New York Times columnist Bret Stephens has admitted he was wrong about the Trump administration. On the ideological confession spectrum, this is a pretty big deal. It’s the political equivalent of the Lincoln Project making a major contribution to the Donald J. Trump Presidential Library.
Stephens is one of the kept "conservatives" the Times keeps on staff to make it look like the rag is not written entirely by Marxists. And of course, he’s a Never Trump "conservative" who has compared President Trump to Italy’s dictator Benito Mussolini.
That makes his mind change this week noteworthy. Fox news has details.
First, as of late last year, Stephens no longer considers himself Never Trump and in doing so he admits to a failure in judgement regarding the president. Stephens points out specific issues where the conventional gentry liberal, anti-Trump consensus was entirely wrong.
"Egads! After a disastrous first 100 days, Donald Trump is starting to have a much more successful presidency. This is not what we, his foam-at-the-mouth critics, had planned or perhaps secretly hoped for."
We missed the "disastrous first 100 days" and the critics didn't "secretly" hope for failure. Indeed, they were very vocal about it.
But we welcome the rest of the reappraisal.
Stephens continues, "Far from destroying the Atlantic alliance, as his critics feared, Trump may wind up being remembered for reviving and rebalancing it, to the advantage of both sides."
And wonder of wonders, Stephens approves of Trump's surgical strike on Iran’s nuclear infrastructure. "Joining Israel in its strikes on Iran, which Trump carried out in the teeth of political resistance from parts of his own base, did not lead us into a calamitous Middle East war, though Tehran may yet seek retaliation. Instead, it helped bring the war between Israel and Iran to a swift end."
So, all is well and it’s happily ever after?
Not quite.
Stephens appears to approve of closing the border, but he thinks expelling 20 or so million illegals already in the county is going "too far."
Meaning he’s still a member of the surrender caucus who is content to let the left replace citizen voters with foreigners who want a blue nation/blue states/blue cities tomorrow.
Stephens' concluding observation is so good, we’ll include it here, even though it is advice for Trump’s critics,"If Trump's opponents want to someday be effective — and let’s face it, we haven’t been — then we have to come to grips with realities that have so far eluded us. Such as: Not everything Trump does is bad."
Michael Reagan, the eldest son of President Ronald Reagan, is a Newsmax TV analyst. A syndicated columnist and author, he chairs The Reagan Legacy Foundation. Mr. Reagan is an in-demand speaker with Premiere Speaker's Bureau. Read Michael Reagan's Reports — More Here.
Michael R. Shannon is a commentator, researcher for the League of American Voters, and an award-winning political and advertising consultant with nationwide and international experience. He is author of "Conservative Christian's Guidebook for Living in Secular Times (Now with Added Humor!)" Read Michael Shannon's Reports — More Here.