Published last October, Boot strongly emphasizes the impression America and the optimism President Reagan had given him as a young Soviet Jewish emigre and in equally strong measure emphasizing how Trump is an anathema to everything for which he stands:
I think of how bleak our lives would have been had we not been allowed to come to this distant shore, and I feel the pain of those suffering and in want who are denied entry.
A few pages later:
I feel entirely American. Or rather I felt that way before the rise of Trump and his demonization of immigrants.
Boot has first hand experience of living in a totalitarian country and those experiences helped shaped his support for conservatism and admiration for President Reagan. He knows what it is to live without freedom. This cannot be said the majority of Americans, especially Trump supporter. They believe the Left is destroying the country and that they must destroy the Left first. While the Left in this country has a litany of impractical policies, intellectual dishonesty and has more than its share of prejudices (anti-Semitism being a growing one) they currently possess no threat to the peaceful transition of power necessary for a democracy to function. Republicans and conservatives, under the auspices of Trump, have demonstrated a love for authoritarianism and particularly the kind of authoritarianism practiced by Vladimir Putin. How else does one explain Trump supporters who wear, "I'd Rather Be a Russian Than a Democrat" along with their MAGA caps? How would Reagan have reacted if he had heard Trump praise the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan?
For his part, Boot reserves as much contempt for Trump's supporters as he does for Trump himself:
It is hard to know who is worse: Trump or his enablers. I am inclined to think it is the latter. Trump does not know any better; he has no idea of how a president, or even an ordinary, decent human being is supposed to behave. But many of his supporters do know better, and they are debasing themselves to curry favor with him because he controls the levers of power.
I only mildly disagree with Boot's assessment. Trump has no idea of how an American President is supposed to act. He aspires to act like presidents of other countries. In an interview with Joe Scarborough in December 2015, after Scarborough objected to Putin's killing of journalists, Trump infamously replied, “He’s running his country, and at least he’s a leader, you know unlike what we have in this country.” Trump has shown no evolution in his views during his nearly two years in office as evidenced by his ongoing praise of Putin as well as North Korea's Kim Jong Un. In June 2018, Trump told Fox News, “He’s the head of a country, and I mean he’s the strong head. Don’t let anyone think anything different. He speaks and his people sit up at attention. I want my people to do the same.” These are the words not a President of the United States, but of a President for Life.
Nevertheless Boot is certainly correct to say Trump's supporters are debasing themselves to curry favor with him. Especially disheartening are those who had spoken out against Trump during the Republican primaries who have seen fit to worship at his altar:
Conservatives with whom I had been working on anti-Trump briefing papers for the Rubio campaign emerged, within the blink of an eye, as enthusiastic Trumpkins. I still have their anti-Trump emails to me, and while writing this book I reread them with amusement and disbelief. Like so many other conservatives they essentially viewed the GOP as a cult from which there is no escape even if the cult leader changes.
I, too, experienced this with a few of my former colleagues at The American Spectator who through emails, phone calls and in person conversations were aghast at Trump, but are perfectly happy to write in glowing praise of him without batting an eyelash. Not to toot my own horn, but I cannot be two faced. If I'm not going to praise Trump in private, I sure as hell am not going to praise him in public. At least where it concerns The American Spectator, there is only room for false idolatry and I simply could not be a part of it.
Like Boot, I am politically homeless although he did vote for Hillary Clinton in 2016; something I could not do. For the first time in my life, I am open to voting for a Democrat for the White House. However, unlike Boot, I am not eager to subscribe to the dogma of Black Lives Matter and the #MeToo movement notwithstanding the merits of their causes.
Boot does describe himself as "a classical liberal" and seems to be leaning towards centrism. In his epilogue, Boots speaks of the need for "an American Macron":
We could use an American Macron - someone who could make centrism sexy. Such a candidate would need name recognition, funding, charisma, and, above all, policy knowledge.
I share Boot's admiration for French President Emmanuel Macron, but am curious as to his thoughts as to handling of France's "yellow vest" movement which shows no signs of ending. If things continue to deteriorate, we could see the rise of France's answer to Trump - Marine Le Pen come 2022 or perhaps sooner.
If there is one other quality an American President requires is the ability to handle a crisis. With that, I would suggest Captain Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger. While he has no electoral experience, he sure knows how to handle a crisis and, boy, are we in a crisis now.
Whatever our differences in opinion, in the age of Trump, both Max Boot and I have both given the boot to conservatism.
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