Fight Fiercely, Like Harvard…But Lose!

     Concerning the never to be adequately damned betrayal of conservatism by the pseudo-conservative NeverTrumpers, a.k.a. “Conservatism, Inc,” Ace captures the core of their mindset:

     They live in very leftwing Blue Cities in which ultraleft governance is the norm, in which ultraleft social norms are the norm, in which ultraleft political imperatives are the norm.

     They are used to very leftwing government and have no visceral objection to it. They see it as merely a cost to pay for having easy access to the the-a-tre and tastefully ethnic restaurants.

     On the other hand: they absolutely fear and despise conservatives, and would never agree to live in conservative-dominated regions.

     They have remained “on the right” under one condition: The condition in which they control the actual conservatives and keep them out of actual power and keep conservatives from achieving the conservative priorities conservatives seek.

     It could not be put better or more succinctly.

     The uber-label that matters more than any of the pretend labels is Establishment. “We’re people who count, unlike you unwashed types who cling to your guns, religion, and so forth.”

     Their organizations and think tanks are failing. So are their fundraising cruises and publications. They’re personae non gratae at gatherings of genuine conservatives. They curl their lips at the fighters, the Ron DeSantises, the Lauren Boeberts, and the Marjorie Taylor Greenes. And they’ve had to go hat in hand to Leftist plutocrats for support – and isn’t the willingness of those plutocrats to prop them up rather revealing?

     The point here, though, isn’t just to tell you what you probably already know. It’s this:

     We should be ashamed of ever having supported them. We should have known to watch what they do rather than what they say. For what did they do, other than fight for talk-show billets and appeal piteously to us for funds, over and over, for decades?

     They were always a tamed and leashed pseudo-opposition, lapdogs that barked only on command by their masters. The signs were always there, but we wished them away. The fault for having allowed them to posture as leaders is ours.