In case anyone figured the notorious Republican establishment was on the run -- or had already been defeated -- due to the rise of conservative populism under Donald Trump, think again.
While it’s certainly true that many folks, myself included, have concluded that the old Republican bluebloods’ say-so in party circles has been vastly diminished ever since Trump rode down the escalator in mid-June of 2015, this doesn’t mean they’ve completely disappeared, or even gone into hiding. In the past almost six years, the RINOs and #NeverTrumpers reemerged time and again like noxious weeds in a driveway crack, and no amount of pulling heads off or spraying with herbicide has done the trick to eradicate them.
If the GOP establishment were a virus, it would’ve passed the pandemic stage long ago and become endemic. Led by Trump’s example, conservatives have developed public relations vaccines and other treatments to handle outbreaks of RINO-ism, but for some reason, the political plague has refused to go away.
The recent dust-up over the possibility or likelihood of sending American troops into Ukraine to help stave off a Russian takeover of the eastern European country exposed the raw intra-party divisions once again. Conservative stalwart Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene penned an op-ed in The Washington Times last week questioning why “Bush’s brain,” strategist Karl Rove, would send America’s sons and daughters to a country they’ve never been to before or would ever likely visit to fight the nuclear-armed Russian army.
The calculus isn’t hard. Russia fears a NATO presence on its border. No one wants to see a “free” (a loose term in regards to Ukraine) nation invaded by an authoritarian neighbor, but to what degree is America responsible for the world’s safety? After 9/11 it was somewhat justified for the United States to work on enemies in the Middle East, but what’s the globalists’ explanation for involvement in Ukraine?
As if Rove’s absurd and discredited elitist opinions weren’t bad enough, none other than former president George W. Bush reemerged on the scene to insult conservatives once again. The man who tied us to never-ending wars in Iraq and Afghanistan has been busy raising money for anti-America First RINOs so they can carry on his misguided wishy-washy watered-down conservatism.
“Former President George W. Bush donated to the primary campaigns of two Republicans being targeted by former President Donald Trump, according to recent filings with the Federal Election Commission. Mr. Bush donated to Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming and Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska during the last three months of 2020.
“Mr. Bush’s donations helped the two lawmakers out-raise their primary opponents in the last three months of 2020. Ms. Cheney pulled in nearly $2 million during the period, bringing her overall fundraising for the year to $6.5 million. She currently has more than $4.7 million cash on hand for the August primary. Harriet Hageman, Mr. Trump’s choice to take on Ms. Cheney, raised $443,000 during the same time frame. Mrs. Hageman currently has $745,000 on hand.
“Similarly, Ms. Murkowski raised $1.2 million in the last three months of 2021, boosting her haul for the entire year to $5.4 million. She currently has $4.2 million on hand. Kelly Tshibaka, a former Alaska administration commissioner who is backed by Mr. Trump, raised more than $600,000 in the final quarter of 2021. Her campaign currently has $634,000 cash on hand.”
The Beatles said (sung?) it best: “Money can’t buy me love”. That’s particularly true of Dick Cheney’s daughter Liz, who couldn’t buy real principled friends for all the RINO contributions in Texas. Cheney has no doubt made pals with Nancy Pelosi and Joe Biden, but they’ll gladly toss her political carcass to the side when she gets booted out of office and stops being useful to them. That leaves only Adam Kinzinger as a lunchmate… and he’s kind of a dork.
The same goes for Murkowski, who stemmed from another political family that couldn’t make it in the real world. When Republicans were in the senate majority, Democrats and the media (same thing) would always run to Murk’s office whenever they desired a Trump betrayal. And more often than not, she’d give it to them along with statements that furthered their narrative. Anyone who’s paid attention to politics in recent times recognizes that campaign money alone doesn’t guarantee success, especially if the candidate is an outed RINO tied to the largely despised Bush wing of the Republican party. It’s sometimes hard for some folks to recall that George W. Bush left office with an approval rating in the high 20’s or low thirties. Put it this way, there weren’t throngs of people at Andrews Air Force Base tossing rose petals in front of Air Force One as the discredited loser slunk out of town. Senile Joe Biden’s numbers look positively sunny by comparison to Bush’s. By the end of his eighth year in office, George W. had managed to alienate every single Democrat and about half of his own party base -- mostly liberty loving conservatives who felt betrayed because George H.W. Bush’s son campaigned as a Ronald Reagan-type conservative. Clearly, a lie.
Democrats weren’t about to toss him a bone no matter how many new entitlements he passed (Medicare Part D and No Child Left Behind) or illegal aliens he proposed to embrace. The disastrous and costly Iraq War had soured the public on Bush’s leadership, and the Karl Roves of Washington retreated back to their DC townhouses to hide until they perceived that the coast was clear.
To this day, what do you think of when you hear the name George W. Bush? Tax cuts, maybe. Open borders, definitely. “Compassionate conservatism,” whatever that is -- absolutely. Neoconservative foreign policy, which includes sending American boots to every corner of the globe to fight for “democracy” that the native populations of these places wouldn’t even fully embrace. If Bush were president today, he’d almost certainly charter every plane within reach to transport American sons and daughters to the doorstep of Russia.
It was Barack Obama who got Osama bin Laden, remember? Bush is associated with Fallujah, purple fingers and Abu Ghraib prison. And stammering speeches with butchered words. Last year in September (on the 20th anniversary of 9/11/01) he blamed conservatives for the deterioration of civility in this nation, associating the date with January 6th. Needless to say, the Bushes aren’t on many “must invite” lists for conservative get-togethers these days, but I’m sure Chucky Schumer would extend him an open hand.
While George W’s still alive, it’s not likely that many Republicans would dare to tarnish himself or his family name, but I don’t know a single conservative who’s wildly enthusiastic about his presidency any longer. Trump’s enemies in the media like to say that the New York outsider destroyed the Republican party, but as it stands now, GOP candidates are primed to wage a historic takeover of Congress and state governorships and legislatures this year.
And it’s not because the party brand is particularly strong, either. The Republican old guard is just as unpopular as the Democrats in many local conservative organizations. Do the voters hope that Mitch McConnell comes back into power next January? Hardly. They just don’t want senile Joe to have a friendly upper chamber and Chucky Schumer to be looking down his long nose at good folks any longer.
But why Cheney and Murkowski?
Because they’re directly tied to the anti-Trump movement. It wasn’t all that long ago that Liz was in the House Republican leadership, remember? She, along with other card-carrying members of the establishment, resented Trump’s popularity with the grassroots. She spoke out about decorum and manners and working in a bipartisan way to get things done, blah, blah, blah.
Add the fact that both Wyoming and Alaska are solid red states who would only elect a Democrat by mistake -- or if there’s a divide Republican Party, like George W. is trying to create now. Murkowski is facing a “jungle primary” type election this year, so more than likely she’ll appear on the November ballot regardless of how conservative voters feel about her.
Cheney is counting on Cowboy State conservatives splitting their primary votes so she can prevail with a mere plurality. From what I hear, Republicans are consolidating around Hageman, so no amount of small dollar contributions (George W. made two separate donations totaling $5800) from the Bush address are going to save her from the pit of disgraced former politicians.
This year more than ever, it’s important for conservatives to be wary of Republican establishmentarians like George W. Bush trying to steal elections by propping up RINOs in GOP primaries. The Bushes and Roves will do anything to return to power, and use their names to provide resources for status quo candidates who do their bidding. We mustn’t let them.
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