Author: Dan "Red" Phillips

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Will CPAC Adapt to Trumpism?

The Conservative Political Action Conference, better known as CPAC, starts this week. For those who are unfamiliar with CPAC, it is an annual event that takes place in Washington, DC that brings together conservative activists with conservative elected officials, leaders, journalists and celebrities. It is likely the largest and most prominent event of its kind within the conservative universe. The event is sponsored by the American Conservative Union (ACU), a venerable conservative organization. The ACU, as would be expected for a long established movement conservative institution, generally represents orthodox “three-legs-of-the-stool” type conservatism – fiscally conservative, socially conservative and hawkish on...

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Trump’s Cabinet of Peers

When Trump first started naming his cabinet picks, there was a lot of noise from both sides complaining about some of his choices. The liberal mainstream media, who clearly don’t like Trump, were obviously trying to cause dissension in the ranks of Trump supporters by declaring certain of his nominees a betrayal of his campaign promises and his base (Puzder, Mnuchin, Priebus). This was transparently disingenuous. Do they really expect me to believe that they wouldn’t be perfectly happy for Trump to betray his base? Simultaneously, and contradictorily, they attempted to outrage Trump’s enemies by declaring others of his picks...

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Trump Supporters – It’s not Time to Panic

My social media feed is erupting with Trump supporters already panicking that Donald Trump is selling us out. The appointment of Republican National Committee head Reince Priebus as Chief of Staff seems to be of particular concern to many. My advice to my fellow Trump supporters is to take a couple of deep breaths and relax. Remember that the MSM is deliberately trying to sow discord among us and harm the Trump Administration before it even begins. Don’t take the bait. At least give this all some time to work itself out before you hit the panic button. I know...

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The TAC Presidential Symposium – It’s a Muddled Mess

I recently wrote an article suggesting that The American Conservative (TAC) magazine, for better or worse the closest thing to a policy journal paleoconservatism has, should be more visibly on board the Trump Train. I realize that TAC is a non-profit and is not able to officially endorse a candidate. What I had in mind was that the magazine and its stable of writers should make it clearer that Trump is actually running on and advancing, to a greater or lesser degree, our cluster of issues – immigration restriction, rejection of free trade ideology and a more restrained America first...

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It’s Past Time for TAC to Get on Board the Trump Train

It’s Past Time for TAC to Get on Board the Trump Train Rare recently published this article by Daniel McCarthy, Editor of The American Conservative (TAC) magazine. It is a thoughtful defense of a vote for Trump that I largely agree with. I will not say I’m completely surprised. I could have seen McCarthy going either way. I will say that I am pleased. Some background is in order for those who may not be familiar with the intricate details of certain intra-right dynamics. TAC began as a project of Pat Buchanan, Taki Theodoracopulos and Scott McConnell. It was an...

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So What You’re Saying Is … Pat Buchanan Was Right all Along

A recent Claremont Review of Books article by the obviously pseudonymous Publius Decius Mus, “The Flight 93 Election,” has created quite a stir in the conservative universe. The article is a vigorous defense of Trump and Trumpism, and has been touted widely by Trump supporters. Rush Limbaugh read it aloud on his radio program. It has even inspired its own hashtag, #IAmDecius, but it has also generated a very vociferous reaction from anti-Trumpers. This National Review article by Jonah Goldberg contains links to several of the critical responses. Decius is one of the minds behind the now defunct Journal of...

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A Chump for Trump: A Court Party No More

In early 2015, well before Donald Trump was a blip on the radar screen, a friend asked me to contribute an article to a Constitution Party newsletter.   I happily obliged. The article was entitled “Needed: a Real Country Party,” but, because of the nature of the venue, it was never made available for wide public viewing. I am currently working on an update of that article because I believe it helps explain why Donald Trump and Trumpism have succeeded beyond the wildest dreams (or nightmares) of the political and pundit class. Because of the momentous nature of the Trump...

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Anti-Trumpers, Please Watch The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance

{I beg pardon from both Red Phillips and our readers for being so late in publishing this.  It arrived on a day I was preparing dinner for a few early arrivals to our Summer Symposium, which just ended Saturday night.  I was preparing the dinner–a two day project–because the chef in charge, namely my wife, had just broken and badly dislocated her ankle in several places and will have to undergo an operation this week. TJF] As a good traditional conservative, I like Westerns. If you watch a lot of Westerns you will eventually discern that many of them have a...

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A Chump for Trump: The Circular Reasoning of NeverTrump

During the Republican primary, I generally refrained from using the electability argument. Electability is important, but the arguments often seemed to me counterproductive and almost always conveniently supported the candidate of choice of the person making it. John Kasich is the “only one” who can beat Hillary because he is a moderate and will appeal to centrists. Cruz is too conservative. Or Cruz is the “only one” who can beat Hillary because he will fire up the base and bring them to the polls.  Kasich will inspire apathy in voters as Romney did. First of all, if someone is going...

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The Convention Coup Delusion

Since the NeverTrump forces have so far failed to attract a credible (in the eyes of the conservative movement)  independent challenger to run against Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton in the general election, their focus seems to have shifted toward an effort to nominate someone other than Trump at the Republican National Convention in July. This has been the steady drumbeat coming from such NeverTrump sources as RedState and Erick Erickson’s The Resurgent among many others. This effort is transparently absurd. Some are making the case that all Republican delegates are technically unbound and/or that through sleight of hand with...