« Mid-Morning Art Thread | Main | Gestapo DOJ Sends Election Meddlers to 24 States; Ron DeSantis Tells Them They Are Forbidden to Enter State Polling Places »

The Morning Rant: Minimalist Edition

What is MAGA? Is it the personal philosophy of Donald Trump, or is it a natural and inevitable response to the leftward lurch of the Democrat party and the increasing focus of the Republican party (GOPe) on the interests of their corporate masters? And of course both parties are in the thrall of foreign interests...and money!

MAGA will hopefully outlive Donald Trump, regardless of its name, and its antecedents are ancient and noble. Look no further than the Declaration of Independence!

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

And George Washington's Farewell Address created a template for the execution of our foreign affairs that in retrospect would have served us well over the last 20+ years, and whose precepts are an integral part of MAGA.

But is MAGA being co-opted by others in the same way the Tea Party was neutered by GOPe and the globalists who would have America as just another one of their vassal states?

"DeSanctimonious" is Not About the Florida Governor

It wasn’t just the Democrats who reacted, organized and responded with the urgency of a 2012 counter-offensive. The rebellious threat from the working class was as much abhorred by the Republican political class, the Bushes, McCains and McConnells who saw the Tea Party uprising as toxic to their control.

The working-class uprising, the originating assembly of what is now the MAGA movement represented in that Massachusetts winter special election had to be destroyed, and that was why the Tea Party movement had to be co-opted and destroyed by the Republican party. From their professionally Republican perspective, including the billionaire and Wall Street donors who try to influence the club platform, there are no limits to what they will do to retain control, nothing is out-of-bounds.

That’s why we saw the GOPe primary ‘splitter strategy‘ first deployed to scale in 2012. Romney was installed as the nominee, and gleefully the GOPe watched as he was defeated by Obama’s reelection bid in November. The status-quo was achieved. The DC UniParty was repaired, and all things were back under club control. Two wings of the same UniParty once again giving the illusion of choice.

And then came Donald Trump, who tapped into the frustration of much of America that saw their interests subsumed by the globalist/corporate agenda, and whose cultural traditions were being undermined by the insanity of the hard left.

But are his political descendants simply the tools the uniparty will use to destroy what is possibly America's last hope to recover from the destruction of its foundations in limited government and freedom from an overweening regulatory state?

DeSantis Megadonor, Billionaire Head of Citadel Investments Ken Griffin, Explains Why He Purchased Ron DeSantis for 2024 and What He Expects from His Investment

[…] While he’s supporting one of this cycle’s biggest culture warriors in DeSantis, Griffin said most hot-button issues — abortion rights, battles over sex education and LGBTQ rights — don’t define his interests. He wants to improve the diversity of the GOP and blunt the vein of populism that has complicated the party’s relationship with the corporate world — two things he’s consulted with House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy about.

If DeSantis is in fact bought and paid for by those who are hostile to the robust nationalist populism that has emerged in America, with the full-throated support of Donald Trump, then his political fortunes will be jeopardized.

Donald Trump and his MAGA sensibilities can energize the conservative base and attract formerly disinterested voters in a way that is unique. That is a function of the times, the renewed sense of enfranchisement after years in the political wilderness, and certainly Trump's charisma and ability to connect with Everyman. But he is also polarizing, as he demonstrated with his inartful comments of a few days ago. Whether they were prescient remains to be seen, but a united front among the front runners of the conservative movement is preferable to a long, angry, vituperative slog before we get to the 2024 election season.