This is likely the first and last time I'll ever agree with something Jonah Goldberg wrote

[catbyte]

Why the Trump presidency will end poorly

DEC 25, 2018

As we celebrate Christmastime amid an unnecessary and indefinite government shutdown and the worst December for the stock market since 1931, I’m reminded once again of my longstanding prediction: The Trump presidency will end poorly because character is destiny.

snip

Weirdly, it’s gotten to the point that when I say President Trump is not a man of good character, I feel like I should preface it with a trigger warning for many of my fellow conservatives.

Most of the angry responses are rooted in the fact they do not wish to be reminded of this obvious truth. But others seem to have convinced themselves that Trump is a man of good character, and they take personal offense at the insult, even though I usually offer it as little more than an observation.

This latter group rushes to rebut the claim, citing banal or debatable propositions: He loves his children! He’s “loyal to a fault!” He’s authentic! Never mind that many bad men love their children, that loyalty to people or causes unworthy of loyalty is not admirable, and that authentic caddishness is not admirable. Never mind, too, that he is not remotely loyal, to his wives or the people who work for him.

What’s most worrisome is that these defenders are redefining good character in Trump’s image, and they end up modeling it.

snip

https://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-goldberg-trump-presidency-shutdown-20181225-story.html
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With the exception of his cheap, gratuitous dig at "the left" regarding Syria, surprisingly, he's pretty spot on.

[hlthe2b]

1. "What's most worrisome is these defenders are redefining good character in Trump's image, & they

end up modeling it."

yeah, that is what is most disturbing to me. That xian conservatives are remodeling what "Christianity" is--especially in the light of all the horrific anti-immigrant bigotry and policy, is among the most appalling things. There are liberal branches of Christianity who don't go along with this, but they don't get the same platform. It is as though the hypocritical FUNDY churches are the only ones MSM believe SHOULD be heard.

[Pachamama]

2. I agree - the one and only time that Jonah Goldberg has gotten something right and I can agree on...

Except for this dig and commentary:

"To be sure, ideology plays a role. It amplifies the anger from both his left-wing critics and his transactional defenders. Many of the liberal critics shrieking about the betrayal of the Kurds implicit in his decision to withdraw from Syria would be applauding if a President Clinton had made the same decision. And many of the conservatives celebrating the move would be condemning it."

That simply isn't true and frankly, it shows Jonah Goldberg's true nature that he had to throw in this dig and it shows the true nature of the GOP if indeed its true that he thinks the GOP and Conservatives would have only been condemning the withdrawal of troops from Syria if a Democratic President had made that decision.

[Voltaire2]

6. It ain't the left yelling about Syria.

Most of us have a position a bit more nuanced. As in we never should have intervened, so getting out is the right thing to do. However precipitous withdrawal leaving our allies in the region exposed to retaliation is immoral.

The yelling is from what remains of the establishment foreign policy center.

[DFW]

3. I would remind Mr. Goldberg

The Trump presidency started poorly and went downhill from there. There was never any question of it ending any other way.

And will you FINALLY, AT LONG LAST, stop calling yourself and like-minded people "conservatives?"

"Mean-spirited, arrogant, right wing hack" does NOT mean "conservative" in any language, and your hijacking of the term for commercial purposes changes none of that.

[erronis]

8. +1 - they've hijacked the term conservative, just like they use liberal as a smear. nt

[SaintLouisBlues]

4. Even the Doughy Pantload is right once in his life

from Urban dictionary:

TOP DEFINITION
doughy pantload
Common liberal-blog nickname for "Liberal Fascism" author Jonah Goldberg. Coined May 2004 by norbizness of norbizness.com.
"Some people seem to think we hate Jonah Goldberg.
Nothing could be farther from the truth. First of all, the Doughy Pantload has given us hundreds of hours of entertainment; in his official role as Village Idiot of the Internet, he never ceases to amuse us with his falling off of walls, tumbling into ditches, and trying to come up with smart things to say when he’d really rather be at home watching Deep Space Nine DVDs."

[rampartc]

5. wm f buckley would be rolling in his grave

that the likes of goldberg and d'souza had taken over his magazine, but i think he would agree with goldberg, you and i about trumps "character."

[deurbano]

7. I don't think he loves his children. I don't think he's capable of loving

another person.

[kentuck]

9. "The Trump presidency will end poorly because character is destiny."

Yep.

[Ferrets are Cool]

10. " they do not wish to be reminded of this obvious truth"

No, they do not want to admit that they ARE wrong. They will NEVER admit that Democrats were RIGHT.