The Donald has done it again! With his latest statement on immigration and his newly released policy paper, Trump has caused apoplexy not only among Leftists, not only among the Republican elite, but among many who have long posed as conservatives.
George Will, Charles Cooke, Jonah Goldberg and the National Review gang, and Erick Erickson’s RedState gang are finding themselves left (no pun intended) out on the fringes of the conservative world. At the start of the Republican primary contest they wrongly assumed that as insiders they were in a position to provide the expert commentary for conservatives. For these ‘experts’ the issues of the campaign were the economy, chronic unemployment, cutting government spending, education, taking on the Public Service Unions and Israel/Iran. Consequently, successful governors were the candidates they backed. All the above issues are important and require a conservative response, so where did they, and the other candidates, go wrong?
Trump exploded on to the primary scene with his blunt talk on immigration and this last weekend he has again blown aside the campaign issues the experts assumed would dominate. They have not been in touch with a fundamental component of conservatism -Nationalism! For a long time the conservatism of the experts and Congressional leadership has sidled further and further away from both Nationalism and morality. Suddenly, with his defense of borders, National identity and American self-interest, Trump has become either a voice for a Nationalism that has been ready to erupt, or he has awakened it from a long sleep.
On this website we have always asserted that Conservatism, Nationalism and Christian morality are closely inter-connected. We have argued that economic conservatism cannot survive without a Christian morality. We have argued that no health care system can function for the citizens who pay for it unless borders and citizenship are protected. Conservatism is common sense in action. Conservatives have no illusions about human nature and are suspicious of idealism. Conservatives understand that the law-abiding heterosexual family is the rock on which a strong Nation depends. Conservatives understand that people work best for incentives.
Trump has wrong-footed all those experts who overlooked the importance and appeal of Nationalism and simple common sense. His policy statement on immigration, written with the help of Jeff Sessions, is brimming with common sense. In enlisting the help of Sessions he has shown he is capable of picking the right people. He promises to come out with more policy statements and we can expect that he will further enrage the Media Class, its MSM and Leftist allies, the elite of the Republican Party and those ‘conservatives’ who have drifted from core beliefs.
The MSM will double down with its attacks. Heather Haddon of the WSJ has today headlined “Trump Takes Hard Stand On Immigration Policy” and describes his immigration stance as “hard-line”. The reality is that he has taken a long overdue ‘tough’ stance, a ‘common-sense’ stance, and best of all a ‘welcome stance’.
The latest Fox News National Poll is as follows:
————————- Donald Trump 25%
———— Ben Carson 12%
———- Ted Cruz 10%
——— Jeb Bush 9%
—— Mike Huckabee 6%
—— Scott Walker 6%
—– Carly Fiorina 5%
—- John Kasich 4%
—- Marco Rubio 4%
— Chris Christie 3%
— Rand Paul 3%
Music Choice
In 1939, the song-writers Kennedy and Carr wrote a song titled “South of the Border” (Down Mexico Way).
We recommend the 1961 recording by the excellent jazz alto saxophonist Lou Donaldson. Born in 1926 in North Carolina, Donaldson is still alive. On this recording, which has a Latin flavor are Herman Foster (p), Ben Tucker (b), Dave Bailey (d), and Alec Dorsey (congas).
Donaldson breezes through this number and we thought that a light, cheerful version would lift the spirits of those illegals that the next President is going to send south.
With apologies to Frank Sinatra, who recorded the best vocal version, we have rewritten some of the lyrics as follows.
The Donald has told me,
That I cannot stay,
North of the border,
Head Mexico way!