William F. Buckley On Donald Trump And Demagoguery

After the influential conservative magazine National Review published an entire issue dedicated to trashing Donald Trump - http://www.pauldavisoncrime.com/2016/01/national-review-against-trump.html  - the magazine now reprints a 2000 Cigar Aficionado piece on Trump from the late, great founder of the magazine, William F. Buckley.

Many people are inflamed by the rampant demagoguery in the present scene. Demagoguery — demagogy — comes in two modes. Most conspicuous is that of the candidate who promises the voters what are best described as Nice Things. Why not health care for the uninsured? Or for children? Why not cheaper drugs? Free child delivery? (Free funerals?) Sharpshooters tracking down demagogy were out there waiting last summer, eyes trained, when Bill Bradley arrived in Iowa. Would he do it? Would he advocate an end to the subsidy of ethanol? Ethanol is the program, excogitated during the Carter Administration, which sought to augment the staying power of a gallon of gasoline by an infusion of ethanol. What happened is that the price of oil went down, and the potential economic value of an ethanol additive turned out to be less than the cost of producing ethanol, and that was many moons ago. . . .

What about the aspirant who has a private vision to offer to the public and has the means, personal or contrived, to finance a campaign? In some cases, the vision isn’t merely a program to be adopted. It is a program that includes the visionary’s serving as President. Look for the narcissist. The most obvious target in today’s lineup is, of course, Donald Trump. When he looks at a glass, he is mesmerized by its reflection. If Donald Trump were shaped a little differently, he would compete for Miss America. But whatever the depths of self-enchantment, the demagogue has to say something. So what does Trump say? That he is a successful businessman and that that is what America needs in the Oval Office. There is some plausibility in this, though not much. The greatest deeds of American Presidents — midwifing the new republic; freeing the slaves; harnessing the energies and vision needed to win the Cold War — had little to do with a bottom line.

You can read the rest of the piece via the below link:

http://www.nationalreview.com/article/430187/william-f-buckley-donald-trump-demagoguery-cigar-aficionado

National Review: Against Trump

The editors of the influential conservative magazine National Review came out against Donald Trump.

Donald Trump leads the polls nationally and in most states in the race for the Republican presidential nomination. There are understandable reasons for his eminence, and he has shown impressive gut-level skill as a campaigner. 

But he is not deserving of conservative support in the caucuses and primaries. Trump is a philosophically unmoored political opportunist who would trash the broad conservative ideological consensus within the GOP in favor of a free-floating populism with strong-man overtones. 

Trump’s political opinions have wobbled all over the lot. The real-estate mogul and reality-TV star has supported abortion, gun control, single-payer health care à la Canada, and punitive taxes on the wealthy. (He and Bernie Sanders have shared more than funky outer-borough accents.) Since declaring his candidacy he has taken a more conservative line, yet there are great gaping holes in it.

... On foreign policy, Trump is a nationalist at sea. Sometimes he wants to let Russia fight ISIS, and at others he wants to “bomb the sh**” out of it. He is fixated on stealing Iraq’s oil and casually suggested a few weeks ago a war crime — killing terrorists’ families — as a tactic in the war on terror. For someone who wants to project strength, he has an astonishing weakness for flattery, falling for Vladimir Putin after a few coquettish bats of the eyelashes from the Russian thug. All in all, Trump knows approximately as much about national security as he does about the nuclear triad — which is to say, almost nothing.

You can read the rest of the piece via the below link:

http://www.nationalreview.com/article/430137/donald-trump-conservative-movement-menace

Former Texas Governor Rick Perry Loves The NRA, And The NRA Love Him Right Back

 

Jim Geraghty at National Review reports on former Texas Governor Rick Perry's appearance before the National Rifle Association (NRA).

Former Texas governor Rick Perry might have been the most comfortable speaker at the National Rifle Association’s Annual Meeting in Nashville Friday.

 

Maybe it’s the comfort of having run for president once already, the reassurance that comes from experience. Perhaps he’s feeling good as the only candidate in the field with military experience, and a solid economic record in his state, and some surprises like bold steps in criminal-justice reform. Perhaps it’s the confidence in knowing he would be speaking to a friendly crowd. Or maybe it’s his hipster glasses.

 You can read the rest of the piece via the below link:

 

http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/416785/perry-loves-nra-and-nra-loves-him-right-back-jim-geraghty