And I mean rips. Speaking of civility in our current level of political discourse.
Mike Pence, not Trump, is hated. Loathed. Despised. The American Left not only hates, but fears Pence. For Pence is all that Trump is not. And they know it. Each time it looked like Trump might be run out of office, the pages were filled with editorials reminding us that Trump is just a clown who can't be expected to be any better than he is. But Pence. Ah, there is the true misogynistic Nazi deplorable who threatens all mankind!
George Will, who basically is a moderate commentator who only looked conservative because he sat with hardcore liberals for a living, has unleashed a toxic broadside at Pence. I mean, wow. Every adjective, every modifier oozes with a disdain and loathing that can barely be contained. I've seen Mao described more charitably.
If you ever wanted to read a poisonous, noxious, partisan screed from a hardcore, conservative hating Leftist, you couldn't do much better than reading Will's piece for the Washington Post.
File #9935234 under why Trump owes his presidency to the Establishment. Oh, and bonus for knowing why all the screams about civility in discourse tend to fall on deaf ears.
BTW, none of this is to say I agree with Pence on everything, or think Arpaio shouldn't be dealt with differently. It is to say that Will's piece reeks of a hatred and contempt, not just for Pence and Trump, but for all who fail to run with the champagne and caviar set who get invited to all the best liberal parties in Manhattan, whatever their party affiliation happens to be.
This reminds me of PJ O"Rourke's latest book. It was on the 2016 election, and generally pretty funny (as he usually is). But some of the stuff was just rough. I particularly recall feeling his chapter on Mike Huckabee was unfair, and I despise Mike Huckabee. But it was essentially nothing more than a junior high school level anti-Huckabee screed, and it lacked any of the usual witty humor. This is also true of O'Rourke's writings on abortion, but that's another matter.
ReplyDeleteSame thing here. I'm actually in full agreement with Will on the subject matter, but I'm fairly confident I could have written a less testy and insipid take after having consumed a half-dozen scotches.
I also tend to agree with the overall point, but the tenor and tone at a time when everyone is running around yelling civility. I think that's been the hardest sell for the critics of the whole Trump phenomenon. Nothing Trump does or says, nor anyone in his administration, is too far off from what we hear routinely, and have heard for years. Suddenly trying to act upset about what we've worked so hard to accomplish just doesn't do it.
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