Fareed Zakaria and Will Saletan on Trump and the Republicans

[MBS]

ZAKARIA:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/where-were-republican-moderates-20-years-ago/2016/03/03/4c1c49c2-e18b-11e5-846c-10191d1fc4ec_story.html

A main cause of the rise of extremism in the world of Islam has been the cowardice of Muslim moderates, who for decades chose not to condemn bad ideas and ugly rhetoric. Fearing that they’d be seen as ideological weaklings, they’ve avoided confronting the cancer in plain sight. It is now clear that a similar dynamic has been at play in the world of conservatism.
. . .
There have always been radicals on both sides of the political spectrum. But what is different about the conservative movement is that, since the 1990s, some of its most distinguished mainstream members have embraced the rhetoric and tactics of the extremes. A memo put out by Newt Gingrich’s political action committee that decade urged Republican candidates to use savage rhetoric against their Democratic opponents. Some of the recommended words were “failure,” “pathetic,” “disgrace” and “incompetent.” In the past month, Trump has called Mitt Romney a “failed candidate,” Jeb Bush “pathetic,” Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) “a disgrace” and Obama “totally incompetent.” Perhaps he read the memo.

It is gratifying to see the National Review mobilize against Trump, decrying his “free-floating populism” and disdain for the details of public policy. But where were the magazine’s editors when Sarah Palin put these same forces on full display eight years ago? Loudly cheering her on. National Review’s editor praised her for her “plain-spoken, combative way.” And he was more restrained than the editor of the Weekly Standard, William Kristol, who called Palin his “heartthrob.”

. . .
We still see this denial, with the truly bizarre claim by some in the media that the rise of Trump is really all the fault of . . . Obama. The logic is varied. . . . Here is a much simpler explanation for Donald Trump: Republicans have fed the country ideas about decline, betrayal and treason. They have encouraged the forces of anti-intellectualism, obstructionism and populism. They have flirted with bigotry and racism. Trump merely chose to unashamedly embrace all of it, saying plainly what they were hinting at for years. In doing so, he hit a jackpot.

SALETAN:

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2016/02/ross_douthat_says_obama_created_trump_that_s_nuts.html

In Trump, Republican voters have found their anti-Obama. Trump spurns not just political correctness, but correctness of any kind. He lies about Muslims and 9/11, insults women and people with disabilities, accuses a judge of bias for being Hispanic, and hurls profanities. Trump validates the maxim that in presidential primaries, the opposition party tends to choose a candidate who differs temperamentally from the incumbent. Obama is an adult. Therefore, Republicans are nominating a child.

The GOP’s predicament isn’t just that Trump is leading the fight for the nomination. It’s that his only viable opponents are men who claim he’s not conservative enough. In rallies and interviews, Cruz and Rubio call Trump soft on immigration and gun control. They denounce him for praising Planned Parenthood’s work against cervical cancer and breast cancer. They’re outraged that Trump has said he supports government-funded health care to prevent sick people from dying in the streets—as though there were some way other than government-funded health care to guarantee that sick people don’t die in the streets.

How did the GOP end up in this madness? By twisting itself to thwart and vilify Obama. Cruz paints the president as a traitor “who doesn’t believe in the mission of our military and who undermines them at every step.” Rubio, incensed at Obama’s inclusive language, repeatedly excoriates him for “talking about discrimination against Muslims.” Both senators pledge to shred the Iran agreement on their first day in office—apparently out of spite, since renouncing the agreement would free Iran of its nonproliferation commitments without recovering the money that was relinquished in sanctions relief.

What has Obama done to provoke this psychosis? Douthat says he abused executive authority. But that’s circular: Obama resorted to executive action when Republicans blocked the normal channels of government. The GOP’s sabotage began the moment Obama took office, and it exceeds anything done to previous presidents. I’m hard-pressed to come up with an innocent explanation.

. . . .
So, yes, Obama led to Trump. But that’s only because the Republican Party decided to be what Obama wasn’t. And what Obama wasn’t—insecure, bitter, vindictive, xenophobic, sectarian—is what the GOP, in the era of Trump, has become.

[Chakab]

1. "...since the 1990s, some of its most distinguished mainstream members have embraced the rhetoric

and tactics of the extremes."


Yet you cowards in the media sat there playing the false equivalency game, pretending that they were no worse than the Democrats and covering the political landscape as if there were actually serious thinkers in the leadership of the Republican party and the conservative movement.