Thursday, September 24, 2015

TRUMP AND LOWRY ARE REDUCING MODERN CONSERVATISM TO ITS TRUE ESSENCE

It's embarrassing to watch the slapfight taking place on the right at this moment. Donald Trump, as you know, is boycotting Fox News again. In response, National Review's Rich Lowry -- yeah, the guy who experienced "starbursts" on first glimpsing Sarah Palin -- took to Megyn Kelly's show last night and tried to issue a dominance challenge to Trump:
Rich Lowry told Megyn Kelly that the reason Trump is going after Carly Fiorina is that ‘she cut his balls off with the precision of a surgeon‘ in the last debate and thus she has become a much bigger target for Trump to take aim at.
Via Mediaite, here's the video (originally posted by Trumpite Jim Hoft):



A Twitter fight ensued, in which Trump urged government action against Lowry:



Right-wingers mocked Trump for advocating big government and for misunderstanding the FCC's powers:



(I wonder how many of these conservatives were silent when, under their then-hero George W. Bush, the FCC went to war against broadcasters whose programming included "fleeting expletives." Under pressure from social conservatives, the commission threatened large fines for single instances of four-letter words on the air. But that was the era of post-9/11 Bush, so I guess it was cool.)

Lowry continued to needle Trump:



Lowry also labored mightily to make the moment go viral, retweeting a series of anti-Trump posts and promoting the hashtag #NoBallsTrump, which as I write this, is not trending.



This is what conservatism is right now. It's primarily about feeling insulted, disrespected, and emasculated. It's a turf battle. The immigration issue, for the right, is less about abstract disgust with people of other ethnicities than it is about outrage that people of other ethnicities are venturing onto our turf. Right-wingers are angry about Islamicist terrorism, but they also hate peaceful Muslims because peaceful Muslims are trying to take the practices of a different religion onto our turf. Gun laws? Not on our turf.

Trump has distilled modern conservatism to its essence, and that's why he's been leading in the polls for months: conservatism isn't about issues, it's about anger at anyone who even fleetingly sets foot on your lawn. It's about being enough of a man to tell people you don't like that they need to get the hell off your lawn -- whether or not you'd actually do anything if they didn't, and whether or not you even have any idea what would be an appropriate response to a lawn violation. The anger is all. The supposed manliness is all.

So now Trump and Lowry are having a swordfight. Am I wrong to hope that we never have a winner?

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

"sword"fight?

Steve M. said...

I used the term deliberately.

Marcus said...

These analogies are kiddish…it’s a plain fight for power nothing more
Fox is pressured by the establishment to go after Trump…the key is if hate radio will follow the same path
Said this before…Fiona is the attacker while Jeb stays above the fray…hope Trump gives Palin the green light to go at Fiona…that shouldn’t be too hard…failed senate bid and failed CEO
talk about a resume…no accomplishments at all

Ten Bears said...

ROTFLMAO

Glennis said...

I think it's hilarious, not the least because it seems like Trump hasn't a clue about what has been standard operating procedure in political campaigns - negative ads, surrogates trash-talking candidates. Yet he's the champion of trash-talking everyone else!

DrBB said...

DrBB's law: The farther to the right the country moves, the even-farther to the right the conservatives have to move in order to stay pissed off at how liberal everyone else is.

Feud Turgidson said...

Trump's already won this "sword fight", and not just because Lowry is under-e-quipped.

If we combine the major polls that came out yesterday, 2 pictures emerge:

1) A majority of those who self-identify GOP reject ALL GOP establishment candidates.

One can argue the GOP establishment promoted Carson & Fiorina into the contest (I wouldn't disagree.). Regardless: that's not what the polls show: they show a majority of GOP supporters consciously, deliberately rejecting GOP establishment candidates for 'not getting the job done' (failing to beat Obama, failing to prevent gay marriage, failing to repeal Obamacare, failing to stop everything Obama does or says they object to - an oxymoron).

2) Not just HRC, but also a frkng 74 yr old SOCIALIST not-Dem, even a comical veep who's not running, ALL THREE of those actual, potential, remotely conceivable DNC nominees beats each & every GOP candidate, regardless that candidate's government service, skin color, gender and establishment status.

No doubt the DNC could come up with others who likewise could kick every GOPer's ass: Elizabeth Warren, certainly, at this point probably also Moonbeam Brown, Deval Patrick, even Al Franken.

It's the BRAND that so much of the GOP base wants to destroy. The RNC is likely to find itself with an un-electable nominee no matter who it chooses.

Where have you gone, Willard Mitt Romney
A desperate political business op now years for you
Kook-a-chew

Bukko Boomeranger said...

"Swordfight" with micro-penises, FTW!

Dave R said...

You've hit on it about "manliness." It's primate posturing and Trump is the silverback male gorilla.

Procopius said...

Marcus @ 10:28 -- I don't think Rupert is "pressured" by anybody. Probably he hates Trump, who is so much like him. Probably Ailes sees Trump as another opportunity to sow the dragon's teeth; looking down the road past the time when Trump has flamed out. If Rupert and Roger both decide they want him gone he'll be gone. But who knows?