The Continued Fracturing of the GOP

Damn You Obama!
Conservatives Blame Obama For Creating Trump With Partisanship, Despite Republican Vows Of Gridlock

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Conservative Media Figures Blame Obama's Partisanship For Trump's Rise

National Journal's Kraushaar: Election Of Al Franken "Circuitously Paved The Way For The Rise Of A Much Different Type Of Entertainer -- Donald J. Trump." In a March 8 column for National Journal, Josh Kraushaar traced Trump's rise back to the passage of the Affordable Care Act. He claimed that had President Obama not been granted a supermajority by Al Franken's 2008 Senate victory, the president would have needed more Republican input to pass his signature health care bill, which would have headed off conservatives' anger and mistrust:

   

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Looking for a culprit to blame for all the polarization, gridlock, and bad feelings in Washington? Point to Sen. Al Franken. No, that's not a joke.

   [...]

   Without a Democratic supermajority, Obama would have been forced to negotiate with Republicans (or, at least, former Sen. Olympia Snowe of Maine) and settle for the incremental health care legislation that his then-Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel recommended. The GOP would still have been opposed to any Democratic health care reforms, but the antipathy would have been muted because a few Republicans would have supported the legislation. Instead of provoking a pitched partisan showdown that culminated with then-House Minority Leader John Boehner exclaiming that the Congress had "shatter[ed] the bonds of trust" with the American people, Obama could have tempered the wrath of the Republican opposition. [National Journal, 3/8/16]

Bobby Jindal In Wall Street Journal: "There Would Be No Donald Trump ... If It Were Not For President Obama." In March 3 opinion piece titled "President Obama Created Donald Trump," former Republican presidential candidate and Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal wrote that President Obama created "one of the most polarizing forces in America today ... Donald Trump," in part because Obama supposedly refused to work with Republicans on the stimulus and health care reform:  

   Mr. Obama has alienated allies like Israel while encouraging adversaries like Iran and Cuba. He has fostered Americans' record-breaking dependence on government programs and record-low participation in the workforce. He has expanded the power, size and expense of the federal government in unprecedented ways, all at the expense of Americans' freedom, standard of living and economic well-being.

   But the president truly doesn't get enough credit for creating one of the most polarizing forces in American politics today. No, not Hillary--that is more Bill's doing. Let's be honest: There would be no Donald Trump, dominating the political scene today if it were not for President Obama.

   [...]

   Mr. Obama likes to bemoan the increasing partisan divides across the country, as if he were merely a passive observer at best and a victim at worst. Uncharacteristically, the president is being too modest. He has created the very rancor he now rails against. Imagine how different things would be if Mr. Obama had pursued a stimulus bill that included targeted tax cuts and infrastructure spending balanced with gradual entitlement reforms--instead of a stimulus that merely dusted off congressional Democrats' wish list of pork-barrel projects and ideological experiments.

   Imagine if Mr. Obama had actually worked with Republicans in an open process to bring down health-care costs--instead of pushing through, on a partisan vote, the largest expansion of government-welfare programs in a generation. Or if he had listened to the message that voters sent in the first midterm election by putting Republicans in charge of Congress--instead of petulantly relying on executive orders, and using an eraser and whiteout on the Constitution, to shove the Environmental Protection Agency and other federal agencies deeper into Americans' lives. [The Wall Street Journal, 3/3/16]
Conservative Media Figures Blame Obama's Partisanship For Trump's Rise

National Journal's Kraushaar: Election Of Al Franken "Circuitously Paved The Way For The Rise Of A Much Different Type Of Entertainer -- Donald J. Trump." In a March 8 column for National Journal, Josh Kraushaar traced Trump's rise back to the passage of the Affordable Care Act. He claimed that had President Obama not been granted a supermajority by Al Franken's 2008 Senate victory, the president would have needed more Republican input to pass his signature health care bill, which would have headed off conservatives' anger and mistrust:

   Looking for a culprit to blame for all the polarization, gridlock, and bad feelings in Washington? Point to Sen. Al Franken. No, that's not a joke.

   [...]

   Without a Democratic supermajority, Obama would have been forced to negotiate with Republicans (or, at least, former Sen. Olympia Snowe of Maine) and settle for the incremental health care legislation that his then-Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel recommended. The GOP would still have been opposed to any Democratic health care reforms, but the antipathy would have been muted because a few Republicans would have supported the legislation. Instead of provoking a pitched partisan showdown that culminated with then-House Minority Leader John Boehner exclaiming that the Congress had "shatter[ed] the bonds of trust" with the American people, Obama could have tempered the wrath of the Republican opposition. [National Journal, 3/8/16]

Bobby Jindal In Wall Street Journal: "There Would Be No Donald Trump ... If It Were Not For President Obama." In March 3 opinion piece titled "President Obama Created Donald Trump," former Republican presidential candidate and Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal wrote that President Obama created "one of the most polarizing forces in America today ... Donald Trump," in part because Obama supposedly refused to work with Republicans on the stimulus and health care reform:  

   Mr. Obama has alienated allies like Israel while encouraging adversaries like Iran and Cuba. He has fostered Americans' record-breaking dependence on government programs and record-low participation in the workforce. He has expanded the power, size and expense of the federal government in unprecedented ways, all at the expense of Americans' freedom, standard of living and economic well-being.

   But the president truly doesn't get enough credit for creating one of the most polarizing forces in American politics today. No, not Hillary--that is more Bill's doing. Let's be honest: There would be no Donald Trump, dominating the political scene today if it were not for President Obama.

   [...]

   Mr. Obama likes to bemoan the increasing partisan divides across the country, as if he were merely a passive observer at best and a victim at worst. Uncharacteristically, the president is being too modest. He has created the very rancor he now rails against. Imagine how different things would be if Mr. Obama had pursued a stimulus bill that included targeted tax cuts and infrastructure spending balanced with gradual entitlement reforms--instead of a stimulus that merely dusted off congressional Democrats' wish list of pork-barrel projects and ideological experiments.

   Imagine if Mr. Obama had actually worked with Republicans in an open process to bring down health-care costs--instead of pushing through, on a partisan vote, the largest expansion of government-welfare programs in a generation. Or if he had listened to the message that voters sent in the first midterm election by putting Republicans in charge of Congress--instead of petulantly relying on executive orders, and using an eraser and whiteout on the Constitution, to shove the Environmental Protection Agency and other federal agencies deeper into Americans' lives. [The Wall Street Journal, 3/3/16]

NY Times' Douthat: Trump Is "A Creature Of The Late Obama Era." In February 27 article, The New York Times' Ross Douthat wrote that, while Trump is "first and foremost a Republican" problem, his campaign success is also a result of the "late Obama era," in part because of the president's alleged efforts to "make domestic policy without any support from Congress":  

   The spectacle of the Republican Party's Trumpian meltdown has inspired a mix of glee and fear among liberals -- glee over their rivals' self-immolation, and fear that what arises from the destruction will be worse.

   What it hasn't inspired is much in the way of self-examination, or a recognition of the way that Obama-era trends in liberal politics have helped feed the Trump phenomenon.

   Such a recognition wouldn't require letting the Republican Party off the hook. The Trump uprising is first and foremost a Republican and conservative problem: There would be no Trumpism if George W. Bush's presidency hadn't cratered, no Trumpism if the party hadn't alternated between stoking and ignoring working-class grievances, no Trump as front-runner if the party leadership and his rivals had committed fully to stopping him before now.

   But Trumpism is also a creature of the late Obama era, irrupting after eight years when a charismatic liberal president has dominated the cultural landscape and set the agenda for national debates. President Obama didn't give us Trump in any kind of Machiavellian or deliberate fashion. But it isn't an accident that this is the way the Obama era ends -- with a reality TV demagogue leading a populist, nationalist revolt.

   [...]

   He's also proving, in his bullying, overpromising style, that voters are increasingly habituated to the idea of an ever more imperial presidency -- which is also a trend that Obama's choices have accelerated. Having once campaigned against his predecessor's power grabs, the current president has expanded executive authority along almost every dimension: launching wars without congressional approval, claiming the power to assassinate American citizens, and using every available end-around to make domestic policy without any support from Congress. [The New York Times, 2/27/16]

Fox Contributor: Trump's Rise "Is Payback For Barack Obama." During the March 9 edition of Fox News' Fox & Friends, Fox contributor Keith Ablow claimed "pent-up frustration" about Obama's presidency created Trump's presidential campaign:  

   BRIAN KILMEADE (HOST): Another night of record turnout for Donald Trump as the GOP front-runner wins three out of the four state contests. Where does his support come from? Where has it been coming from? Here to take us inside the mind of a Donald Trump supporter, psychiatrist, Fox News contributor, all-around nice guy Dr. Keith Ablow. Dr. Ablow, this is not a normal election. So tell me why is this outsider doing so well in the mainstream?

   KEITH ABLOW: Well listen, I think the main reason is one thing, Barack Obama. Barack Obama fed America a bunch of lies about how we're terrible people. He went on apology tours. He attended a church where the preacher was preaching terrible things about America. There's pent-up frustration about him. People are ready to say no, no, America, and there's an American. He has lots of businesses. He's unapologetic.

   KILMEADE: Right.

   ABLOW: He's a nationalist. This is payback for Barack Obama. But it's also payback for the Republicans who let that happen. I don't think people can believe it. That we let this guy occupy the Oval Office for eight years. [Fox News, Fox & Friends, 3/9/16]

NY Times' Douthat: Trump Is "A Creature Of The Late Obama Era." In February 27 article, The New York Times' Ross Douthat wrote that, while Trump is "first and foremost a Republican" problem, his campaign success is also a result of the "late Obama era," in part because of the president's alleged efforts to "make domestic policy without any support from Congress":  

   The spectacle of the Republican Party's Trumpian meltdown has inspired a mix of glee and fear among liberals -- glee over their rivals' self-immolation, and fear that what arises from the destruction will be worse.

   What it hasn't inspired is much in the way of self-examination, or a recognition of the way that Obama-era trends in liberal politics have helped feed the Trump phenomenon.

   Such a recognition wouldn't require letting the Republican Party off the hook. The Trump uprising is first and foremost a Republican and conservative problem: There would be no Trumpism if George W. Bush's presidency hadn't cratered, no Trumpism if the party hadn't alternated between stoking and ignoring working-class grievances, no Trump as front-runner if the party leadership and his rivals had committed fully to stopping him before now.

   But Trumpism is also a creature of the late Obama era, irrupting after eight years when a charismatic liberal president has dominated the cultural landscape and set the agenda for national debates. President Obama didn't give us Trump in any kind of Machiavellian or deliberate fashion. But it isn't an accident that this is the way the Obama era ends -- with a reality TV demagogue leading a populist, nationalist revolt.

   [...]

   He's also proving, in his bullying, overpromising style, that voters are increasingly habituated to the idea of an ever more imperial presidency -- which is also a trend that Obama's choices have accelerated. Having once campaigned against his predecessor's power grabs, the current president has expanded executive authority along almost every dimension: launching wars without congressional approval, claiming the power to assassinate American citizens, and using every available end-around to make domestic policy without any support from Congress. [The New York Times, 2/27/16]

Fox Contributor: Trump's Rise "Is Payback For Barack Obama." During the March 9 edition of Fox News' Fox & Friends, Fox contributor Keith Ablow claimed "pent-up frustration" about Obama's presidency created Trump's presidential campaign:  

   BRIAN KILMEADE (HOST): Another night of record turnout for Donald Trump as the GOP front-runner wins three out of the four state contests. Where does his support come from? Where has it been coming from? Here to take us inside the mind of a Donald Trump supporter, psychiatrist, Fox News contributor, all-around nice guy Dr. Keith Ablow. Dr. Ablow, this is not a normal election. So tell me why is this outsider doing so well in the mainstream?

   KEITH ABLOW: Well listen, I think the main reason is one thing, Barack Obama. Barack Obama fed America a bunch of lies about how we're terrible people. He went on apology tours. He attended a church where the preacher was preaching terrible things about America. There's pent-up frustration about him. People are ready to say no, no, America, and there's an American. He has lots of businesses. He's unapologetic.

   KILMEADE: Right.

   ABLOW: He's a nationalist. This is payback for Barack Obama. But it's also payback for the Republicans who let that happen. I don't think people can believe it. That we let this guy occupy the Oval Office for eight years. [Fox News, Fox & Friends, 3/9/16]

Trump Won't Rule Out Effort to Remove Ryan as Convention Chairman

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Donald J. Trump will not rule out an effort to remove Paul D. Ryan as chairman of the Republican National Convention if he does not endorse Mr. Trump’s candidacy.

Mr. Trump stopped short of calling for Mr. Ryan, the speaker of the House, to step down from his convention role. But in an interview that aired Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Mr. Trump said there could be consequences in the event that Mr. Ryan continues withholding his support.

“I will give you a very solid answer, if that happens, about one minute after that happens, okay?” Mr. Trump said. “There’s no reason to give it right now, but I’ll be very quick with the answer.”

Not to be out done,our favorite Trump surrogate weighs in...
Sarah Palin: Paul Ryan’s career is over for refusing to endorse Donald Trump

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Palin lectured Ryan for never having a "real job" and is now backing his primary challenger in the name of Trump

The media is still asking Sarah Palin for her political opinions after Donald Trump trotted out her endorsement during the primary as though it made a difference, and now America is stuck with her for yet another presidential campaign cycle.

“I think Paul Ryan is soon to be ‘Cantored,’ as in Eric Cantor,” Palin ominously warned on CNN Sunday, referring to Eric Cantor, the former Republican House majority leader who was upset in a 2014 primary by challenger and college professor Dave Brat.

Palin said that Ryan’s hesitation to back the presumptive Republican presidential nomination had caused her to join an effort to defeat the Republican House Speaker, announcing her support for Ryan’s primary challenger on CNN’s “State of the Union.”

“His political career is over but for a miracle because he has so disrespected the will of the people,” the failed vice presidential nominee and half-term former Alaskan governor asserted. “[A]s the leader of the GOP, the convention, certainly he is to remain neutral, and for him to already come out and say who he will not support is not a wise decision of his,” Palin continued. “If the GOP were to win now, that wouldn’t bode well for his chances in 2020, and that’s what he’s shooting for,” Palin said.

Palin said she will, along with working to elect Trump, “will do whatever [she] can” to help him elect Ryan’s more right-wing challenger Paul Nehlen:

Who’ll Be Piling Out Of The Clown Car At The Republican Convention? Not Sarah Palin, Somehow!

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Oh, joy! The official list of speakers at the Republican National convention is out, and it’s going to be simply AMAZING! We’d assumed the list would be so heavy on C-list celebrities that a game of Hollywood Squares might spontaneously erupt, but instead the crowd seems to be loaded with wingnuts, Trump family members, and embarrassed Republican functionaries who have to be there. So who’s showing up at this shitshow? Here’s the full list released Thursday, subject of course to last minute surprises like Clint Eastwood lecturing 100 empty chairs and pretending it’s the U.S. Senate:




Because we love you — and more importantly for our own mental health — we will not explainer everybody on there, but just a few lowlights (which is probably everybody, really). The New York Times reports that the first night of the convention will be a festive tribute to Benghazi; we’re betting the RNC has hired Michael Bay and some Broadway types to put on an all-singing, all-dancing recreation of the attacks on the diplomatic compound and CIA annex, complete with an aria by a holographic Hillary Clinton wailing in disappointment that only four brave Americans died.

Grievance Night will continue with an appearance by Border Patrol agents and one of the few black people scheduled to speak, Jamiel Shaw Sr., whose son was killed in 2008 by an undocumented immigrant. Shaw is regularly brought onstage at Trump rallies in the dual role of black Trump supporter and waver of the bloody “Mexicans are murderers” shirt — if Trump thought he could get away with it, he might actually hand Shaw a prop for that. Other Night One speakers will include Iran Grievance Expert Tom Cotton, The Blacks Grievance Expert Rudy Giuliani, Wonder Bread Bag aficionado Joni Ernst, and Entrepreneur and Marrying Well Expert Melania Trump. Mrs Trump’s Online Flying Monkey Defense Brigade has not been invited to run around the stage carrying humorous cartoons of Jews being executed.

We’re already tired of the chronological thing the Times was doing, so instead we’ll let you look up the other nights yourself and pick out some notable looninaries in the crowd.

You’ve got your former Trump adversaries, none of whom were going to be allowed to speak unless they endorsed him, except a few haven’t. Among the endorsers, you got your Mike Huckabee, your Chris Christie, and your Ben Carson. Yes, he will be there to snore for us. Scott Walker hasn’t quite endorsed Trump, but he’ll get to pant and slobber on him anyway like an inbred puppy-mill golden retriever, and Ted Cruz will also show up to remind people exactly how sad the last choice to stop Trump had been.

We’d simply skim over the list of Republican political leaders, who have to be there, except we should note that John Kasich won’t be attending the RNC in his own damn state, and also that Paul Ryan, as official chair of the convention, will very conveniently be on hand just in case the Trump-Dumpers manage to pray really hard and make God reverse the Will of the People. (Wonkette’s Editrix still has a fiver that says Ryan ends up the nominee. She’s like that.) If anything is left standing of the arena, Ryan can accept the nomination then.

Among what Slate calls “the party’s inflammatory wingnut/conspiracy-theorist/’political correctness’ caucus,” there’s Carson again, Huckabee again, Giuliani again. There’s also Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, who totally supports gay people when they’re massacred in a nightclub but not any other times, and who also conveniently dropped an investigation into Trump University because she decided it was a good school and also Donald Trump gave her a nice campaign contribution. She may even share some real estate tips! In addition, we’ll hear from Fox News’s favorite black sheriff, Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke, who wishes single black moms would teach their kids to stay out of the way of cops’ bullets and likes to remind people they all need more guns. He’s bound to be a hit, since he thinks Black Lives Matter is a “subversive movement” and last fall even tweeted that he expects BLM to join up with ISIS and destroy America. No, really!

Sure, it hasn’t happened yet, but just you wait. The spaceship behind the comet will be along any day now, too.

Oh, and then there’s the entrepreneurs! Super Libertarian Peter Thiel will say stuff about getting rich on the interwebs, possibly through purchasing real estate seminars personally endorsed by Donald Trump. Or at least maybe he’ll explain what Liberty-making fun it is to sue the fuck out of Gawker, only behind the scenes, by paying others to do it. Classy! Also, Dana White, the head of UFC, will say things about how Donald Trump will keep America Free for Ultimate Fighting, which under a Trump presidency may be introduced as an alternative to the Supreme Court. Oh, and great entrepreneur Kerry Woolard will be there, too. She’s the manager of the Trump Winery, and knows how to prosper in Donald Trump’s America, yes sir she does.

We can’t possibly top Friend of Wonkette and one of Donna Rose’s favorite stage managers Charlie Pierce’s observations on these other hangers-on, so we’ll just steal this paragraph:

Marsha Blackburn will talk about how you can buy baby parts in the Planned Parenthood section of your local Gas ‘n Sip, and Mary Fallin will reprise her 2012 triumph about how Oklahomans made Oklahoma without any help from big government, thankyewverymuch. And Tim Tebow will throw out some ideas, none of which will connect with their intended audience.

There’s one name we don’t at all recognize on that list, though: “Andy Wist,” who has literally no internet presence. Nobody has a clue who he is, if he exists at all; Vox notes that the name only shows up in Google searches which show he’s on the RNC speakers list. Is it really Sarah Palin? Could be — “Andy Wist” anagrams to “Sandy Wit,” which sort of works. Or maybe it’s an accountant who’ll reveal Trump’s no billionaire after all, since it also anagrams to “Tiny Wads.”

Hell, maybe “Andy Wist” is a place-filler for the moment when Trump steps up to the microphone, removes his rubber mask and silly wig, and reveals it’s been Andy Kaufman under there the whole time.

Read more at http://wonkette.com/604092/wholl-be-piling-out-of-the-clown-car-at-the-republican-convention-not-sarah-palin-somehow#JUfW4A0MeOAS5M7T.99

Just about every late night comedian will be having a show each day after the circus wraps up. Anyone know if you can buy popcorn futures?

The ever-growing list of Republicans endorsing Hillary Clinton

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This post continues to be updated with additional Republicans backing Clinton. The latest are former Michigan governor William Milliken, former George W. Bush aide Lezlee Westin, former Ronald Reagan aide Frank Lavin and two former officials with the Environmental Protection Agency.

Richard Armitage, Henry Paulson, Brent Scowcroft. Three big-name former George W. Bush administration officials in the past few weeks have announced that they are supporting Hillary Clinton in 2016 — all because Donald Trump is simply a bridge too far for them.

"When it comes to the presidency, I will not vote for Donald Trump," Paulson wrote in The Washington Post. "I will not cast a write-in vote. I’ll be voting for Hillary Clinton, with the hope that she can bring Americans together to do the things necessary to strengthen our economy, our environment and our place in the world. To my Republican friends: I know I’m not alone."

He's not. And below are the big names who are with him — or, perhaps more accurately, with her.

(A note: While many, many Republicans have declined to embrace Trump's candidacy, a growing but significantly smaller group has gone so far as to publicly express support for Clinton. This list focuses on the latter, and it will be updated in the weeks ahead.)
Members of Congress

   Rep. Richard Hanna (R-N.Y.), a moderate Republican who is retiring this year, told Syracuse.com that he will support Clinton and that Trump is unfit to lead. He cited Trump's criticism of Khizr Khan. "I think Trump is a national embarrassment," Hanna said. "Is he really the guy you want to have the nuclear codes?"

Bush administration officials

   Henry Paulson, treasury secretary
   Richard Armitage, deputy secretary of state and adviser to Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush — Trump "doesn't appear to be a Republican, he doesn't appear to want to learn about issues. So I’m going to vote for Mrs. Clinton."
   Brent Scowcroft, chairman of the President's Intelligence Advisory Board and adviser to three previous Republican presidents — "The presidency requires the judgment and knowledge to make tough calls under pressure. ... [Clinton] has the wisdom and experience to lead our country at this critical time."
   William Reilly, Environmental Protection Agency adminstrator
   Alan Steinberg, regional EPA administrator
   Lezlee Westine, former White House director of public liaison and deputy assistant to the president — “Our nation faces a unique set of challenges that require steady and experienced leadership. That is why today I am personally supporting Hillary Clinton."
   Kori Schake, National Security Council and State Department aide

Officials in previous GOP administrations

   Frank Lavin, former Reagan political director — "It might not be entirely clear that Hillary Clinton deserves to win the presidency, but it is thunderingly clear that Donald Trump deserves to lose. From this premise, I will do something that I have not done in 40 years of voting: I will vote for the Democratic nominee for president."
   Doug Elmets, former Reagan spokesman — "I could live with four years of Hillary Clinton before I could ever live with one day of Donald Trump as president." Elmets spoke at the Democratic National Convention, along with other Republicans now backing Clinton.
   Jim Cicconi, former Reagan and George H.W. Bush aide — "Hillary Clinton is experienced, qualified and will make a fine president. The alternative, I fear, would set our nation on a very dark path.”
   Charles Fried, former U.S. solicitor general under Reagan and current Harvard Law professor — "Though long a registered Republican, this will be the third consecutive presidential election in which my party forces the choice between party and, in John McCain’s words, putting America first. ... It is to [Mitt] Romney's credit that this year, like John Paulson and George Will, he is standing up against the brutal, substantively incoherent, and authoritarian tendencies of Donald Trump."
   William Rickelshaus, former Environmental Protection Agency head, deputy attorney general and acting FBI director

These Republicans are backing Hillary Clinton

Foreign policy leaders

   Robert Kagan, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, former Reagan State Department aide and adviser to the presidential campaigns of John McCain and Mitt Romney
   Max Boot, senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and adviser to GOP presidential candidates — "I'm literally losing sleep over Donald Trump. She would be vastly preferable to Trump."
   Peter Mansoor, retired Army colonel and former aide to former CIA director David Petraeus — "It will be the first Democratic presidential candidate I’ve voted for in my adult life."

Business leaders/donors

   Meg Whitman, former Hewlett-Packard chief executive and California gubernatorial nominee — "Donald Trump's demagoguery has undermined the fabric of our national character. America needs the kind of stable and aspirational leadership Secretary Clinton can provide."
   Marc Andreessen, venture capitalist — "[Silicon] Valley wouldn't be here, we wouldn't be doing any of this if we didn't have the amazing flow of immigrants that we've had in the last 80 years. And the idea of choking that off just makes me sick to my stomach."
   Dan Akerson, former chairman and chief executive of General Motors — "Serving as the leader of the free world requires effective leadership, sound judgment, a steady hand and, most importantly, the temperament to deal with crises large and small. Donald Trump lacks each of these characteristics."
   Chuck Robbins, chief executive of Cisco
   Hamid Moghadam, chairman and chief executive of Prologis — "Our country is about tolerance and inclusion and that's why, as a lifelong Republican supporter, I endorse Hillary Clinton for president in this election."
   William Oberndorf, donor of $3 million to GOP candidates since 2012 — "If it is Trump vs. Clinton, and there is no viable third-party candidate, I will be voting for Hillary Clinton."
   Mike Fernandez, $4 million to GOP candidates in recent years — "If I have a choice — and you can put it in bold — if I have a choice between Trump and Hillary Clinton, I’m choosing Hillary. She’s the lesser of two evils."

Former Republican elected officials

   William Milliken, who served as governor of Michigan from 1969 to 1983 — "Because I feel so strongly about our nation's future, I will be joining the growing list of former and present government officials in casting my vote for Hillary Clinton for president in 2016.”
   Larry Pressler, former three-term Republican senator from South Dakota who lost an independent campaign for his old seat in 2014 — "I can’t believe I’m endorsing Hillary Clinton for president, but I am. If someone had told me 10 years ago I would do this, I wouldn’t have believed them."
   Arne Carlson, a former two-term Republican governor of Minnesota who supported President Obama
   Robert Smith, former judge on New York's highest court, the Court of Appeals — "This year, I’m going to vote for a Democrat for president  —  the first time I’ve done it in 36 years  —  and I think the decision is easy. Hillary Clinton is the only responsible choice, and I don’t understand why so few of my fellow conservatives see it that way."

Political operatives

   Mark Salter, former top adviser to John McCain — "Whatever Hillary Clinton’s faults, she’s not ignorant or hateful or a nut. She acts like an adult and understands the responsibilities of an American president. That might not be a ringing endorsement. But in 2016, the year of Trump’s s campaign, it’s more than enough."
   Sally Bradshaw, former top Jeb Bush adviser, told told CNN that she had left the Republican Party to become an independent because of Donald Trump's presence at the top of the ticket — and that if the race were close in her home state of Florida this fall, she would be voting for Hillary Clinton. "As much as I don't want another four years of [President Barack] Obama's policies, I can't look my children in the eye and tell them I voted for Donald Trump."
   Maria Comella, former spokeswoman for two of Trump's top backers, Chris Christie and Rudy Giuliani — "Instead of speaking out against instances of bigotry, racism and inflammatory rhetoric whether it's been against women, immigrants or Muslims, we made a calculus that it was better to say nothing at all in the interest of politics and winning elections."
   Mike Treiser, former Mitt Romney aide — "In the face of bigotry, hatred, violence, and small-mindedness, this time, I’m with her.”
   Craig Snyder, former chief of staff to then-Republican former senator Arlen Specter (Pa.) and an ex-colleague of former top Trump adviser Roger Stone and current top Trump adviser Paul Manafort.

Journalists

   Ben Howe, contributing editor at RedState.com

Correction: This post initially described Smith as a state Supreme Court justice. He served as a judge on the New York state Court of Appeals, which is the state's highest court.

PRESENTING THE NEW OFFICIAL LOGO OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY:

Need I say "Moore"?

Right-wing Celebrities Play Fast and Loose With History

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Let me note that such inexcusably sloppy editorializing posing as scholarship has becoming increasingly characteristic of the conservative movement as a media phenomenon. Editorial opinions dressed up as as scholarship and then placed in book form and mass-marketed have become part of the new highbrow conservatism.

. . .

Perhaps one of the most ludicrous examples of the conservative movement’s recent attempt at being sophisticated was an exchange of equally uninformed views by talk show host Dennis Prager and Dinesh D’Souza, on the subject of the fascist worldview. The question was whether one could prove that fascism was a leftist ideology by examining the thought of Mussolini’s court philosopher Giovanni Gentile (1875-1944). Gentile defined the “fascist idea” in his political writings while serving as minister of education in fascist Italy. He was also not incidentally one of the greatest philosophers of the 20th century; and in works like General Theory of the Spirit as Pure Act, adapts the thought of Hegel to his own theory of evolving national identity. It would be hard to summarize Gentile’s thought in a few pithy sentences; and, not surprisingly, the Canadian historian of philosophy H.S. Harris devotes a book of many hundreds of pages trying to explain his complex philosophical speculation.

Hey, but that’s no big deal for such priests of the GOP church as Prager and D’Souza. They zoom to the heart of Gentile’s neo-Hegelian worldview in thirty seconds and state with absolute certainty that he was a “leftist.” We have to assume that Prager, D’Souza and the rest of their crowd know this intuitively, inasmuch they give no indication of having ever read a word of Gentile’s thought, perhaps outside of a few phrases that they extracted from his Doctrine of Fascism. Their judgment also clashes with that of almost all scholars of Gentile’s work, from across the political spectrum, who view him, as I do in my study of fascism, as the most distinguished intellectual of the revolutionary right.

. . .

Let me close these observations by noting the obvious. There are still many respectable historical works that are produced by scholars identified, however loosely, with the American right. But there is also a plague of genuinely ridiculous writings on historical subjects coming from conservative media celebrities that surpass in their arrogant stupidity almost anything I’ve encountered in professional journals. As for people who yap about the ideologically tainted work that originate in our universities, one might hope they’d be somewhat better than those they declaim against. That’s not always the case.