In Reality They're Not After Me, They're After You...I'm Just In The Way

With an Ill-Conceived FBI Raid, Democrats Manage to Unify the Right Around Donald Trump

I swear…the only constant in politics is incompetence.

Raiding Trump using the Presidential Records Act? You can’t be serious.

Democrats are so ensconced in their progressive echo chamber that they couldn’t predict what the reaction to this would be…that blows my mind.

Here’s the thing: beyond the MAGA types, Trump’s supporters have a complicated relation with him as a politician.

I am one such person:

• On an emotional level, I like the fact that he’s a big middle finger to the progressive left. I think it is fantastic that he shines a big spotlight on the regressive behavior of progressives. He gets them to expose their true selves for all to see. Having said that, I also realize that this makes him less appealing to moderates so there are times when I think it would be better for him to tone it down.

• I believe that his policies and record as President were excellent, particularly on foreign policy. Initially I did not like his isolationist rhetoric, but that is not how he actually governed. He showed that it’s also possible to speak loudly and carry a big stick (sorry Teddy!). His adminstrations' work on peace in the middle east was nothing short of remarkable.

• He’s been treated more unfairly than any other politican in modern history. On the flip side, he gives his critics lots of material to work with. Here, I wish he was more disciplined and didn’t let his ego get in the way so often.

• I have a big problem with his handling of the 2020 Election. Even if you truly believe that Trump actually won the election, there is no scenario whereby Trump could have remained President in the absense of comprehensive proof about large scale electoral fraud. The idea that the VP and a slate of alternative electors could somehow change certified electoral results is crazy. Can you imaging what Republicans would do if their candidate wins in 2024 and Kamala decides to intervene!?! Ultimately, it doesn’t even serve him well politically to keep harping on the election, but he can’t seem to let it go.

• I also have some criticisms about the “New Right” movement that is coalescing around Trump’s former MAGA base. Although this has taken on a life of its own beyond what Trumpism was about. More on this in another post.

This tweet sums up what was my position pretty well. I will support Trump if it comes to him being the Republican nominee, but I think he’s better off playing King Maker or golf, or both.

Gummi Bear @gummibear737

I hope @RonDeSantisFL wins the Republican nomination But I will support Trump is he wins All I hope for is a civil primary that doesn’t degenerate in a Republican civil war Everybody loses if that hapoens

There are lots of people on the right that have mixed feelings about Trump. With the implosion of the Biden Presidency and a national wave of Republican support (e.g. Youngkin), I saw sense in moderating Conservative rhetoric to focus more on issue of common importance and mutual values, rather than owning the libs. In other words, let’s turn down the volume on the outrage and vitriol just a bit…we’re winning…let’s not be like them.

Afterall, the two sides can’t keep hating and yelling past each other forever…there needs to be a rapprochement…at some point…right?

NOPE, WRONG

It took me all of 5 seconds to recognize the significance of the Mar-A-Lago FBI raid. It was obviously wrong and completely outrageous…an obvious politicization of the judicial system. And while I don’t like the whole RINO thing, I do question Republicans that have not spoken out about this because the issue here is not Trump!

Gummi Bear @gummibear737

Raiding Mar-A-Lago is a really big deal Politics is forever changed with this one decision I have a feeling that the decision to issue the warrant is not going to stand up well to scrutiny…If so it will be seen as the political weaponization of the judiciary Precedents matter

So ultimately, all it took was an FBI raid of Mara-A-Lago to remind everybody on the right how Trump came to be President in the first place. So long as this is how progressives behave, there can be no common ground on other issues because this strikes against fundamental values that we all should agree on.

This is a big fricking deal. Like really big. Rubicon type of big. This has never happened before. I’m not saying anybody is above the law, but you need more than the Presidential Records Act to go after a former President and potential future Presidential nominee. Phrases like “Banana Republic” are completely justified in this case…even if some might find them a little racist

Laura Rosanne Adderley @LauraAdderley

"Banana Republic" is a racist term of imperialist white supremacy, deployed to demonize Black and Brown people of the global South, and distract from the devastating consequences of colonialism and imperialism. What does this tell us about people using the term in this moment?

So, as a rule of thumb: don’t politicize the Department of Justice (DOJ)! It’s that simple. You can have all the partisan congressional hearings you want, but don’t bring law enforcement into Politics except as a means of last resort against grievous corruption.

Except that is exactly what Democrats have done for the past 6 years, and the result is that half the country (including a majority of independents) have lost complete faith in the DOJ and FBI.

This time it was so blatant and in your face that the right has almost immediately unified around Donald Trump…the Democrats did this.

It was only 9 months ago that Republicans celebrated Glenn Youngkin’s victory in Virginia where Trump was a completely marginalized figure. There was even lots of talk about the future of the post-Trump Republican Party.

Now Trump is back in the role that he most covets: The outsider taking on the Washington DC swamp/elitists who will gladly take the arrows aimed at the rest of us.

“In Reality They're Not After Me, They're After You...I'm Just In The Way”