I voted twice for President Trump. But he has indisputably been a polarizing figure. He doesn’t seem to mind; he basks in his opponents’ hatred.
The Democrats are more than happy to oblige him. The last Republican they hated with this fervor and fever was Abraham Lincoln.
At least in the case of Lincoln, the Dem hatred was on the basis of policy, not personality. The Dems hated Lincoln for his policy against slavery. (An aside: many millennials think Lincoln was a Dem and the southern slave owners were Republicans. It’s possible they are taught that.)
In the case of Trump, the Dems originally hated him not for his policies but for his existence. They hated him because he denied the presidency to their anointed one, Hillary Clinton.
That hatred grew, as hatred does. The Dems went from a party a decade ago that preached love and compassion – though their talk was always better than their walk in that regard – to one that openly hates people who disagree with them. They cancel, censor, shout down and name-call. And they seem to delight in doing so.
Now they hate everything about Trump. It pleasures them to imagine and even depict his severed head. They came to hate his hair, his wife, his son and his girth. They all but crucified him.
It was natural that they came to hate his policies too, just because those policies were his. Their hatred of his policies became awkward when it was pointed out that those policies were either the same as those of his Dem predecessor, as in the “immigrant-children-in-cages” meme or were different but much more successful, as in his tough-but-pragmatic approach to the Mideast.
Such details didn’t matter to the Dems. What’s important to people driven by hate is not understanding and justifying their hatred, but feeling and fueling it.
This is consistent with the theory that Republicans tend to vote with their heads while Democrats vote with their hearts. I don’t mean that as a compliment to Democrats. Voting with one’s heart is much more destructive than it sounds. Hating or loving a person or his policies because you love or hate his policies or his person, is childish. It’s not the behavior of a responsible electorate. It’s the behavior of tribal fools who don’t deserve a democratic republic and probably won’t have one for long.
But it worked for the Dems this time. Barring a successful Hail Mary at the Supreme Court, the Dems succeeded in defeating Trump with some combination of fraud (the exact extent of which we’ll probably never know) and hate.
But their Trump-hatred had no coattails. The GOP picked up a dozen seats in the House where they were predicted to lose that many. In the Senate, the GOP was predicted to lose control but have almost certainly retained it (we’ll know for sure after the Georgia run-offs in January).
The American people didn’t like Trump’s polarizing antics, but they also didn’t like vagrants camping on the sidewalks and pooping in the gutters, decent people having their careers or lives ruined for saying something politically incorrect a decade ago, police being de-funded, undisguised socialism, reverse racial discrimination, animus toward religion, loser anarchist thugs seceding from the union in our once-great cities, and crazy theocrats in Iran getting nukes.
AOC is not the face of America, or even the real face of the Dems despite the click-hungry garbage media portraying her as such.
So now what? The Dems can no longer run against Trump. And Mitch McConnell doesn’t exactly put fire in their belly.
The Dems will instead have to govern. The people will judge them on their effectiveness in doing so.
Expect moderately left governance, not radical rhetoric. Radicalism by definition excludes approaches that are proven to work. Most Dem politicians know that, and most of them want to get re-elected. And re-elected and re-elected.
Getting rid of Trump is thus a huge setback to American radicalism. The next four years will be prosperous as COVID goes away and the media’s obsession with it fades, politics finally gravitate back toward the middle of the road where most of America lives, and radical fantasies are subdued by reality, by the GOP senate and by the desire of Dems not to get thrashed again in down-ballot contests.
In 2024 the Dems may crank up their hate machine again when a savvy Republican like Ted Cruz, Nikki Haley or Marco Rubio runs against an ineffectual successor to an enfeebled Joe Biden. But it will never operate as well as it did the last four years. Because nobody is quite as hate-able and loveable as Donald Trump.
And so now he gets the last laugh. I don’t like you, Mr. President, but I salute you.
the Aspen beat 
Given his long and underreported list of achievements I’m more than happy to salute President Trump.
I agree wholeheartedly that the democrats revel in their hatred. However, I am of the opinion that it is not merely President Trump whom they hate; it is those seventy-five million or so of us who supported him. President Trump was merely our avatar; he symbolized all that we had come to believe, viz., that America as originally conceived and founded was worth salvaging, that it was not inherently racist/sexist/homophobic (whatever those amorphous terms mean today). They have been taught to hate the concept of “America,” and revile its achievements, instead condemning its allegedly racist, patriarchal, Christian past–especially its Christian past. They have been told repeatedly that we Trump supporters are Nazis and fascists, and that it’s “OK to punch a Nazi.” They will continue to do so, and the media/academic/entertainment class will never recant its gleeful encouragement to keep up the hate; to the contrary, like the jackals they are, they will continue their attacks on us “normies,” hoping to drive us into extinction, and until they achieve their desired result, to anathematize us, deprive us of any media outlets of expression (de-platforming), curtail our ability to engage in commerce (by eliminating small business) and consolidating power in the hands of a government that represents the interests of foreign powers and unelected bureaucrats rather than the actual citizens of the country. I entertain no illusions about the path this country has set upon; I only hope that there remain enough courageous folk to stand strong and refuse to be cowed into silent acceptance of the ignominious fate being planned for us. In the words of a man from a bygone age, one who chose to stand and fight, “Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!”
I agree completely. Before Trump came along, the left hated Sarah Palin with equal fervor, precisely because she gave voice to what 75,000,000 of us were thinking and feeling, and did it so well — better than Barry Goldwater, Ronald Reagan, and Pat Buchanan had ever done. She was Trump before Trump was even a glint in his own eye; indeed, she WAS the glint in his eye — his John the Baptist, if you will.
And both figures are hated, not because of their personalities (which unfortunately are easily parodied), but because of their policies — so pro-Christian and anti-Marxist, so traditionally American.
Unlike Glenn, I don’t see post-Trump America (if that’s where we’re headed — I concede nothing at this point) settling into anything resembling “moderately left governance.” For them this is “Great Reset” time, and they won’t let their stolen election go to waste. They will, to be sure, go too far, and, well, we know what happens then. It would be easier to stop them now.
100% agree. Spot on rant. IMO Glenn is being quite naive, thinking we’re now going to return to politics as usual. No, we’re not. Barack Obama permanently changed the Dem party into a radical leftist party & they won’t stop now. They’re not interested in “governing;” they’re interested in power, pure & simple. And if they can they’ll now make irrevocable changes to our political foundations (pack SCOTUS, eliminate filibuster, add new Dem states, open borders, etc) that will effectively eviscerate the Constitution permanently. Glenn is seriously underestimating how vicious & destructive today’s Dems are. They’re just going to get worse.
Glenn, I grew up in a Colorado neighborhood surrounded by people (scientists) from countries in Europe who had personally suffered under the kind of radicalism the Democrats now proudly espouse. Their explanation of how their educated, enlightened and affluent societies had been destroyed was because of the psychic blindness that accompanied people’s presumption of normalcy. Simply put, nobody wanted to believe ill of their compatriots, no matter what they said or did. This was particularly true of Germans — the most enlightened and affluent of the lot — whom Hitler instructed in graphic terms how he would transform Germany. I remember in particular a physicist, whose father had been mayor of a town in Prussia, who had had a violent argument with his father about seeing crews of forced laborers along the roadside from a nearby internment camp. His father angrily insisted such a thing had never happened — not in his town.
Just like Hitler, the Democrats have arrogantly announced their intentions for the destruction of our society, in graphic detail. Don’t be deceived by the presumption that in their hearts they don’t literally meant to do exactly what they say, that it’s just a rhetorical device to provoke political debate. If they are permitted to steal control of our government through wholesale election fraud, there will be no return to normalcy, and we will be stripped of democratic governance.
Amen. To paraphrase Goldwater, in their hearts, you know they’re evil.
I normally agree with the author, but I think he’s being a bit too Pollyannish in his belief that radicals will de-radicalize now that Trump is gone. Trump didn’t make them radical. He simply shined the light on a movement that’s been thriving and, worse, growing for decades. Trump stood up to them and said “NO!” Now, there is no “polarizing” figure to get the conservative half of the nation to stand up with him/her and also say “NO!”, like Trump did.
Yep, although we don’t yet know what rough beast may be slouching toward Bethlehem, waiting to be born.
Could not disagree with you more. They hated Ronald Regan just a much, wanted to hang George W. and on and on. They have been moving toward this stage of radicalism for a long time. I must say I’m disappointed you see their radicalism and hatred that has evolved for many years, in such a shallow way. They hate middle America and will do anything to destroy those values and traditions, no matter who is representing those values. For many of us, that is very obvious.
If allowed to steal this elections, their evil radicalism will only continue to grow. President Trump had the courage and audacity to fight back. They’re not accustomed to that. In their eyes, he, or anyone else who fights back, for that matter must be destroyed.
IF the election fraud is real, they’ve perfected it and Republicans will probably never get elected again. Look at the tyrannical states. There is no court that will hear their arguments or stand up for the people and businesses that are suffering under Democratic states. These people’s constitutional rights are being trampled and their is currently no recourse.
Love your articles.
I love them too, although lately not so much.
Could not disagree with you more. They hated Ronald Regan just a much, wanted to hang George W. and on and on. They have been moving toward this stage of radicalism for a long time. I must say I’m disappointed you see their radicalism and hatred that has evolved for many years, in such a shallow way. They hate middle America and will do anything to destroy those values and traditions, no matter who is representing those values. For many of us, that is very obvious.
If allowed to steal this election, their evil radicalism will only continue to grow. President Trump had the courage and audacity to fight back. They’re not accustomed to that. In their eyes, he, or anyone else who fights back, for that matter must be destroyed.
Glenn, I understand your attempt to find a middle road. However, off in the lala land that you live in (Aspen) you might not be seeing things as clearly as you would like.
This election was a blood libel. Chicago style corruption was introduced to DC by the Clintons and has grown like a fungus. It is now an “in your face” corruption that simply cannot be cured by assuming some form of moderation on the part of Biden/Harris and the other donkeys.
No one has been able to make Chicago an honest government.
The Republic is likely dead. A new imperial authoritarinaism is being built before our eyes and our side sits there like sheep awaiting slaughter.
How incredibly naïve!
They hated Trump because he concentrated their hatred for us onto himself.
Well, it is nice to think that the radical left will fade, and that the forces of good will return. I am not so sanguine.
As for Trump’s personality. I think that in some ways Trump had difficulty leaving behind his reality show persona. But, those who bothered to look saw a much more likable character flashed from time to time. You seldom hear someone who has worked closely with him complain about his personality.
Like others, I sometimes cringed at his over the top bombast. Unlike others, apparently, i gave him some slack because he was frequently lashing out at people who had earned his wrath this with their egregious, I might say evil, attacks on him. I wonder how people who criticize him so vocally would have reacted?
Personality aside, his policies and their results, excuse a lot. His obvious devotion to America was also a refreshing change.
You state truths about Democrats and President Trump. And yet, I’m left with the impression that you mostly missed the spiritual significance of his presidency. By that, I mean as pertains to issues of support for the unborn, Israel, and Judeo-Christian values, to name but a few. All issues of grave importance to our Creator and Savior. Trump was sent and anointed by God. Read the story of King Cyrus in the Bible. Surely he was not meant to be limited to one term. And to a fraudulent election at that. God’s greater purposes are always to use America for His purposes, around the world. To say that you don’t like him is, I think, typical of the intolerance and spiritual ignorance found throughout our Land. “Do not touch (slander, complain about, physically harm) My anointed ones…1 Chronicles 16:22
Sometimes, perhaps, occasionaly ut might be preferable for an Aspenweenie to keep their thoughts to themselves than to remove all doubt.
Blaming an infinetly better man than yourself for what goes on , or doesent in the twisted minds or the left is simply laughable.
You may get a thumbs up from mittens however.
I am extremely skeptical of the democrats moderating. An example is the new LA DA essentially making policy to not prosecute anything short of murder…. unless of course, you have the temerity to open up your business, particularly if it’s a restaurant. The only thing that gives me any hope is the natural incompetence and lack of creativity of the democrats…. I have concluded the restaurant bans are similar to the nursing home fiasco, they just copy each others stupid idea and call them “science. Would like to see a follow up column from Glenn on this one, he generally thinks about topics in ways I haven’t thought of myself, which is one of the reasons that his writing is popular. In my opinion, obviously.
I don’t find Glenn even tangentially “typical of . . . intolerance and spiritual ignorance,” but it is difficult for many of us who came of age post-1965 to be comfortable discussing politics as having a “spiritual” dimension — much less to speak as you have done, of America as an instrument in a Divine Comedy spanning the arc of human history. We have bought into the notion of a separation of church and state, and look to the social sciences to explain the left’s behavior, rather than to a theology that even The Modern Church doesn’t seem to believe in very strongly.
But even as I write this, Trump supporters are staging “a Jericho March” in the nation’s capital, blowing horns and shouting, to bring down the walls of a mortal foe which is a direct offspring of what Luther called Our Ancient Foe. They understand what you do — that we are engaged in a spiritual war. I’m with them.
Sorry. This comment was addressed to Stephen Grenier, above.
All in on the majority of what you say, but you forget fabian Socialism.
The Dems aren’t about huge steps, but little ones, in which we end up under the radicalism eventually. Heck, we are already living under much of it, if we wipe our eyes. If we live another 50 years,we will see a full Marxist state, given the trend of the last 50.
Perhaps more than Ds harbor and cultivate that hatred. I am thinking, for example, of self-regarding permanent government types. Also, I wonder if Democrat now identifies that party. I should think CCP of America might be more functionally accurate. And under all of that, who owns the USA as a nation, American citizens who abide the US Constitution and laws, or, the CIA and their phalanxes of American and unAmerican persons — e.g., Scientists, Monied Families, Bankers — who do not abide the US Constitution and laws.
Then there is this, inspired by Ezekiel 18:1-9 and an affirmation termed by Tillich The Prophetic Principle and The Protestant Principle:
What is lawful is not always what is Right. What is decorous is not always what is Dharmic. What is process is not always what is Principle. What is religious is not always what is Godly. Law, decorum, process, and religion are passing and corruptible. Right, Dharma, Principle, and Godliness are permanent and incorruptible. This is the message of the Hebrew Prophets, The Church, and The Reformers. I think it is a modern message, too.
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No they won’t! They will become even more radical! No road blocks, nothing to stop them! Taking away legal guns! Packing the Court! Open borders (mind you, in the last couple of months thousands are massed on our southern border waiting for the gates to drop so that they can stampede in. They will ALL immediately sign up for welfare and healthcare, with the possible exception of the human traffickers!).
Well, in fairness to the Democrats, Lincoln did take their slaves away,
You missed this one by a mile, Glenn. First, you seem to have given up all hope of us prevailing when we still have a fighting chance. Second, IF Biden ascends to the throne, the nation will plunge into kleptocracy on a scale never before seen anywhere ever, if only because America is so much wealthier than any other country has ever been and therefore has so much more to steal.
The first order of business will be to get rid of Joe Biden. That’ll be simple. His own guys will suddenly be shocked to discover there’s been gambling (and whoring, and doping, etc) going on in Joe’s establishment. In comes Kamala, even more a marionette than Biden. Within six months inflation will destroy the currency. We’ll be good and scrood by that alone, but that ain’t all..
China or Russia or both or somebody else will EMP us into the stone age, perhaps even by nuke. Life will be miserable. Hungry hordes will storm the stores til nothing remains, then go after your and my carefully husbanded stores in our homes. War will erupt in the streets and neighborhoods as our guys defend themselves. Along about then the Russkis and Chinese will attack Jerusalem and you know the rest.
The best alternative we can hope for is for Trump to somehow pull a rabbit out of a hat and serve a second term. That would give us a few more years of struggling to keep our heads above water. But eventually the corruption and treason will win out.
And there you have it, Glenn — The Apocalypse. All because, as Burke said, men of good will did nothing, or as Yeats put it, the best among us lack all conviction.