intellectual stink bomb that is modern conservatism. 

There’s just one problem here. Modern conservatism is Donald Trump. He embodies all their most cherished values. Modern American conservatism is ignorant, denies science, denies economic reality, is racist, misogynistic, power-hungry, narcissistic, and extremely dangerous. 

Like Donald Trump. There is no way to reject the man and not also reject conservatism’s fundamental ideas and ideology. 

And if, like Krein, you’re a member of the conservative movement and think that you can reject Trump, you are consciously being intellectually dishonest. Oh, the media will fall for it if you’re glib enough – and Krein is plenty glib – but there’s still no there there.