Aug 14^th

George Will is pushing for the Republican Party’s worst nightmare, the loss of the 2016 election and doing it even before the election starts. How is it possible that a devoted Republican could do such a thing? Has George Will defected and become a liberal? After all liberals do occasionally defect and become Republicans, one even got elected President as a Republican.

George has not become a liberal (heaven forfend), that such a thing could happen. George is now insisting that Donald Trump is not a Republican; moreover, he insists, neither are most of his followers. George Will declares that Trump has undergone many “conversions of convenience…on health care, abortions, etc. His makeover demonstrates that he is a counterfeit Republican and no conservative.” Then Will claims that “Buckley’s legacy (meaning the intellectual respectability of “The National Review”) is being betrayed by invertebrates now saying that although Trump goes too far…” He means that those who do not reject Trump are without the necessary backbone to do it. In short, if I may condense George Will’s voluminous prose to its political essence, Will is insisting that Republicans must set and maintain boundaries on who can be a Republican. To paraphrase Sam Goldwyn, that means George Will wants to “include Donald Trump out.”

That is, politely put, wishful thinking. If any group could draw the boundaries for who can be a Republican it would be the RNC, the Republican National Committee. Perhaps George Will’s characterization of invertebrates should be applied to the RNC because they haven’t been able to dismiss one of their own members. David Agema from Michigan has posted homophobic, Islamophobic and similar affronts to the party’s attempts at inclusiveness. The RNC would like him to resign but he won’t and the RNC simply cannot get rid of him. If the RNC can’t exclude unwanted members of their own gang how can they police the boundaries of their party and if they can’t do it who can? George Will?

Donald Trump has shown himself very sensitive to slights. Megyn Kelly who had an issue with Trump has just announced that she is taking a two week hiatus from her popular program. Her problem with Trump may have had nothing to do with that, but who knows? George Will’s column suggesting that Trump and followers are not real Republicans will not result in any loss of papers carrying his column. What might happen, though, is “The Donald” picking up his many followers and starting the Donald Party. I can see his florid face and shock of red hair on bumper stickers attached to cars everywhere. If that happens the Democrats will elect anyone they want to  nominate.