Guest Author
Each of us wants to believe that if we were tested in some fundamental way when the chips were down — morally, spiritually, or physically — that we would pass the test.
But we do not really expect to be tested. That sort of thing only happens to people we see on television and read about in books, heroes and such. And if we were tested, surely we would know it. How could a literal moment of truth in our lives go unnoticed?
The answer is Normalcy Bias. That’s the sense that this day, this problem, or, in the instant case, this election is pretty much like any other, different only in degree, not in kind, that everything will be alright, notwithstanding overwhelming evidence to the contrary, because everything has always been alright before.
We analyze, rationalize, and temporize until we fail the test by not taking it.
Make no mistake, we Republicans stand on the threshold of a fundamental moral test in the 2016 presidential election, a challenge so serious as to be existential. As Ronald Reagan said in 1964, it is a time for choosing, and the choice, while clear, is one Reagan could never have imagined.
Hillary Clinton on the one hand; Donald Trump on the other. Scylla and Charybdis. The Devil and the deep blue sea. Or so it would appear.
But appearances deceive. Hillary Clinton is in the minds of many conservatives an ethically challenged liberal, hatred of whom has become a reflexive part of Republican liturgy. But as flawed as she may be, she is different only in degree from past presidential candidates. She is business as usual concealed by a little progressive smoke here and a few populist mirrors there.
Donald Tump, on the other hand, is different in kind, and dangerously so.
On a personal level, Trump is a boor, a bully, a carnival barker, and an embarrassment. Politically, by intent or instinct, he is a neo-fascist — a nativist, an ultranationalist, a racist, a misogynist, an anti-intellectual, a demagogue, and a palingenetic (sorry) authoritarian to whom clings the odor of the political violence he encourages.
He appeals to our fears, preys on our anxieties, and exploits our ignorance. A worse candidate to sit in the Oval Office for the next four years cannot be imagined.
And he is our responsibility. We spawned Donald Trump; now we must stop him. We must deny him the presidency by not voting in the presidential election at all or voting for Hillary Clinton if conscience permits.
A drop of a few percentage points in the Republican vote for Trump will be enough, which is why the pressure to conform, to toe the Party line, will be enormous. We cannot depend on our elected leaders to lead us. They, for the most part, will fold like cheap lawn chairs, cowed by fear and fueled by ambition.
It’s up to us. Each one of us is being tested, and the choice each of us makes matters, for ourselves, for our grandchildren. As bad as the cure for Trump’s Caesarism will be for the Party and for the country, it will not be bad as the disease, and both will survive.
So if anyone asks you, “Et tu Brute?” answer proudly, “Damned right.”
***
John “Mac” Stipanovich is a Republican lawyer and lobbyist who served as Gov. Bob Martinez’s chief of staff.
8 comments
Seth Sklarey
May 5, 2016 at 6:30 am
Donald Trump is the Ugly American. He is a reflection of everything th at is bad about each of us as an American.
We need to look at Trump and see what we don’t like about him, then look in the mirror and ask which of his bad qualities do we also posess and how can we change ourselves to be a better person.
If too many of us won’t make the effort to change ourselves, the the Donald will become our next leadrr and we will deserve him.
Kathy Krueger
May 5, 2016 at 8:43 am
What a load of crap – if you are a Republican you support the nominee – switch parties. Everytime a RINO or liberal says Trump is an embarrassment – there must be something good about him.
Barry Banther
May 5, 2016 at 12:40 pm
Mac, I served as an appointee of Governor Martinez and I observed you for many years. I applaud you for this letter and join you in urging Florida Republicans to put country above party when the party has made a choice that is abhorrent not just on policy, that could be reconciled, but this is a moral choice.
Randall Beggs
May 5, 2016 at 10:31 pm
Stunning piece. This is the first and only moral argument I’ve ever seen from a Republican, that attempts to reveal what modern conservatives believe and think. I enjoyed reading opinion that discusses what is “in the minds of many conservatives”
As a Democrat, conservative republicanism has indeed puzzled me for many years. Thank you Mr. Stipanovich, for an illuminating and very interesting read.
Please, I would like to respond just a bit in kind, about what might be in the minds of many (liberal) Democrats.
To many Democrats, Reagan’s doctrine/ philosophy challenged a more liberal Christian politic To us, Reagan largely represented an anti-Carter. Reagan now exists in our minds as just a hawk, and a bit of a hypocrite,
We now see that conservatives hitched their wagon -actually, to a weak Reagan star.
I think most Democrats look back and see in Carter something that still is desirable, something important that could and should be in the U.S. political DNA.
Hillary was raised a Methodist. I think her involvement in that church facilitated her liberalism.
All presidents are flawed of course. We can and will evolve. Our democracy was set up for evolution. Trump will be crushed, as he has not moral center. I’m an optimistic, Christian, Methodist spiritual citizen who believes that the good triumphs over evil. Call me silly, but I’ve seen war first hand, and I’ve been around a while now.
Final thought: Overturn Citizens United. That’s a real issue. Nothing phony or distracting there. We need a SCOTUS that will do just that.
Timothy O'Brien
May 6, 2016 at 3:36 pm
Won’t be taking orders from an establishment paid lobbyist. Let all see how the estab repubs are actually anti-2nd Amendment, open borders and global warmongers for PROFIT. We’ve had enough of the jobs shipped out and $$ 4 an underclass of predators being brought into out neighborhoods in the name of diversity. No more – Trump 2016
Earl Denham
May 6, 2016 at 6:29 pm
You spawned him, you prick, so you stop him. It should be like watching a pig fight a skunk.
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