Oct. 1
Disaster. The thing I most dreaded.
I have been asked to appear with Trump on Saturday. At the First Congressional District Republican Party of Wisconsin “Fall Fest” in Elkhorn. Yes, the announcement is shrouded in mitigating mentions of Governor Walker and Senator Johnson. T., it is said, “will also join Wisconsin Republicans.” But no dais can be big enough to prevent our dual presence thereon from seeming anything less than an endorsement.
Damn Priebus! And this, after acceding to my explicit requirement that I merely consent to “vote” for T.
I will not do it. I cannot do it. I must not do it. A man, indeed a Christian man—never mind a public servant privileged to work in the field of politics—is nothing if he abandons principle for the sake of expediency or, worse, “party loyalty.” As my fellow Irishman said, T. is a nightmare from which I am continually trying to awaken.
Oct. 2
I have done it. I have informed Priebus that I will not appear on the same stage as T. in Elkhorn. If that means giving offense to Walker and Johnson, so be it—both because I am steadfast in my allegiance to my values, and because it won’t give them offense to begin with.
They, too, are men of principle. They, like I, believe in doing and saying anything that will enable us to advance our agenda of doing as little as possible, if not nothing at all, for those who exist to serve the successful.
(If it means giving offense to the feckless child Priebus, I wear that accusation as a badge of honor.)
Therefore let T. bray and swagger at the Fall Fest. My absence will in fact amount to a quite tangible presence, in the form of a rejection of this vulgar buffoon.
Oct. 3
The crippling of Obamacare; the stripping of millions of Americans of health coverage obtained via the exchanges; the killing of Medicaid expansion and the resulting throwing of millions more out of coverage. The conversion of Medicaid into a block grant program with the states—and, ideally, doing the same to food stamps. Voucherizing Medicare so that it no longer provides complete, or even adequate, health coverage:
These are my goals, my program, my legislative dream. After all, what good is other people’s health, or, come to that, physical survival, if we have to pay for it? Per Rand: I live for no man, nor do I ask any man to live for me.
Is this not at the heart of Christianity itself? With its focus on the individual soul, its redemption, its immortal afterlife? Do we not stand, on the Day of Judgment, before God as individuals? Jesus was an individual. Each of us is an individual. The only entity that is not an individual is the triune Lord, to whom we are of course inferior.
How, therefore, can any group-based, “social” solution to any problem possibly be compatible with the righteous life? Only when government-based healthcare (and food-providing) systems are destroyed, and each individual is freed to make his or her own deal with a corporation (itself capitalism’s idea of an “individual”) can life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness be provided in the proper way.
Is T.’s vision—with its obsession with “making deals”–so incompatible with this?
Oct. 4
Useful talk with Priebus this morning. In demeanor and appearance he is indeed somewhat boyish. But his assertions about the usefulness of the Party to one’s political ambitions—and, thus, to one’s ability to serve—are telling.
We shared a hearty, if rueful, laugh over T. and his many peccadilloes, blunders, offenses against reason and taste. “Look, Paul,” he said. “Like it or not, our base consists of twenty million morons. They’ve made their choice. Who are we to deny them?”
I pretended to agree more than I actually did. Granted, they are morons. But does that mean one must oneself act as a moron, too? Who was it who said, about an angry mob, “But I am their leader. Therefore I must follow them”? Some Frenchman. (Naturally.) Does that apply to Americans as well?
Oct. 5
Question: What does it benefit one to stand firm on principle, if it means losing the ability to serve the people, to act in the people’s best interest, to improve the life of the people even as one improves one’s own life?
I accuse Priebus of being a child—but does it not demonstrate juvenile petulance in me, if I cross my arms and refuse to even occupy the same stage as T.? For this eminently good cause?
I must think.
Oct. 6
I have reached a decision some may call courageous, while to others it may appear inevitable. In any case: I will appear on the stage with T. on Saturday. If it is suggested that I demonstrate some fortitude in overcoming my deepest scruples to be seen with the man, well, that is for others to say.
In any case, like any civilized person, I will consent to shake his hand and smile for the media. Walker and Johnson will be there to attest, by their mere presence, to my strict conservative bona fides. As for T., his behavior has been so abominable for a year, it is doubtful it can get much worse.
UPDATE Oct. 8
I spoke, alas, too soon.
Audio has emerged revealing T. speaking about women, whom I revere, and their genitalia, which I also revere, in a most callous and objectionable manner. Therefore I have done the only thing a man of honor can do: I have asked permission of Priebus and the others to disinvite T. from the Fall Fest. This they have granted. And so today’s event will go on, safe and secure from the malign influence of the boastful, repellent, overgrown bully of a child-man who, absent this disgusting revelation of his character, would have had the benefit and the privilege of my tacit support and personal vote for the Presidency. One can only hope that the Lord, in His wisdom, will assist me in navigating these treacherous political waters, and that I emerge from the tempest that is T. relatively unscathed and able to win higher office.
