- Joined
- Dec 20, 2009
- Messages
- 75,485
- Reaction score
- 39,816
- Location
- USofA
- Gender
- Male
- Political Leaning
- Conservative
As predicted, the pull of tribalism is strong enough for Trump to split the conservative movement into those who value loyalty to the party over conservative principles, and those who do not. The mandated maternity leave is simply the latest incident (as would be expanding Medicaid).
Call it the Donald Trump Litmus Test. Time and again this campaign cycle, Trump's supporters in the media have changed their opinions on key conservative issues in order to support or defend the Republican presidential nominee. Viewpoints and policy proposals that were once anathema to them are now accepted and even celebrated. And that phenomenon has split the conservative media...
"Nine months ago, if you had asked Sarah Palin, Scott Brown, Jerry Falwell Jr., or Ann Coulter whether they would endorse a figure who takes the Code Pink, Michael Moore, MoveOn.org view of Iraq ('Bush lied, people died'), one suspects they all would have recoiled at the prospect," Last wrote at the time. "Yet in the hours after Trump insisted that George W. Bush intentionally lied the country into war, not one of the major figures who have endorsed him was willing to contradict his claim."
Last offers more recent exampes as well. For instance, he notes how conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt rushed to defend Trump's affinity for Vladimir Putin by arguing that Putin has "served his country's national interest" better than President Obama has served the U.S.
"It was as if Trumpism caused Hewitt to forget everything he knows about Madison, liberty, inalienable rights, and political philosophy," he wrote Wednesday. (Hewitt did not respond to a request for comment.)....
"At this point,... all people who aren't afraid to say they support Trump will fall in line behind almost anything he does."