Sykes' False Premise

About 95% of the time, I agree with Charlie Sykes' vision of politics.   On the occasions when we differ, I've made it clear--not that it makes any difference to Charlie.

Anyhow.

Sykes writes that Priebus' latter-day conversion to Trumpism is debasing to the (R) Party and Priebus.  But I fear that Charlie's essay is based on a false premise:  that the (R) Party is 'conservative.'  It is not--and Charlie has made that point a million times on his show.

I warned my fellow conservatives what life would be like if they embraced Donald Trump: They would spent the next six months having to defend, rationalize, or evade every slur, every insult, every falsehood, every outrage. They would be held hostage to every tweet, every outburst. 

 

Unfortunately, Reince Priebus now seems determined to illustrate that point...

After a few grafs of What's Wrong With Trump (just a highlight reel), Charlie gets to this:

....Your job is not to carry water for The Orange Duce, it is to somehow salvage the GOP. You need somehow to separate the fate of the GOP from Trumpism, or risk redefining your party for a generation. ...

The premise is that the (R) Party of, say, 1992-present, is actually conservative.  This is false.

It is true that the (R) label has a Conservative component which is significant.  But the (R) Party, at least since GWBush, has actually been the 'Less-Statist, Less-Unhinged Party' and--worse--it has been the Enabling Party for the worst President in history, a 'man' so utterly anti-Right Order that he has spit upon and smashed every single moral and ethical constraint known to man.  And done so with glee and full knowledge of his actions.

Sorry, Charlie:  there's no "there" there in Priebus' party any more--at least, not enough to make a difference.  We're still on the same side on 95% of the issues, but the (R) Party?  It's been AWOL for a long, long, time.