UPDATE 21 July 2020: In a July 20 interview with Susan Page, Washington Bureau Chief for USA TODAY, George F. Will stated that he will be voting for the Democratic Party’s presumptive Presidential nominee, former Vice President Joe Biden, for President in the 2020 November General Election.
In the interview conducted virtually via Zoom, Ms. Page asked Mr. Will, “Who do you plan to vote for in November?”
Without hesitation, Mr. Will stated, “Biden.”
She quickly followed up with the question, “Have you voted for a Democrat before?”
Mr. Will replied, “Never. I’ve nothing against Democrats. But I’ve never had the opportunity to vote for one.”
Rarely has Right Wing Conservative Columnist George F. Will ever agreed with any other political perspective.
However, this time, he has.
Though he has long written an OpEd column for the revered “Gray Lady,” aka The New York Times, The Washington Post, Newsweek, and others, the magazine with which he may best remain known, National Review, has never had soft feelings for “The Donald” as a political candidate.
And in fact, from 1972-78, Will served as an Editor for National Review, right alongside its founder, William F. Buckley, Jr. – himself no shrinking violet to conservatism, and outspoken critic of progressivism (although, some liberals considered his positions almost identical to theirs, and enjoyed debate with him for that reason).
In January 2016, National Review wrote of then-GOP candidate-among-many Trump that, “Trump is a philosophically unmoored political opportunist who would trash the broad conservative ideological consensus within the GOP in favor of a free-floating populism with strong-man overtones.”
And though Trump flies his flag under the GOP’s banner, the “Party of Lincoln” would just as soon not have him. That much is plainly evident.
I have previously written that his relationship to the GOP is much like a line in a Bob Seger song:
“I used her, she used me. But neither one cared.”
Those in the GOP with a conscience, and the ones with a spine have spoken out against him, and his malignant ways.
On numerous occasions, David Duke has plainly said that Trump is “by far the best candidate,” that he “is really treason to your heritage,” and that “I’m overjoyed to see Donald Trump and most Americans embrace most of the issues that I’ve championed for years.”
For White Supremacists, “heritage” is “dog whistle” language meaning White Supremacy.
And though Trump’s caustically racist remarks are every bit as inflammatory as David Duke’s – a high-ranking Ku Klux Klansman whose brief political career as a GOP Representative in Louisiana’s State House ran from 1989-92 – the Republican Party merely tolerates him.
But back to the point – George F. Will’s agreement.
In his most recent column in The Washington Post, Mr. Will found not only significant areas of agreement with those whom decry Trump, within and without the Republican Party, but forewarned of worse things to come because of his Presidency.
Writing that “The nation’s floundering government is now administered by a gangster regime,” Mr. Will took direct aim at Trump’s commutation of long-time GOP political operative Roger Stone’s Federal conviction of 7 felony charges, which included witness tampering, lying under oath to investigators, and obstructing a Congressional investigation – which carried combined sentences of 40 years. Stone was significantly influential in Trump’s campaign, as he has been in every election since Nixon.
Citing also numerous incidents of incompetence and voter suppression efforts in primarily GOP-dominated States, along with self-evident malfeasance in the Federal response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Mr. Will concluded simply,
“This is what national decline looks like.”
The nation is in a downward spiral. Worse is still to come.
by George F. Will
July 14, 2020
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/this-is-what-national-decline-looks-like/2020/07/14/ef499fd4-c5f0-11ea-b037-f9711f89ee46_story.html
Because of his incontinent use of it, the rhetorical mustard that the president slathers on every subject has lost its tang. The entertainer has become a bore, and foretelling his defeat no longer involves peering into a distant future: Early voting begins in two states (South Dakota and Minnesota) 61 days from Sunday, which is 107 days before Election Day.
Warm Southern Breeze 