A 'Conservative' Columnist Endorses Harris

I finished Megan Basham's "Shepherds for Sale" over the weekend. Paula is working on getting her for an interview for the podcast, and if that happens, it should be an eye-opening discussion. 

Basham's book outlines how progressive forces have infiltrated the Evangelical churches of America to undermine the conservative presence in those churches and flip them blue. Basham asserts that this effort is well-funded and occurs across multiple fronts, often aided and abetted by Christian and conservative thought leaders. One of those leaders, according to Basham, is David French. French was once a columnist for National Review before jumping ship for the Left. He now writes for the New York Times.    

French also makes multiple appearances in the documentary "God & Country," speaking in between jump-scare cuts of January 6 and conservative speakers who plan to turn America into a fascist theocracy. There is even a brief shot of Allie Beth Stuckey doing her podcast. Stuckey is a staunch conservative but is about as dangerous as your grandmother's geraniums.  French is one of the conservative commentators who speak in hushed, sorrowful tones over somber music, warning us that Trump and his supporters represent a clear and present danger to "democracy."  Nothing we haven't heard before.

To no one's surprise, French penned a Sunday op-ed for The New York Times titled, “To Save Conservatism From Itself, I Am Voting for Harris.” In it, French laments the transformation of the Republican Party under MAGA, stating, "At each step, it has pushed Republicans further and further away from Reaganite conservatism. It has divorced Republican voters from any major consideration of character in leadership, and all the while; it has labeled people who resisted the change as ‘traitors.’” 

He also attacks Trump and his supporters for lying, particularly about the results of the last election. Yet he studiously avoids the rise in violent crime in Democratic quarters, Antifa, and the vicious behavior of antisemitic protesters on college campuses. He also makes this pithy comment about Trump: “Americans ended his term more divided than when it began.” 

Yes, Trump has been known for divisive rhetoric and speaking when he should have probably remained silent. However, Trump's critics habitually take his comments out of context and contort them beyond their original meaning. And progressive politicians and media luminaries have taken great pains to create as dire a picture as possible of Trump and his supporters, sometimes to the point of lying. The alarmist and incendiary comments from the Left are commonplace. One cannot extinguish the flames of division while simultaneously fanning them. 

Then there is this comment:

For example, how many Republicans would have predicted that voting for a Democrat would be the best way to confront violent Russian aggression and that the Republican would probably yield to a Russian advance? In many ways, the most concretely conservative action I can take in this election is to vote for the candidate who will stand against Vladimir Putin. By voting for pro-life politicians down ballot, I can help prevent federal liberalization of abortion law. But if a president decides to abandon Ukraine and cripple NATO, there is little anyone can do.

French seems to be unable or unwilling to recall that Russia began its incursion into Ukraine under the Biden-Harris administration, undoubtedly emboldened in part by the disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan and a party that has made green energy, pronouns, and gender the foremost issues of the day. He also forgets about the Abraham Accords. Furthermore, he ignores Harris's position on abortion and the attempts by the Democrats to reconfigure the Supreme Court, which the Dobbs decision has largely fueled.

He concludes:

The only real hope for restoring a conservatism that values integrity, demonstrates real compassion, and defends our foundational constitutional principles isn’t to try to make the best of Trump, a man who values only himself. If he wins again, it will validate his cruelty and his ideological transformation of the Republican Party. If Harris wins, the West will still stand against Vladimir Putin, and conservative Americans will have a chance to build something decent from the ruins of a party that was once a force for genuine good in American life.

He expects this opportunity to arise by voting for a party that has created record inflation and thrown open the borders, leading to a spike in crime, drugs, and human and drug trafficking, and a loss of American jobs? He expects this to happen by voting for a party that has driven inflation through the roof, waged war against energy independence, and driven small business people out of the market and the middle class to the edge of extinction? He expects to come from voting for the party that leveraged the DOJ against Americans whose only "crime" was exercising their First Amendment rights? 

Are there extremists on the Right? Yes, but not nearly to the degree that the Left wants us to believe, and progressives throw that term around often, irresponsibly, and dangerously. Just ask Mark Houck. 

I get that Trump does not appeal to everyone, and I understand the nostalgia for a time when Republicans' biggest concern was tax rates. I know there are people out there who consider themselves Republicans who despise Trump. I understand that some conservatives may sit this one out rather than cast a vote for Trump. But no conservative can look back at the last four years and believe that four or possibly eight more years of the same policies is a net win for the republic. 

Unless, of course, one has thrown one's lot in with the Left and has no choice but to keep repeating the talking points no matter the dictates of one's conscience. The last thing I saw from French was a piece in the New York Times that was essentially another screed about white conservatives and "The Lord of the Rings." My first thought was, "Dear God, are they still going on about this?" My next thought was how tough it must be to constantly find things to complain about regarding your old party. 

What a laborious, tiresome task it must be to roll out yet another indictment of conservatives who don't think like you. These people have picked their horse and have no option but to ride it to the finish line. But as a former Leftist who marched in a pro-choice demonstration, had a Lib-of-the-Month wall calendar, and subscribed to The Nation, I know that once the Left is done with them, it will cast them aside no matter how loyal they are now.