I would like to see a psychological profile of the establishment conservatives and Republicans who freaked out when Donald Trump stormed through the primaries to snatch the 2016 Presidential nomination away from the various candidates the hide-bound GOP high command had groomed to run. Prime among the vanquished was pathetic Jeb Bush, anointed as the next member of the Bush dynasty which had already given the nation three mediocre to disastrous Presidential terms. Jeb revealed himself as a weenie prepared to be crushed by Hillary Clinton when he described illegal immigration as “an act of love.” Imagine what the illegal immigration landscape would be like today if Jeb had run against Clinton…it’s too horrible to contemplate.
Nevertheless, Republicans who were used to a party that was afraid to be too adversarial to the rapidly radicalizing Democrats —after all, who wants to be called fascist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic and racist?—turned their metaphorical backs on their principles, priorities, values and career-long political positions to try to defeat, ruin and, after his election, undermine Donald Trump. These people appear to have no scruples whatsoever. George Conway, who became a favorite of the Axis media purely because he hated Trump and had cachet through his wife, a loyal Trump adviser and surrogate, was willing to wound his spouse’s career and destroy his family as he hunted the Great White Trump.
NeverTrumpism quickly manifested as a mental illness, and its vector (well, one of them) was The Lincoln Project, and later The Bulwark, a news and commentary site that was launched by Bill Kristol and friends. In his revulsion at Trump, Kristol now says he’s a Democrat, abandoning pretty much every principle he ever advocated in his now-defunct conservative magazine, “The Weekly Standard.” His 180 degree turn is as stunning as if Stephen Jay Gould had announced that he was a creationist.
Rick Miller, one of the founders of of the Lincoln Project, demonstrates in his recent substack essay just how vile these crazies are. It’s free to read, but have a barf bag handy. The thing is called “Trump is dying.” The content is pure, unadulterated Trump Derangement at its vilest level, but I guarantee Miller’s unproven libel will be “news” on MSNow within a few hours if it isn’t already. A few lowlights:
Ethics Alarms 
Another hearty, “What is wrong with these people?”
We already know the psychological profile of these people; it’s the same as those on the left in general, with which they share 90% of their political DNA while some still pretend otherwise.
They have a higher ratio of mental health issues than the general public. Despite claiming to be compassionate, they’re actually less tolerant of opposing viewpoints. This is evident in their much greater propensity to dox, cut off, or “unfriend” even relatives and long-time friends who disagree politically with them. They react impetuously and violently if thwarted, and/or approve of others doing so.
They’ve shown us who they are.
I would be careful with making statements about psychology. I remember that in 2015 at Ethics Alarm many of us were a bit Trump Deranged including our host Jack. And when Hillary’s game plan became clear Jack made a 180 degree turn. Now we know more of Trump after more than five years in the White House opinions have shifted. My point is, that our psychology is likely be similar to the ones who stuck with their views on Trump.
Jonathan Haidt wrote a book “The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion” in which he proposes a framework that explains how people’s values and approach to ethics relates to their political views. Other psychologists (Jordan Peterson comes to mind) relate this the OCEAN model of personality (the Big Five: Openness to Experience, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, Neuroticism). This explains why artists and entertainers who are high on openness and lower on conscientiousness trend more liberal. I prefer these types of approaches to calling our political opponents crazy.
That’s an interesting take, and a layman playing psychologist is a dangerous endeavor. Still, cutting friends and relatives out of your life is not a sign of a healthy psyche, and is verified as heavily correlated with those on the American left.
“They’ve shown us who they are.”
Arrested Development©™®
PWS
“Evil ages you. Sin rests as heavy as lead on the bones. Cruelty and malice corrupt and destroy their bearers. You can see it in him now, the way you could see it in Mobutu, in Mugabe, in the gangsters of history who used the state as a punishment and piggy bank for too long.”
Mugabe (21 February 1924 – 6 September 2019) died at the age of 95.
Hah! Yea, verily.
Mobutu died of prostate cancer, not of evil or sin or any of that other stuff.
I’ve always wondered where these guys get their money. Like…. Really, The entire Lincoln project is comprised of the most grifty grifters that ever set out to grift, bouncing from one failed escapade to the next when they aren’t being brought up on charges. You’d assume that Republican loyalists would pull their funds, Democrat loyalists would support people they actually like, and people that don’t like Trump would find more effective proponents. Who pays for their shit?
I can’t tell you how much money I gave Kristol. I bought subscriptions to “The Weekly Standard” for years…and I bought them for my dad as well. We both pretty much read the magazine cover-to-cover every week.
My goodness, how times change.
Funny thing is, the GOP hasn’t drifted much from the party of Bush II. Other than a much softer stance on some social issues (read: gay marriage) and a greater willingness to spend money like chemically-altered sailors in a strip club on two-for-one night, the party’s platform remains largely unchanged.
So Kristol abandons the GOP because the majority of the party’s voters didn’t want his guy at the top. Guess what, Bill…that’s the way the systems works for the GOP. We don’t just let the party’s “elites” determine who the nominee is…like your new party does. And Kristol shouldn’t think for a minute that Democratic insiders will trust him enough to let him in the inner circle, much less have a say in getting “his guy” nominated. They’ll only use him as far as they do with Liz Cheney. He’s a turncoat, and totally damaged goods.