Tags
Bill Kristol, Chjarles Krauthammer, Conservatism, Constitution, Donald Trump, Elitism, Elitism and Class, George Will, Richard Brookhiser
Unified Patriots by Vassar Bushmills
I wrote the essay that follows in Jan 2015, almost 6 months before Donald Trump announced his candidacy. So read in that context, for the conversation was more about the hard solutions being offered by radicals such as Ted Cruz than the soon to be “clown”, Donald Trump.
Who doesn’t hang on every word of Charles Krauthammer? He is conservatism’s finest wordsmith, the last word on just about every outrage of government for the past 15 years. For many, Charles has been America’s Ben Franklin on every public issue, bringing a historic scope to the sociology and psychology of government and politics unmatched by any other commentator.
There’s only one hitch. Ben Franklin went where Charles isn’t willing to go.
Last Friday, while commenting about Mitt Romney getting into the presidential race again, Charles mentioned that if Mitt jumps in, it would split moderate voters (and establishment big money), regretfully hinting that this might, in turn, hand the 2016 nomination to, well you know, one of “them”; any one of a number of wrecking-crew Sam Adams types such as Ted Cruz, Scott Walker, Rick Perry, just to name a few. In Charles’ eyes, these are all are unsuitable for that high office, or for that matter, a good game of cribbage over a good port after dinner.
It seems the one thing that separates Dr Krauthammer from Dr Franklin was Ben’s willingness to break with the King and start up a new nation here, risking life, fortune and sacred honor in the process. For Charles, being asked to cast his lot in with common revolutionaries seems to be a bridge too far.
Consequently, we should be more careful about Charles’ strategic advice, for while the finest of analysts, it’s a dead giveaway about where he is unwilling to go, or see America taken. He is not alone, so learn to look for this status preference in other conservatives, from seniors such as George Will, to a host of newbies such as Erick Erickson. Their rice bowls and public reputations are bound up in the survival of the current King, the Washington Establishment, and can be relied on to pull their punches when the Establishment, and their place in it, are placed in jeopardy[…]