There have been a lot of good articles written in the past few days trying to help people (like those at National Review) understand why many good Americans, including many conservatives and Christians, are supporter Donald Trump. Here are just two examples:
National Review: It’s Too Late to Dump on Trump
By Robert Oscar LopezMatt Walsh tweeted his delight at a feverish chain of twenty-two essays denouncing Donald Trump in National Review. Coming only a few days after Sarah Palin’s less than stellar speech announcing her support for Trump’s candidacy, the Dump-on-Trump-a-thon bordered on hysteria.
Organized alphabetically by the last names of the essayists, beginning with Glenn Beck, the prose feels somewhat like a roller coaster. The authors include many people I know personally and admire. There are lots of money quotes like “He’s effectively vowing to be an American Mussolini” (Boaz), “We can talk about whether he’s a boor … a creep … or a louse” (Charen), and “forget the hair like tinsel on discarded Christmas trees” (Helprin). Ouch!
The tightly knit Brahmin caste feels the need to intervene. They must rush in and correct the thought processes of the conservative masses, because they see many things in the pro-Trump movement that discomfort them. Yet the elite brain trust of conservatives, with their editorial positions and contributor contracts at FOX News, are doubling down too late on a platform whose time came and went. The deeper issue isn’t Donald Trump at all; it’s the Brahmins and their increasing tendency to misread what’s going on in the lives of their readers.
Read more: American Thinker
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The Voters’ Trump Love Affair Explained in Terms Even Beltway Pundits Can Understand
By Selwyn DukeDonald Trump’s rise this election season has been historic, amounting to something heretofore unseen in the annals of American politics. Given this, it’s perhaps not surprising that many are still befuddled by the phenomenon. Pundit Charles Krauthammer is bewildered, saying that “for some reason” Trump “is immune to the laws of contradiction.” (In reality, Democrats get away with contradiction continually; the only difference is that the media actually report on Trump’s.) Also in the news recently is that some find his appeal among evangelicals “inexplicable.” Of course, it’s all quite explainable.
In an earlier piece — which I strongly urge you to read — I expanded on certain factors evident in the Trump phenomenon. Trump is
- tapping into anger against the Establishment and over immigration and is a plain-spoken breath of fresh air.
- sounding a nationalistic note in an age where it is not the “elite” norm.
- not campaigning as conservative but a populist, which, almost by definition, tends to make one popular in an era of mass discontent.
- a crusader against hated political correctness, which has stifled tongues and killed careers nationwide. And in being the first prominent person to defeat the thought police (at least for now) — and by not cowering and apologizing to them — he has become a hero.
And as I wrote, “[W]hen you have a hero, leading the troops in the heat of battle against a despised oppressor, you don’t worry about his marriages, past ideological indiscretions or salty language. You charge right behind him.” This is largely why Trump’s contradictions don’t matter. Yet more can be said.
Read more: American Thinker
Image credit: www.cowgernation.com.
