ROGER KIMBALL: Lust for Revenge Could Fuel the Next America First Resurgence.
There have been many reasons adduced for the large-scale of the GOP loss in the midterms. In addition to higher prices (“affordability”), there is the war in Iran. Last spring, Newt Gingrich said that the war would need to wrap up by July 4, or the administration would be for it in the midterms. It looks like he was right. Then there are the charges of corruption in Trump’s circle. The commentator John Fund thinks it was a critical issue. Maybe it was.
But the throes of ecstasy rippling through the madding crowd of the unstable coalition of commie, socialist, Islamic, gender-questioning, pasty-faced, mouth-breathing NeverTrump sorority might well be poised to repeat its earlier mistake by overplaying its hand. Writing elsewhere about the ghastly losses in the midterms, I noted that the GOP loss of about 30 seats was average for an incumbent party. Obama, I noted, lost 63 House seats in 2010; Bill Clinton lost 54 in 1994. But another friend wrote to point out some differences between then and now. Perhaps those earlier losses provide useful context, he noted. “But you can’t make a one-to-one comparison,” he said, “because [Obama] faced pathetic, spineless, low-testosterone GOP enemies, whereas Trump faces Robespierres with guillotines.”
This is true. But, while dangerous, it is also likely to contain the silver lining that extreme behavior often brings its own reprisal. The insanity of the Democrats and their lunatic NeverTrump fringe transformed Trump from a pariah into a victim. That metamorphosis, we can see now with hindsight, was the prerequisite to his victory in 2024. Extreme behavior by the crazies is likely to contain not only the seeds of its own defeat but also the seeds of MAGA longevity.
In closing, in case you think the Left is not really unhinged, consider the performance of Scott Galloway, an anti-Trump entrepreneur and professor at NYU. In front of a live audience recently, Galloway called Elon Musk “a traitor to the West.” What do we do with traitors? Galloway didn’t flinch. He noted that the Rosenbergs, Julius and Ethel, were “lined up against a wall,” i.e., executed. Musk, he said, deserved no less. The audience, I note, applauded. Amazing. Yes, such aspiring Robespierres might do some damage. They really are insane, power-hungry totalitarians in waiting. But their insanity will eventually call forth a salubrious counterrevolution. “Eventually.” I note that Senate terms are six years. That is a sobering thought. But it is also precisely the reason that everyone with the good of the country at heart must rally round and push back. I believe they will.
Related: What Commentary’s Tod Lindberg dubbed “The Assassination Fan Base” a year ago continues to grow amongst the left: Sick: Dave Chapelle Under Fire for Saying He Feels Better Since Charlie Kirk Was Murdered (Watch).
