Friday, September 23, 2016

Christian Schneider and Mark Belling



Mark Belling positively eviscerates Christian Schneider's most recent Never Trump piece in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

Belling takes on Schneider's Never Trump points and dismantles them. No, he crushes them.

On his program yesterday, Belling read Schneider's column, the entire thing.

The opening paragraphs refer to the founding of the Republican Party in Ripon in 1854. Schneider moves from the old party to the new party
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In 2016, the Republican Party nominated a presidential candidate that stands for exactly none of these foundational principles. In fact, Donald Trump will gladly tell anyone with a microphone that his rise to prominence within the party is due to his antagonism towards noncitizen immigrants. In 1854, immigrants fought for their right to vote; in 2016, Trump wants to rip families apart by deporting them altogether. If you’re of the wrong religion, Trump wants to deny you entry altogether.

Further, small government Republicans have been duped into supporting a self-declared strongman who seeks to implement big government policy changes on the force of his personality alone.
Belling interjects, "Nobody's been duped. Everybody's eyes are open here."

I agree.

Schneider goes on and concludes:

For those conscious conservatives who reject both Trump’s government-aggrandizing plans and attempts to drag the party towards European-style white nationalism, there’s a special irony waiting around the corner. Last week, Republican National Committee chairman Reince Priebus threatened Republicans that don’t bow before Trump, hinting that the RNC might penalize future GOP candidates that didn’t offer their endorsement in 2016.

So for those keeping score, the chairman of the party that seeks to prove top-down government doesn’t work is attempting to muscle future local and national candidates into conformity. In a sense, Priebus disproved his own efficacy, becoming a laughingstock among establishment Republicans. “The idea of a greater purpose beyond oneself may be alien to political party bosses like Reince Priebus,” wrote Ohio Gov. John Kasich adviser John Weaver in a statement, “but it is at the center of everything Governor Kasich does.” Kasich is a notable Trump holdout, refusing to even attend a national convention in his home state.

Sadly, the party can no longer tell people “you are as good as I,” as the Republican Party stands in direct opposition to the principles under which it was founded. The party was formed when Alvan Earl Bovay felt his party no longer spoke for him. Now, when the 2016 embarrassment stands adjourned, the party needs another Bovay to kill it and start anew. The new Republican Party is proving why the old Republican Party was so necessary.
Belling offers a succinct analysis.

He says, "This is a load of crap."

Yes, that's exactly what it is.

Belling accurately states, "Donald Trump is not the Republican Party." He explains that Trump is the most prominent Republican, being the presidential nominee, but the Republicans have over 30 governorships, the U.S. House, and the U.S. Senate.

To suggest that Trump is the only Republican that matters is an illogical statement.

Belling points out that "if Trump wins, he doesn't automatically get to do everything he wants." Republicans in the House and Senate can resist bad ideas they disagree with. Of course.

Belling shows how ridiculous it is for Schneider to "act as though that if Trump wins, all of these things will automatically happen and that they will become Republicanism." He correctly explains that there will likely be compromises. Trump's big government proposals, such as his childcare proposal, won't happen.

A further point Belling nails: "Here's the other problem with this illogical column. Oh, my goodness, the Republicans are now going to be a party of big government -- LIKE TRUMP'S THE FIRST ONE EVER TO DO THAT!"

Belling cites past instances of Republicans being responsible for growing the government, like George H.W. Bush's massive tax increase and George W. Bush's No Child Left Behind education program. Big government Republicans are nothing new. Eisenhower and Nixon expanded government. The Republicans have a long history of doing other than advocating and enacting limited government. Belling says it's "absurd" and "laughable" to suggest that Trump is the first to abandon the old GOP principles.

In sum, Trump won't be the end of conservatism if he wins. It's crazy to say that Trump, and Trump alone, has the power to lead the party astray.

Belling says putting a "serial liar" in the White House is not an alternative. A Hillary Clinton presidency and a federal judiciary packed with liberals and a Democrat Congress is not a "minor inconvenience that we can wade our way through."

He rails that Schneider's statements are illogical and based purely on emotion, that the Never Trump people's feelings are hurt because Trump won. They want their party back. They wish they had another candidate as the nominee. Belling yells, "SO DO I!"

The thing is Hillary is not an option. Belling argues that we can survive a Trump presidency but a Hillary Clinton presidency would ensure long-term damage to the country.

He says that Schneider's remark that Republicans planning to vote for Trump have been duped is "insulting and condescending."

It's illogical to enable Hillary to become president. If you're a conservative, a President Trump would be better for America than a President Hillary Clinton.

It's as simple as that.

Belling did a terrific job of illustrating the nonsense of the Never Trump stance. He absolutely nailed it.




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