The Republican Party has become gripped with chaos and fear over the probable nomination of controversial businessman Donald Trump. Trump has developed into a character of strong and unapologetic statements, with some positions concerning for Republican leaders. Everything from assassinating the families of suspected terorrists and defending the application of “no fly” lists to building a big wall, are positions of significant concern, among other things.
And there are those mean things he says.
There’s a number of registered Republicans who believe Trump’s level of proposed tyranny and hatred is unmatched within the Republican Party. Never before has there been a candidate so thoroughly authoritarian.
Not quite.
The absurdity of the #NeverTrump movement was discussed previously in The Liberty Conservative. The idea that Republicans have been some shining beacon of hope and freedom prior to 2016 is quite comical. In all reality, the Party has always been a weak foundation for conservatism. Instead, it has always been inviting to a weak, flimsy moderate position that is friendly to liberalism and even at times, progressivism.
The idea that Republicans just this year started embracing authoritarianism reflects the rise of the Safe Space Republicans.
Authoritarianism has long been an accepted part of the Republican Party. Through the embrace of the USA PATRIOT Act and executive orders under the Bush Administration to bypass the legal process, the Party has opposed the Constitution. Jose Padilla was a U.S. citizen that was held without charge in a military brig for a number of years without charge simply because former President George W. Bush deemed him an “enemy combatant.”
The idea that one man could strip due process of law was never widely criticized while their own Party was in control of the White House. These things are only wrong when a Democrat is in power. This is why it is so surprising Republicans are upset about the possibility of a Republican acting like a tyrant.
It’s happened before and Trump certainly won’t be the last. Conservatism and even libertarianism will never be widely embraced by Republicans. If Donald Trump isn’t libertarian or conservative, he is actually in more lockstep with Republican tradition than not.
Donald Trump’s language is what really scares people. He says a lot of words that are mean. He doesn’t hold back on his opponents, often coming up with nicknames for those he doesn’t agree with. “Lyin’ Ted” is Ted Cruz, “Crooked Hillary” is Hillary Clinton, and Senator Elizabeth Warren is “Pocahantas.” Are these offensive? Perhaps. And while we should certainly have respect for others, mean words won’t have nearly as strong of an effect as authoritarian principles.
The Republican Party is in hard shape and it’s not because of Donald Trump. Trump exposing all the weak-spined closet social justice warriors of the Republican Party shows us just how finished the Party really is. While the Democratic Party embraces the tyranny of centralized power, the Republican Party is still very much in denial and will only call out such authoritarianism if the candidate hurts their feelings enough.
This is the world of the Safe Space Republican: Be a liberal-leaning moderate tyrant all you want, just don’t hurt my feelings.
