David Brooks: Anti-Trumpism Has Failed, Largely Because of the Inability of Its Members to Stop Sneering at Their Enemies

Which is how you got Trump in the first place.

You want more Trump? Well this is how you get more Trump.

ExJon writes about David Brooks' new column.

Below, an excerpt from that column.

A lot of us never-Trumpers assumed momentum would be on our side as his scandals and incompetences mounted. It hasn’t turned out that way. I almost never meet a Trump supporter who has become disillusioned. I often meet Republicans who were once ambivalent but who have now joined the Trump train….

Part of the problem is that anti-Trumpism has a tendency to be insufferably condescending. For example, my colleague Thomas B. Edsall beautifully summarized the recent academic analyses of what personality traits supposedly determine Trump support.

Trump opponents, the academics say, are open-minded and value independence and novelty. Trump supporters, they continue, are closed-minded, change-averse and desperate for security.

This analysis strikes me as psychologically wrong (every human being requires both a secure base and an open field - -we can't be divided into opposing camps), journalistically wrong (Trump supporters voted for the man precisely because they wanted transformational change) and an epic attempt to offend 40 percent of our fellow citizens by reducing them to psychological inferiors.

Speaking of Never Trump Failures:

To which Kurt Schlichter adds one of the briefest, funniest insults I've seen in ages:

Kurt has said that nothing gives him more satisfaction (besides his huge house and hot wife) than seeing people mercilessly bust on Bill Kristol and his failed Cuck Cruise business. So, if you ever see Captain Stubby on the street, say "Ahoy."

posted by Ace of Spades at 06:40 PM

| Access Comments