{"id":6628,"date":"2016-03-01T13:49:41","date_gmt":"2016-03-01T13:49:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/2016\/03\/01\/another-round-on-trump\/"},"modified":"2016-03-01T13:49:41","modified_gmt":"2016-03-01T13:49:41","slug":"another-round-on-trump","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/2016\/03\/01\/another-round-on-trump\/","title":{"rendered":"Another Round on Trump"},"content":{"rendered":"

This from a regular reader, professional philosopher, and Trump supporter:<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

You're disturbed<\/a> that so many Trump supporters "refuse to admit the man's negatives".  Maybe they do refuse, but I think many of them feel as I do.  He has many negative qualities, and maybe in some ways he's even worse than the average politician, but — as you yourself have often emphasized — we're no longer in a situation where politics is about people with shared loyalties and values coming together to engage in fair rational discussion with each other.  We are in a war.  The left simply hates us, wants to destroy us culturally and maybe personally to while they're at it.  The real American people are facing an existential crisis. <\/span><\/p>\n

So what really matters in this situation?  Not the personal failings of any candidate, not even the likelihood that he's sincere or able to do what he says he'll do. What really matters for now is that he is taking the crucial necessary _first step_ toward organizing a real movement to defend America and the west.  What if, when Muslims were poised to invade France, we found out that Charles Martel was actually a child molester?  What if I knew, in 1939, that Churchill was a total fraud and psychopath?  I'd say that in that  kind of situation these considerations make no difference.  If he [Trump] can speak a few basic truths that inspire people to fight back and stand up, for the first and possibly last time, that's all that matters.  (My analogies are extreme, but not _that_ extreme.)  I realize that we won't agree on this; Trumpites and mainstream conservatives are as badly polarized as Trumpites and leftists (which may have deep implications).  But I offer these remarks as a way to understand why the valid criticisms you make of him just don't have much force for me, or for millions of others, I'm assuming.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

This is a good response in part because I do reluctantly incline to the view that we are in a war with the Left.  So why should I be concerned with the merely personal foibles and failings of the one man with the best chance of stopping the leftist juggernaut?  Who cares that he is a low life, a vulgarian, a cultural polluter, a hypocrite, a narcissist, an egomaniac, and a serial liar and bullshitter?  One of his most recent lies was the one about not knowing who David Duke is.  But not only did he lie, he lied unnecessarily.  There was no need for him to tell that particular lie since a disavowal of David Duke and the KKK would not have hurt him much, especially since he had already<\/em> disavowed Duke. This speaks to Trump's lack of good judgment and also perhaps to a lack of seriousness.  Would someone who is serious about winning the presidency lie unnecessarily?  He also demonstrates contempt for his audience in telling a lie that is transparently a lie.<\/span><\/p>\n

But why should we care about any of this?  One reason is that these are not merely personal defects but defects that could bring down the conservative movement and lead to a victory, perhaps even a landslide victory, by Hillary come November.  This is what lefties are counting on.  They hope Trump will destroy the GOP.  You say you don't care?  But then what party will implement conservative ideas and policies?  The Constitution Party<\/a>? <\/span><\/p>\n

Another reason is that it is not clear that Trump is better equipped to defeat Hillary.  Is he better qualified than Cruz?  It is not clear to me or to anyone.  If it is clear to my reader, I should like him to tell me why Trump is a more effective culture warrior than Cruz.  And let's not underestimate the opposition Trump will get in the general election.  Women, minorities, leftists, and a sizeable number of conservatives will align against him.  Among the conservatives, many will not vote at all, and some will vote for Hillary to punish Trump and the GOP for supporting him.<\/span><\/p>\n

I appreciate the force of my reader's historical analogies.  But let me try one of my own.  Would you have supported the Austrian corporal back in '33 to stop the Communists?  Now  we know what happened after 1933.  Abstract from the sequel and imagine yourself to be a German anti-communist who in '33 is trying to make up his mind about the incendiary outsider.  Would you have rolled the dice? 
<\/span><\/p>\n

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This from a regular reader, professional philosopher, and Trump supporter: You're disturbed that so many Trump supporters "refuse to admit the man's negatives".  Maybe they do refuse, but I think many of them feel as I do.  He has many negative qualities, and maybe in some ways he's even worse than the average politician, but … Continue reading “Another Round on Trump”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[180,56],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6628","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-decline-of-the-west","category-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6628","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6628"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6628\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6628"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6628"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6628"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}