Wall Street Journal columnist wants teach Republican voters a lesson by defeating Trump

As quoted in Breitbart after appearing on CNN:

“I most certainly will not vote for Donald Trump,” Bret Stephens of The Wall Street Journal said. “I will vote for the least left-wing opponent to Donald Trump and I want to make a vote to make sure that he has  — that he is the biggest loser in presidential history since, I don’t know, Alf Landon or going back further.   It’s important that Donald Trump and what he represents — this kind of ethnic quote, ‘conservatism,’ or populism be so decisively rebuked that the Republican Party, the Republican voters will forever learn their lesson that they cannot nominate a man so manifestly unqualified to be president in any way, shape or form. So they have to learn a lesson in the way perhaps Democrats learned from McGovern in ’72. George Will said let’s have him lose in 50 states. Why not Guam, Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia, too?”

Oh, boy!  These remarks are so typical of the manner in which the Conservative establishment is wedded to the idea that unless you have dedicated your professional life to making arcane arguments about Madison, the New Deal, or the national debt and have been published in the journals they approve of, you’re not fit for any leadership role in the conservative movement – a state of mind that would rather be right in a dispute about tariffs over the hors d’oeuvres than take the girl home after the cocktail party.  Which is sad, really sad.

Because they can’t remember that their idol Bill Buckley was all about having fun while skewering your opponent.  That when running for mayor of New York and asked what he would do if elected, winked and said “demand a recount.”  That when asked why Robert Kennedy refused to appear on his very popular TV program Firing Line asked in turn, “Why does a bologna resist the grinder?”

Which is pure Trump.

Stephens, it’s razzmatazz, fireworks at the county fair, an Italian street festival in lower Manhattan, it’s Halloween time in the nation – drop the hair shirt and get over it. 

A Catholic priest once told a story about being rebuked by a member of some austere sect.  “Ornate church ceilings,” his friend told him “the majestic altars, the statuary, the candles, incense, the litany of saints and lavishly embroidered vestments aren’t at all necessary for the worship of God.”

“No, they’re not,” he replied.  “Jesus taught us that.  And I am humbled by the manner and commitment of your worship.  But while you choose to position yourself, by yourself, in the quiet moonlight looking up, why can’t we arrive under the balcony of the one we love, with a marching band?”

Same thing, stupid.

Richard F. Miniter is the author of The Things I Want Most, Random House, BDD.  See it here.  He lives and writes in the colonial-era hamlet of Stone Ridge, New York; blogs here; and can also be reached at miniterhome@gmail.com.

As quoted in Breitbart after appearing on CNN:

“I most certainly will not vote for Donald Trump,” Bret Stephens of The Wall Street Journal said. “I will vote for the least left-wing opponent to Donald Trump and I want to make a vote to make sure that he has  — that he is the biggest loser in presidential history since, I don’t know, Alf Landon or going back further.   It’s important that Donald Trump and what he represents — this kind of ethnic quote, ‘conservatism,’ or populism be so decisively rebuked that the Republican Party, the Republican voters will forever learn their lesson that they cannot nominate a man so manifestly unqualified to be president in any way, shape or form. So they have to learn a lesson in the way perhaps Democrats learned from McGovern in ’72. George Will said let’s have him lose in 50 states. Why not Guam, Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia, too?”

Oh, boy!  These remarks are so typical of the manner in which the Conservative establishment is wedded to the idea that unless you have dedicated your professional life to making arcane arguments about Madison, the New Deal, or the national debt and have been published in the journals they approve of, you’re not fit for any leadership role in the conservative movement – a state of mind that would rather be right in a dispute about tariffs over the hors d’oeuvres than take the girl home after the cocktail party.  Which is sad, really sad.

Because they can’t remember that their idol Bill Buckley was all about having fun while skewering your opponent.  That when running for mayor of New York and asked what he would do if elected, winked and said “demand a recount.”  That when asked why Robert Kennedy refused to appear on his very popular TV program Firing Line asked in turn, “Why does a bologna resist the grinder?”

Which is pure Trump.

Stephens, it’s razzmatazz, fireworks at the county fair, an Italian street festival in lower Manhattan, it’s Halloween time in the nation – drop the hair shirt and get over it. 

A Catholic priest once told a story about being rebuked by a member of some austere sect.  “Ornate church ceilings,” his friend told him “the majestic altars, the statuary, the candles, incense, the litany of saints and lavishly embroidered vestments aren’t at all necessary for the worship of God.”

“No, they’re not,” he replied.  “Jesus taught us that.  And I am humbled by the manner and commitment of your worship.  But while you choose to position yourself, by yourself, in the quiet moonlight looking up, why can’t we arrive under the balcony of the one we love, with a marching band?”

Same thing, stupid.

Richard F. Miniter is the author of The Things I Want Most, Random House, BDD.  See it here.  He lives and writes in the colonial-era hamlet of Stone Ridge, New York; blogs here; and can also be reached at miniterhome@gmail.com.