John Hood: Trump supporters ‘a motley crew of simpletons, bigots, and cynical manipulators’

Anyone wondering what the hell has been going on at The John Locke Foundation, Civitas, The Carol
ina Plotthound, and The Pope Center for Higher Ed, needs to look no further than “Daddy Warbucks” Pope’s consigliérè John Hood.   Hood, who somehow has been proclaimed North Carolina’s ‘Mr. Conservative’, has been given free reign to poke, prod and twist all of the Pope, Inc. organizations into a condition of his liking.

And what is his mindset? What does he like, or not like? Let’s take a look from one of his columns earlier this year: 

During a recent book tour across North Carolina, I had occasion to visit with thousands of politically active people, most of them conservatives. The most frequent question I received, especially since the beginning of the year, was what I thought of Donald Trump.

I told them. Donald Trump is a dangerous charlatan, a bully who deftly uses false promises, egregious lies, and malicious attacks to manipulate people to his advantage. His marks include media figures desperate for ratings, political has-beens desperate for relevance, and voters desperate for someone to restore American greatness after two unpopular presidencies, two costly wars, and nearly two decades of economic stagnation.

*Nice.*  But the boy wonder was not done:

[…] It’s a swindle. It’s a world-class con. And for conservatives in North Carolina and around the country, it’s one of the greatest challenges we will ever face.

Trump’s toxic brew of insult comedy, rank dishonesty, ethnic grievance, and hostility to basic principles of free enterprise, free speech, and limited government cannot be reconciled with the modern conservative movement. If Donald Trump is the answer, you have asked a very wrong and very stupid question.

Hostility to free speech?  Is he talking about Trump’s lack of appreciation about Brad Woodhouse’s employees screaming at him while he’s trying to deliver a speech?  And a guy WHO HAS NEVER HELD A REAL JOB is suggesting a guy who built a multi-billion dollar empire has a hostility to basic principles of free enterprise?  (White boy, please.) :

[…] Win or lose in the fall — although the odds clearly favor the “lose” scenario — a nominated Trump would obviously sit atop the Republican Party’s ticket in 2016. But he need not become its permanent national brand. Moreover, while the GOP has become the primary political vehicle for American conservatism, the movement is about far more than elections. It is about powerful ideas. It is about timeless principles. It is not the equivalent of an infomercial offering fake cures or a reality TV show offering fake freaks.

Here is my advice for North Carolina conservatives. When it comes to politics, focus your attention on campaigns that appeal to voters’ noblest aspirations, not their basest fears. Fight on, naturally, but if the presidential race this fall ends up pitting a dishonest, narcissistic conspiracy theorist who dreams of using federal power to silence dissent — I’m talking about Hillary Clinton here — against a Republican exhibiting the same ominous qualities, look elsewhere for candidates to champion.

 

[…]Many Trump supporters don’t know much about his actual positions or his shameful history. They are frustrated, understandably so, and looking for answers. We’ve all been there at some point in our lives. We’ve probably all been the victims of a con at least once. But other Trump supporters — a motley crew of simpletons, bigots, and cynical manipulators — know exactly what kind of person he is. They don’t care. They want to make a statement. They want to tell off the “establishment.” They want to see things burn.

“A motley crew of simpletons, bigots, and cynical manipulators”?  Chris Fitzsimon could not have said it better.    Oh, John Boy STILL wasn’t done: 

[…] Conservatives have no choice but to hold these fools accountable for what is likely to come next. They deserve our scorn and ridicule. They would rather lose gloriously rather than win in stages. Some hold significant positions of influence. Conservatives should shun their shows, defund their groups, leave their books unsold and their speeches unattended.

EXACTLY. Folks, remember those words the next time John Boy or any of his employees ask you to attend or fund a Locke, Civitas, or Pope Foundation event.   Their boss thinks we are a bunch of bigots and idiots. Stop reading their stuff, attending their stuff, and funding their stuff.  Stop it. 

Realism teaches me not to bet against the future — particularly not here in North Carolina and the rest of our great country. We don’t have to settle for a choice between anemic, European-style social democracy and septic, European-style demagoguery. We can still fight for freedom, American-style. Will you join me?

Let’s see.  Upon examining the results from Tuesday, NO ONE is joining you, Johnny.  No one.