How Could Phyllis Schlafly Have Been Fooled By Trump?

To start with, I must say I don't care for the unkindness towards Phyllis Schlafly following her death on Monday at the age of 92.


By all means, disagree with her ideas. But please don't revel in her death. On my Twitter feed last night, I received the comment, "F*#king witch is dead. Ding Dong."


And what precisely is this supposed to accomplish? From where I sit, it only demonstrates the callousness of the person who wrote such a vile thing in the first place.


With that said, I am absolutely dismayed that someone so ensconced in the conservative movement be fooled by Donald Trump?


I suspect that Schlafly was attracted in large part due to his opposition to NAFTA, TPP and other trade deals. I recall Schlafly's opposition to the Free Trade Agreement of the Americas during the Bush Administration in the early 2000's. I'm not unsympathetic to Schlafly's opposition given the constitutional questions where it concerns Congress giving President fast track authorization to negotiate such deals.


But even if Schlafly shared common cause with Trump on that particular issue I would think that Trump's less than stellar commitment to the Constitution and the principles of freedom and liberty would resonate with her. I am tempted to say that perhaps she wouldn't have been so easily fooled 20 years ago, but then how does one explain the likes of Sean Hannity or Laura Ingraham?


While I don't concur with the decision of The Dallas Morning News to endorse Hillary, I understand their reasoning. Unlike Schlafly, The Dallas Morning News sees right through Trump:


Trump's values are hostile to conservatism. He plays on fear — exploiting base instincts of xenophobia, racism and misogyny — to bring out the worst in all of us, rather than the best. His serial shifts on fundamental issues reveal an astounding absence of preparedness. And his improvisational insults and midnight tweets exhibit a dangerous lack of judgment and impulse control.


As for Phyllis Schlafly, I guess I'll just have to read her final book The Conservative Case for Trump which was released the day after her death. It could go a long way in explaining why Schlafly and too many other conservatives have given up on conservatism.