Would you believe it? Arch-neocons Bret Stephens and Elliott
Abrams are now rooting for Democratic Hillary Clinton to beat the Republican
Donald Trump and win the upcoming presidential election.
Has there been a rupture in the space-time continuum upon
which Planet Earth was hurled into a parallel universe? Are we going to meet
the anti-matter twins of Captain Kirk and Science Officer Spock? Or are we
stuck with Bret Stephens and Elliott Abrams for an eternity and a half?
These questions come to mind when you read two articles
published on August 2, 2016. One article came under the title: “To the Go-Along
Republicans,” and the subtitle: “Memo to Paul Ryan: Trump's problem is his
character, not his 'ideas.'” It was written by Bret Stephens and published in
the Wall Street Journal. The other came under the title: “Happy Talk for
Anxious Allies,” written by Elliott Abrams and published in the Weekly
Standard.
Realizing that he is talking to simple folks bewildered by
what they see happening around them, Bret Stephens psychologically prepares
those that have not yet crossed the matter/anti-matter barrier separating this
universe from the next. Aware that they may still be afraid of what they'll
encounter when they get there, he gives them the following mini lecture:
“There are no permanent victories or defeats … The turning
of the policy wheel should comfort those unnerved by the prospect of a Hillary
presidency … If she is everything they say she is – an opportunistic,
dishonest, incompetent left-wing ideologue – they can look forward to a
one-term presidency [just like Obama's]”.
Now that he comforted the simple folks and relieved them of
their fears, he promises there will be justice at the end of the journey. However,
speaking to those who may not take his advice, he warns that it “doesn't mean
there is no permanent dishonor.” This done, he explains why the old guard he
would have sacrificed half of America and all of Europe to defend only a year
ago, is no longer the guard the folks should listen to or follow. Here is how he put
it to them:
“This is where Republicans now find themselves with their
presidential nominee … What makes Mr. Trump so foul is [his] sadism … His
problem isn't a lack of normal propriety but the absence of basic human
decency. He is morally unfit for any office, high or low … This point needs to
dawn on Republican officeholders who pretend to endorse Mr. Trump, and pretend
not to … The central issue is his character. The sin, in this case, is the
sinner”.
Because the folks are supposed to make a choice between
Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, Stephens juxtaposes the sins of each, and
comes down in favor of Clinton .
Of Trump's sins, he lists the slander of other people; his nativism,
protectionism, isolationism, mendacity, meanness, crassness and disdain for
constitutional protections. As to Clinton ,
he describes her as being a corner-cutter and a liar who will appoint liberals
to the Supreme Court. But here is the cinch: at least she's not a sociopath.
That should make her candidacy more palatable according to Stephens.
We now look at the Elliott Abrams piece. Instead of tackling
the subject matter head-on, telling the folks they should follow Hillary
Clinton to the next universe instead of remaining in this one with Donald
Trump, Abrams tells a long story, and hopes it will work on the electorate. He
says he went to Japan
and told the people there about the “pendulum theory” of American politics.
He says he reassured the Japanese that “the pendulum will
swing back under Clinton
[to] support a muscular foreign policy … and even under Trump whose slogan is
'Make America Great Again.' But the Japanese asked how he could be sure that
Trump will ditch his own promise.
That is where Abrams proudly reveals that he “conjured up” a
response … a flimsy one at that. He says he told his Japanese audience about
the Jimmy Carter flip-flop pertaining to Korea . The story – in brief – is
that candidate Carter had campaigned on withdrawing American troops from South Korea ,
but reversed his decision when he became president. And so, Abrams expects that
Trump will do likewise. But because the Japanese did not seem reassured, he
told them that Hillary Clinton will most likely win the election anyway. And
they were happy to hear that from him.
To encourage the voters in America to make the jump to the
next universe, Elliott Abrams tells them there are no supporters for Trump in
11 other capitals. They are Seoul , Taipei , Canberra , New Delhi , Riyadh , Amman , Abu Dhabi , Warsaw , Vilnius , Prague and Kiev .
Whether or not this will work remains to be seen.
All in all, it looks like it was in a true Jewish fashion
that the neocons created a truly menacing Frankenstein. It got out of control,
and they are now trying to seize and tame the creature. The question is whether
or not they will succeed.