Trump Thread

[Montmorency]

Tangentially, I've come across a good label that captures both the paleoconservative and broad alt-right mindsets: the Niezschean concept of misarchy. Though the term is a little misleadingly-reductive by composition, a misarchist is essentially a socially-conservative statist libertarian. The concept goes a long way to helping explain the pipeline of so-called libertarians to overt fascism, as well as the fact that a plurality, if not outright majority, of American self-identified conservatives combine hatred and mistrust of "the government" with demands for state repression and regulation of 'undesirables.'

The central claim of this article is that a crucial ideological factor explaining support for the Tea Party is what Friedrich Nietzsche called “misarchism” in reference to the political philosophy of Herbert Spencer. As we explain in detail below, distinct from both libertarianism and social conservatism, misarchism refers to an aversion to government combined with support for the state and traditional morality. Consistent with the expectation of a misarchist dimension in American attitudes, factor analysis on nine variables from the 2012 American National Election Time‐Series Study (ANES) reveals that attitudes toward state power are positively intercorrelated with attitudes toward traditional morality. Though neither are strongly intercorrelated with attitudes toward government, the factor underlying support for the state and traditional morality (which we call “moral statism”) is strongly and negatively correlated with the factor underlying support for government. These results are consistent with the Nietzschean diagnosis of misarchism as an ideological structure that combines support for the state and moral traditionalism on a dimension that is distinct from, and opposed to, attitudes toward government. Consistent with the argument that misarchism is a crucial ideological driver of support for the Tea Party, regression analyses reveal that the interaction of moral statism with governmentalism (our operationalization of misarchism) has, of all the independent variables considered, one of the strongest and most robust partial correlations with support for the Tea Party. Our findings have important implications for our understanding of right‐wing ideology in the United States and they help to resolve the puzzle of the Tea Party's still poorly understood and contradictory ideological components.

See also Harvard Law radTrad Vermeule and his recent op-ed in the Atlantic passionately endorsing the principle of Ein Reich, Ein Volk, Ein Fuhrer.


Various Never-Trump pundits, such as Jennifer Rubin and Max Boot, concede that every Republican standing in November needs to be voted out for the sake of the country. That's probably the reliable differentiator of a genuine center-right personality from the mouth-honor Just-the-Tip Trumpers.

[Seamus Fermanagh]

Various Never-Trump pundits, such as Jennifer Rubin and Max Boot, concede that every Republican standing in November needs to be voted out for the sake of the country. That's probably the reliable differentiator of a genuine center-right personality from the mouth-honor Just-the-Tip Trumpers.

Sadly correct. My former party must be crushed electorally so that the current Asshat-in-chief can be voted out and those who supported this quasi-demagogue wishes-to-be-an-autocrat loon can be removed from office for their demonstrated tendency towards poor leadership. Political leadership can and does sometimes require you to oppose your own on principle even if you are ousted for so doing. If you cannot stand up and pay the price when it matters, then you are not leading. Adios.

[Strike For The South]

Various Never-Trump pundits, such as Jennifer Rubin and Max Boot, concede that every Republican standing in November needs to be voted out for the sake of the country. That's probably the reliable differentiator of a genuine center-right personality from the mouth-honor Just-the-Tip Trumpers.

There are times, when I sit alone, and my mind wanders. Is this opposition to Trump or merely opposition to his sheer incompetence?

[Montmorency]

There are times, when I sit alone, and my mind wanders. Is this opposition to Trump or merely opposition to his sheer incompetence?

Most Republicans are satisfied with his level of competence. In Norquist's words,

Pick a Republican with enough working digits to handle a pen to become president of the United States. This is a change for Republicans: the House and Senate doing the work with the president signing bills. His job is to be captain of the team, to sign the legislation that has already been prepared."

Frankly they just like how he behaves, how his crudity and bluster reflect their deep aesthetic preferences, how he "triggers the libs"... The one thing a typical Republican can't abide is a politician smarter than they. By the obverse of the token, proper Never-Trump Republicans do realize this has gone to far and veered into civilizational threat. They on the other hand are disgusted by Trump and perceive to some extent the depth of the water we're in.

[Strike For The South]

Plumbing the depths for a Grover quote? I like that. It is remarkable, he is a threat to them only on his inaction on certain issues.

[Hooahguy]

There are times, when I sit alone, and my mind wanders. Is this opposition to Trump or merely opposition to his sheer incompetence?

I've wondered this a lot too. I think some are the former and some are the latter, though I think the ones who are in the latter category are the shadier folk, such as George Conway. I am fairly certain that he and his wife are doing a grift: no matter who wins in November they will be fine.

As for the others, I think it comes down to the individual. Some have sworn off the GOP in its current state, others claim they are done with it forever. So who knows honestly. Either way, if Trump loses, the second he leaves office all the never Trumpers are no longer reliable allies.