Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2016 | 2 a.m.
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View more of the Sun's opinion section
The Republican Party is embroiled in the schism of a family feud that threatens to escalate into a civil war, that is, into the self-eliminating shoot-out of a “circular firing squad.” The infighting started when displeased leaders questioned Donald Trump’s fitness to be president of the United States. However, since Trump outlasted 17 other primary candidates, it is the fitness of the question that is in question. It’s not like Trump stole the position he now occupies. He has millions of votes to show for it.
When Trump advanced his political intention from entertaining a run for the presidency to running for the presidency, his rivals snickered. They predicted that the voters would never take him serious. To the contrary, however, the voters never took them serious. Trump’s victory hit them — and the bosses of the Republican Party — with the impact of a stun grenade.
Trump’s vanquished opponents were so enraged over their defeat, they vowed to inflict havoc upon his bid for the Oval Office. Their revenge upon him has been so severe that, unless you knew Republicans were the source of the onslaught, you would have blamed it on the Democrats.
In 1966, during his campaign for the governorship of California, Ronald Reagan cautioned the GOP against its penchant for publicizing the internal conflicts of the Republican membership. In his words, “Thou shalt not speak ill of any fellow Republican.” Those Republicans who withdrew their endorsement of Trump, or who were “Never Trump” from the beginning, have thrown Reagan’s commandment under the bus and run it over repeatedly. Not only have they spoken ill of Trump, they have done so at the highest decibel, in the most excoriating terms.
The “Never Trump” defectors have only served to aid and abet the purpose of the Democrats’ agenda. What a Republican gift to the Clinton campaign, a political windfall, as it were.
Trump has made some foot-in-mouth comments that were hot enough to melt your earwax. But the 2016 presidential election is not about coarse language. It is an opportunity — maybe the last opportunity — to downsize big government and resubordinate its right to govern to the “consent of the governed.” It is about letting the political destruction of America continue or putting the country back on the course set for it by the Founding Fathers, guided by the Constitution.
If Hillary Clinton is elected president, she will continue the wrecking ball politics of Barack Obama. She will also stack the Supreme Court with liberal judges who will implement the progressivists’ agenda. If, however, Trump is elected president, he will do what he said he will do. He will “Make America Great Again.”
