An Establishment in Panic

Donald Trump "appeals to racism."    

"[F]rom the beginning ... his campaign has profited from voter prejudice and hatred" and represents an "authoritarian assault upon democracy."    

If Speaker Paul Ryan wishes to be "on the right side of history ... he must condemn Mr. Trump clearly and comprehensively. The same goes for every other Republican leader."  

"Maybe that would split the (Republican) party," but, "No job is worth the moral stain that would come from embracing (Trump). No party is worth saving at the expense of the country."   

If Republican leaders wish to be regarded as moral, every one of them must renounce Trump, even if it means destroying their party.    

Who has laid down this moral mandate? The Holy Father in Rome?   

No. The voice posturing as the conscience of America is The Washington Post, which champions abortion on demand and has not, in the memory of this writer, endorsed any Republican for president -- though it did endorse Marion Barry three times for mayor of D.C.    

Anticipating the Post's orders, Sen. Marco Rubio has been painting Trump as a "scam artist" and "con artist," with an "orange" complexion, a "spray tan" and "tiny hands," who is "unfit to lead the party of Lincoln and Reagan."  

The establishment is loving Rubio, and the networks are giving him more airtime. And Rubio is reciprocating, promising that, even if defeated in his home state of Florida on March 15, he will drive his pickup across the country warning against the menace of Trump.   

Rubio, however, seems not to have detected the moral threat of Trump, until polls showed Rubio being wiped out on Super Tuesday and in real danger of losing Florida.    

Mitt Romney has also suddenly discovered what a fraud and phony is the businessman-builder whose endorsement he so avidly sought and so oleaginously accepted in Las Vegas in 2012.   

Before other Republicans submit to the ultimatum of the Post, and of the columnists and commentators pushing a "Never Trump" strategy at the Cleveland convention, they should ask themselves: For whom is it that they will be bringing about party suicide?   

That the Beltway elites, whose voice is the Post, hate and fear Trump is not only undeniable, it is understandable.   

The Post beat the drums for the endless Mideast wars that bled and near bankrupted the country. Trump will not start another.   

The Post welcomes open borders that bring in millions to continue the endless expansion of the welfare state and to change the character of the country we grew up in. Trump will build the wall, and repatriate those here illegally.  

Trump threatens the trade treaties that enable amoral transnational corporations to ship factories and jobs overseas to produce cheaply abroad and be rid of American employees who are ever demanding better wages and working conditions.    

What does the Post care about trade deals that deindustrialize America when the advertising dollars of the big conglomerates that benefit are what Big Media fat and happy?   

The political establishment in Washington depends on Wall Street and K Street for PAC money and campaign contributions. Wall Street and K Street depend on the political establishment to protect their right to abandon America for the greener pastures abroad.   

Before March 15, when Florida and Ohio vote and the fates of Rubio and Gov. John Kasich are decided, nothing is likely to stop the ferocious infighting of the primaries.    

But after March 15, the smoke will have cleared.   

If Trump has fallen short of a glide path to the nomination, the war goes on. But if Trump seems to be the near-certain nominee, it will be a time for acceptance, a time for a ceasefire in this bloodiest of civil wars in the GOP.    

Otherwise, the party will kick away any chance of keeping Hillary Clinton out of the White House, and perhaps kick away its future as well.   

While the depth and rancor of the divisions in the party are apparent, so also is the opportunity. For the turnout in the Republican primaries and caucuses has not only exceeded expectations, it has astonished and awed political observers.   

A new "New Majority" has been marching to the polls and voting Republican, a majority unlike any seen since the 49-state landslides of the Nixon and Reagan eras.   

If this energy can be maintained, if those throngs of Republican voters can be united in the fall, then the party can hold Congress, capture the While House and reconstitute the Supreme Court.   

Come the ides of March, the GOP is going to be in need of its uniters and its statesmen. But today, all Republicans should ask themselves:   

Are these folks coming out in droves to vote Republican really the bigoted, hateful and authoritarian people of the Post's depiction?    

Or is this not the same old Post that has poured bile on conservatives for generations, now in a panic that America's destiny may be torn away from it and restored to its rightful owners?   

Patrick J. Buchanan is the author of the new book "The Greatest Comeback: How Richard Nixon Rose From Defeat to Create the New Majority." To find out more about Patrick Buchanan and read features by other Creators writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Web page at www.creators.com.

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