Thoughts from the ammo line

Ammo Grrrll would like certain parties to know: YOU AREN’T IT! She writes:

I finally met a member of The Resistance in my Arizona! Well, I didn’t meet her exactly. I saw her get into her car in the Walmart parking lot. Her Prius had two bumper stickers: the first announced: “Member Resistance: Resist Trump’s Agenda.”

Coincidentally enough, Mr. AG and I had just watched an amazing documentary called Above and Beyond, which I heartily recommend. It was about a Jewish-American World War II pilot downed behind enemy lines in Belgium. While trying to get back to his unit, the pilot traveled by means of 159 stolen bicycles. He was helped enormously by various local priests, and The Belgian Resistance whenever he could connect with it.

At no time did he locate The Resistance from one of them putting a bumper sticker on any bicycle or hay wagon bragging about membership in the group. The Nazi occupiers who served Actual Hitler would have appreciated such obvious clues. To be discovered was an immediate death sentence. Well, maybe not as immediate as one might wish. There would be torture to get other names first. Those Resisters were not virtue signaling; they were just virtuous. And courageous beyond my ability to comprehend.

Isn’t it revealing how these present-day masked, marauding twits feel perfectly safe with Literally Hitler in the White House to publicly “out” themselves as Resisters? Does that not undercut somewhat both their status as courageous fighters battling Unspeakable Evil and their characterization of President Trump as Literally Hitler? This New Hitler guy must be a much more easygoing, relaxed sort of fella. In fact, these professional malcontents are merely poseurs pimping off the name and exploits of real Resisters who risked everything and often paid the full price.

The second bumper sticker was not just a childish and offensive posturing, but a large part of the reason President Trump was elected.

It said, “I have met ‘the people’ – and you aren’t it.” Cute. Talk about a desire (repressed, of course, I AM 70 years old, for God’s sake) to key a car with: “You lost, loser. Get over it!”

Nope, we tens of millions of Trump voters are not “the people.” This tolerant Resister has read us out of humanity. Oh, well, we’re used to it by now.

First, we were characterized as The Bitter Clingers by Obama. Clinging to God – check; clinging to guns – check; “bitter” – no, every survey shows us happier than leftists; hating “the other” – no, that’s you guys, but nice try. We don’t even acknowledge that anybody IS an “other.” It’s YOU who invented all these categories of “otherness,” we just see people. Maybe if you took off your idiotic masks, you could see people as people.

Then in the bizarre and hilariously mistaken belief that she could diss her way to the Presidency, we were attacked as The Deplorables, by Hillary. The Nazis preferred the term Vermin. We have had these kinds of names before in history. It did not go well for humanity.

So where to seek allies to defend our basic dignity? The media are a solid phalanx of hate for us and everything we stand for. Hollywood. Broadway. The Academy. Silicon Valley.

Almost the ENTIRE GOP denied that first, Trump would win a single primary, then that he would get the nomination, then, of course, that he would win the general election. He was going to be “crushed by Hillary” said Jeb! with uncharacteristically high energy. Kasich sat out the whole convention in his home state of Ohio, refusing to be seen with the nominee. I would seriously vote for Mad Max Waters before I’d vote for Kasich. Better a babbling idiot who is an in-your-face open opponent of everything I stand for than a smarmy false friend with a perpetually snotty look on his face.

Perhaps our conservative friends who are regular invited guests and commentators on the political megaphone shows would defend us? No. On election night on ABC, there sat Bill Kristol, looking every bit as glum as his Democrat media friends as the electoral vote piled up for Trump. And some woman named Ana as the Designated Republican, cheering for “sweet justice” for Hispanics to get the credit for bringing down Trump.

I had so much respect for Bill Kristol, almost a crush on him because he looks a bit like Mr. AG. I subscribed to The Weekly Standard for years. I was filled with pride and gratitude, and called my mother to read her his kind words when he linked one of my columns. He even paid me once – actual cash money! – to review a book about the late, great author Donald Westlake, whom we both admired. I have no reason to believe he is anything but a nice man personally, although I do not expect to get any more assignments from him.

I believe the #NeverTrump campaign has done grave harm to the GOP brand and the flagrant obstruction of the Republican Establishment has so far stymied much – not all – of the agenda we voted for. An agenda which the lemons we had elected previously pretended to support. Time and again, the Conservative wing has had to suck it up and rally round whatever centrist squish our betters put forward. And we did. There is no more reciprocity from that entrenched establishment than there is from the Democrats who believe that “bipartisanship” means that in every disputation, the Republicans just cave. Spellcheck should change the word to “buy-partisanship.” P.J. O’Rourke long ago characterized that bunch as A Parliament of Whores, an insult to hard-working hookers the world over, who at least (I’m told) deliver the services they have agreed to provide.