Patterico's Pontifications

6/8/2016

#ExGOP

Filed under: General — Patterico @ 7:46 am



Leon Wolf has a great post about Trump University at RedState, addressing various Trump claims. This part is very important, because it is a great reminder of why I will never, ever support Donald Trump:

2. [Trump claim:] The original lead plaintiff withdrew because “she was a disaster” and “she couldn’t win.” This is one of the more galling lies that Trump has repeatedly told throughout his sob story about this case, and he has never once been challenged to his face about it, that I’ve seen. The truth is that Trump’s legal team made this woman – whose name is Tarla Makaeff – go through living hell as part of scorched earth tactics. They countersued her individually and dragged her through separate litigation that was so extensive that at the end of it – which she won – the judge awarded her an astounding $800,000 in legal fees.

She also alleged (and who does not believe her?) that both Trump and his attorneys have repeatedly threatened to ruin her financially for pursuing the suit, regardless of how long it takes. Given that this suit was started five years ago, and that Trump is now running for President, while followed by a bunch of slobbering hate-filled lunatics who harass everyone who dares to disagree with Trump, Makaeff furthermore says (and who does not believe her?) that she does not wish to continue being harassed by Trump, his lawyers, and his fans for the duration of this awful Presidential campaign.

For five years, Makaeff has been the face of the Trump University plaintiffs, and Donald Trump tried to destroy her life for it. He shows every indication of continuing to do so for all eternity. Ordinary people cannot deal with this kind of perpetual pressure in their lives. That is why she withdrew from the case.

Trump is a thug. Pure and simple.

The bit about her praising Trump U. is part of a scam, of course: they solicited feedback early on, after the free stuff, and then upsold people.

Jay Nordlinger has a great piece that sums up how I feel about all this. Like me, Nordlinger was GOP until May 3, when he became #ExGOP:

Much as I disliked the Democrats, my Republicanism was not merely negative — not merely a reaction to the Democrats. I held the Republicans to be a boon to the country and world.

But then they nominated, or were poised to nominate, Donald J. Trump for president. And that’s where I get off. I ceased to be a Republican on the night of May 3, when the results of the Indiana primary came in. A party that thinks Donald Trump ought to be president is not a party I should belong to.

Think of it in different terms: If there were a party somewhere that thought Donald Trump ought to be president, would you belong to it? I wouldn’t. And that party exists: It is my old party.

. . . .

Trump made his remarks about Rafael Cruz and JFK on the day he won, May 3. That night, a new hashtag appeared on Twitter: “#ExGOP.” I do not want to wear that tag, but I suppose I do.

If you do a search for the #ExGOP hashtag you’ll see when it first “appeared” on May 3:

So yeah, I feel a pretty close kinship with Nordlinger’s sentiments. And last night, after casting a vote for Ted Cruz, I took the first step towards making it official:

I hate this. I hope it lasts a short period of time. But I think it’s important to send a message to party leaders that we’re out.

Being #ExGOP means that I get to watch idiots try to justify Donald Trump and I don’t feel the slightest need to rise to his, or their, partisan defense. When I see something like this, I point and laugh:

When I watch Paul Ryan call Trump’s Curiel comments the “textbook definition of racism” (they weren’t, really; they were just stupid) and still declare that he supports Trump — again, I point and laugh.

But it’s a bitter and sad laugh. Because we threw away a real chance this year.

So what’s the solution? Hillary Clinton has started a group called . . . wait for it . . . Republicans Against Trump:

Yeah, I’ll pass on the chance to be a RAT, Hillary. You can save your speeches about income inequality — put them in a pocket of your $12,495 Versace jacket, why don’t you.

We’ll be in the political wilderness for a while. It could be a long time. In the meantime, there’s the Constitutional Vanguard mailing list and Facebook group for those who feel the same as I do. (Please note: the Facebook group is for mailing list recipients only!) Or, for non-joiners, there are the comments below.


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