Many of the Never Trumpers, most notably Max Boot, have looked at the current state of the GOP and concluded that the party needs to be destroyed and rebuilt from scratch. David Brooks, however, can’t bring himself to go that far. His columns since the 2016 election have basically consisted of the following:
- Damn, I miss the golden age of conservatism! Back in the 1980’s, the GOP was a principled small government party, not a mob of white nationalists. Where are Reagan and William F. Buckley when you need them?
- The problem isn’t the GOP; it’s that America is spiritually sick. Solutions have to be found on a state and local level by ordinary citizens, not the government.
Responses as follows:
- I’ve written on the relationship between Trump and Reagan on several occasions. While it is at least arguable (and, in my opinion, probably true) that the differences between the two are more significant than the similarities, anyone who denies the points of commonality is just kidding himself. Reagan swaggered and pandered to reactionaries, too. The road to Trump ran through him.
- The “sick America” meme, ironically enough, is reminiscent of Carter’s national malaise speech. The election of Reagan magically made the malaise disappear. The replacement of Trump with a Democratic alternative will do the same.