Cartoon credit: A.F. Branco at Liberty Alliance via RedState
We've seen the syndrome before with George W. and Sarah Palin. It's baaaaack with a vengeance. American Thinker contributor David Zukerman
reports that “Trump Derangement Syndrome sends NYT’s David Brooks off the deepend”
Once upon a time, David Brooks was considered the
house conservative at the New York Times. But in his April 21 New York
Times column, he put President
Donald J. Trump on a list of "strong men" that includes Turkey's
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and North Korea's Kim Jong-un. Mr. Brooks noted that
Erdoğan has "dismantle[d] democratic institutions and replace[d] them with
majoritarian dictatorship." The Times columnist went on to assert:
"While running for office, Donald Trump violated every norm of
statesmanship built up over these many centuries[.]" Mr. Brooks,
however, does not elaborate, explain, or elucidate the nature of the alleged
violations.
But when it comes to discussion of President
Trump, NeverTrumps like David Brooks feel no need to place their anti-Trump
views on a foundation of fact. For Trump-haters, the truth is in the
accusation. And so, comparing President Trump to Turkey's Erdoğan, Mr.
Brooks does not set forth the democratic institutions dismantled by Mr. Trump,
nor does he provide evidence of the "majoritarian dictatorship" that
was constructed during the first 100 days of the Trump administration.
How could he, there being no such dismantling, no such dictatorship here?
Mr. Brooks recognizes "the collapse of
liberal values at home," citing "fragile thugs who call themselves
students [who] shout down and abuse speakers in a weekly basis." But
are these illiberals to be found under the banner of Trumpism – or under the
banner of the totalitarianism of left?
. . .
The threat to the American spirit of liberty is
not to be found among conservatives, or in the corridors of today's White
House. The threats to democracy, to free speech, to the free flow of
information are to be found on the left side of the political divide, from
neo-totalitarians who, like the execrable Howard Dean, would limit
free speech to persons who agree with the political biases
of leftists – with the encouragement of NeverTrumps in the media like
David Brooks, who lack the ability to distinguish a duly elected American
president from the brutal dictator of a totalitarian state.
Read the rest here.
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