OK, I give up. I give up trying to understand where the Washington Post's Eugene Robinson — whose actual Christian name, whenever he appears on MSNBC, is "Pulitzer-Prize-Winning" — stands on just what the Republican Party is.
There was a time when Robinson was a sober member of the wise conventionalism club, whose founding concept was that the GOP is a monolithic travesty of ever-creeping radicalism. Then, 11 days ago, Robinson surprised us by venturing that a good part of the Republican Party remains somewhat Eisenhowerian. Today, however, Robinson again adheres to the more plausible thesis of conventional wisdom — that the GOP, as a whole, has for years been derailing into a magnificent train wreck. I quote Pulitzer-Prize-Winning Robinson:
What Trump has done is call out the establishment on years of dishonest rhetoric. Progressives often asked why so many working-class whites went against their own economic interests by supporting the GOP. The answer is that Republicans appealed to these voters on cultural grounds, subtly exploiting their resentments and fears…. In practice, however, party leaders were compelled to deal with the world as it actually is. Hence, for example, the establishment view a couple of years ago in favor of comprehensive immigration reform.
That would be "the establishment view" that was self-defenestrated in triple double-time, in favor of its modus-operandi hugging of base politics — thus the former wasn't much of a real "view." That would be the same establishment that relished the nonsense of Trump's birtherism, and silently bowed to it. That would be the establishment view that unremittingly has disdained sensible financial regulation and every manner of modern economic theory. And that of course is the establishment view that, as Robinson acknowledges, "has long" been wedded to every intoxicated species of fearmongering.
In short, Trump hasn't "call[ed] out the establishment on years of dishonest rhetoric," as Robinson opines. Rather, Trump is the reckless establishment's even more reckless apotheosis, which Robinson also opines. For there is this, also in Robinson's column: "Trump has given voice to the ugliness and anger that the party spent years encouraging and exploiting."
Trump, then, represents GOP continuity. So I agree with Robinson. But if I ever disagree with Robinson, no problem. Somehow, he'll be in agreement with me.