DEAR RUSH LIMBAUGH: I Am Not the ‘Establishment’; But I Still Will Not Vote for Donald Trump
This is an Open Letter to Rush Limbaugh.
Dear Rush:
Every time you talk about people who are implacably opposed to Donald Trump, you invariably refer to them as “the Establishment,” conjuring up visions of smarmy elites picking favored candidates in a smoke-filled room. To be fair, virtually every talk-radio personality has spent most of the Obama Administration railing not just against the Democrats—but the apparently useless cadre of elected Republicans, as well.
I am no fan of those people. I cheered when John Boehner had an epiphany and “decided” (as the Tea Party and the House Freedom Caucus were lighting the torches and planning their route to his office) maybe it was his time to leave public life. I was not thrilled to be given Paul Ryan. I despise Mitch McConnell—not least because of his deal-making and his demonization of Ted Cruz—whose come-from-behind win in Texas I cheered from the middle of the Midwest, and whose career I followed with great interest.
I listened to Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity, Mark Levin—and above all, you, Rush Limbaugh. You all lionized Ted Cruz. You featured him. You interviewed him. Over and over, most of you told him if he ever ran for president, you’d be glad to vote for him.
Alas, only Beck and (though he waited late to do it) Mark Levin kept their word.
Which is why it shocks me to my core to be told daily by you and Sean Hannity that I—little old stay-at-home me—am “the Establishment,” because I will never–in a million years, for a million dollars, or with someone else’s hands–cast a vote for Donald Trump.
I am not “Establishment.” I am a full-spectrum conservative.
I am not “Establishment.” I am a committed Constitutionalist.
I am not “Establishment.” I am one of those “very religious” evangelicals that exit polls tell us vote for Cruz, while “nominal,” “cultural,” or (my favorite) “notional” Christians vote for Trump.
I am a defense conservative. I do not want to put the security of my country in the hands of a man who does not know the meaning of “nuclear triad,” and apparently has no interest in learning it—or whose primary national security adviser is “myself.” Nor am I comfortable with a president that would violate the Geneva Conventions for mere vengeance.
I am a social conservative. I don’t trust Donald Trump to protect the lives of the unborn, if he finds he needs to abandon them to get a “really good deal” on the budget, or to protect Baronelle Stutzman from what he considers the settled law demanding she violate her conscience.
I am an economic conservative. I don’t think slamming other countries with which we do business with a 45% tariff will do anything but close down Walmart, kill thousands, if not millions, of jobs, and make everything else cost even more. And, no, I don’t think Trump will be able to do “great deals” for us—mostly because he won’t be backed up by the ability to declare bankruptcy and run away from the obligations of the United States of America.
I am a full-spectrum Constitutionalist (as Rand Paul used to say). I believe in the First Amendment and the Second. I support the right to due process and the right to have an attorney. I will fight anyone who wants to “open up” the libel laws and change the First Amendment freedoms of press and speech in order to punish those who oppose the regime.
Finally, and most importantly, I am a Christian. I cannot hand over my God-given vote to a man I cannot trust, who is a serial (and unrepentant) adulterer, who treats other people as though they are less valuable (in every way) than he is, and who claims to be a Christian while doing things that he will go to Hell for if he does not repent before he dies.
I am NOT an establishment RINO-squish cuckservative insider. No one has ever paid me to support or not support any candidate (as a stay-at-home mom, I have rarely been paid by anyone). I am not a big-money donor, an influence-peddler, an elected official, part of a “bankster” conspiracy, or a member of the lamestream media.
I am a consumer of talk-radio, betrayed by those I trusted to bring the news. I am a watcher of cable news, sick to death of “objective” “reporters” or “fair and balanced” analysts issuing the flippant caveat (or, worse, the claim of personal knowledge) that “I’ve known Donald Trump a long time,” or “Donald Trump is a friend of mine.” If he’s your friend, don’t cover him. Find someone who hasn’t been subjected to the hypnotic bling of Mar-a-Lago to tell us what’s happening.
I am an American. I love freedom of conscience, and freedom of speech, and the Fourth Amendment and the Ninth and Tenth Amendments. I believe the Constitution dictates that the domestic responsibility of the president is to see that the laws (the will of the people as expressed through Congress) are faithfully executed. Period.
I am not “The Establishment.” I am a Christian conservative American Republican.
I do not want an Emperor. I do not want a King.
And I DO NOT WANT Donald Trump to be my candidate or my president.
Sincerely,
Dr. Mom
Image: Rush Limbaugh via photopin (license)