Dear Mark Levin,
I will preface this open letter by disclosing that I have never really been a fan of yours. I have read some of your writing and occasionally listened to some of your radio clips and podcasts or clicked on links summarizing your views, but when I tuned in to talk radio and punditry, it was usually to the likes of Sean Hannity and Michael Savage, and to a lesser extent, Rush and Glenn Beck. I never harbored any ill will towards you, or anything like that, but I just paid more attention to the aforementioned figures. So, you should not read this (on the infinitesimally small chance that you do) as you losing a devoted fan. But you have lost the respect of someone who has a few of your books among my collection of political books and who once valued what you had to say.
That said, let us move on to the purpose of this post. Two days ago, you stated that: “Now those people out there, those people out there who are saying ‘stop Trump,’ I can understand ‘stop Trump’ in a primary process, but stop Trump or you’ll vote for Hillary? Stop Trump or you won’t vote at all? These people are not conservatives. They’re not constitutionalists. They’re frauds. They’re fakes. They’re not brave. They’re asinine. They’re buffoons.”
You are, of course, entitled to your opinion and to vote for whomever you like in November, but what you have said is demonstrably false. Let us look at your charge line by line.
“I can understand ‘stop Trump’ in a primary process, but stop Trump or you’ll vote for Hillary. Stop Trump or you won’t vote at all?” Mr. Levin, you claim to be an Originalist thinker, in the tradition of Antonin Scalia, but that is clearly not the case if you cannot understand that #NeverTrump means “Never Trump.” “Never” means “never,” regardless of who Trump’s opponent would be in a general election context. The founders of this movement did not intend for #NeverTrump to end if he won the nomination at the RNC, it meant that we would not vote for Trump in the general election under any circumstances. Otherwise the movement would be something like #NeverTrumpPrimary. At least you recognize that #NeverTrump supporters will not necessarily be voting for Hillary, but I am willing to do that if it saves Virginia from falling to Donald Trump. More likely, I will just write in Vermin Supreme or Marco Rubio or even the “Sweet Meteor of Death” or vote for Gary Johnson.
Those who have committed to never voting for Trump recognize that there is nothing Hillary can do that Trump will not do worse. With Hillary, we will get an unpopular liberal who, at the end of the day, is a political realist who can be counted upon to act in her rational self-interest. The Republican opposition, united against her, will be able to counter her moves because they know exactly what they are going to get with her. But with Trump, a man who has a lifelong record of supporting progressivism until his convenient and recent switch to pseudo-conservatism, we really do not know what we will get. The man’s policy platform is essentially random and he is just as likely to stake out far-left positions as he is to stake out conservative positions. If he is the con man that I believe he is, Republicans on Capitol Hill will be stuck trying to figure out whether to support him or not for the next four years. I believe conservatives will be more powerful united in opposition to Hillary than divided in ad hoc support for Trump’s latest inane scheme.
With regard to the Supreme Court, we know that Hillary will appoint center-left jurists (another Merrick Garland or two), but we have no idea who Trump will appoint (and I suspect, neither does he). Picking a justice is always a risky endeavor, even George H.W. Bush, a brilliant man with a lifetime of political experience, failed to thoroughly vet David Souter and blew a chance to make the Court more conservative. Why should we expect Trump to do any better?
On foreign policy, Trump is a complete novice and has shown this throughout the campaign. Hillary, for better or worse, has a full presidential term’s worth of experience as Secretary of State and will almost certainly be more judicious and realistic about foreign policy than Trump will. Trump, one of the most insecure people I have ever seen, has no plan to do anything to stop ISIS that can actually succeed and would probably drop nukes on countries if someone remotely insults him. He is about the last person I would ever entrust with a nuclear arsenal at his tiny little fingertips.
On fiscal policy, Hillary Clinton is probably the more fiscally conservative of the two. Her husband managed to achieve the last fiscally responsible federal budget this country has seen, and I imagine she would retain many of her husband’s economic advisors. Trump, on the other hand, has launched numerous failed business ventures and has only talked about building his wall (which, as John Oliver shows, is a hefty investment), while also cutting taxes drastically. In other words, making the budget deficit and national debt even worse. Hillary is also more of a conservative on trade policy, supporting free trade agreements and trade partnerships, while Trump wants to return to protectionism, tariffs, and trade wars! To me, this indicates that Hillary is the more fiscally conservative option.
Trump might be the more socially conservative of the two, but again, we just do not know where he really stands on abortion, guns, and other such issues. I do think it is a sign of the Religious Right’s dying influence that a thrice-married philanderer who sexualized his infant daughter and his other daughter and talked about the size of his genitals in a presidential debate is now the standard-bearer for so many social conservatives, like Jerry Falwell, Jr. Hillary’s positions on these topics are well-known and represent, essentially, the status quo. But Trump has taken every side of every position publicly, even as recently as last week where he changed his position on abortion four times! Social conservatives will not win with Hillary, but Trump is essentially a crapshoot for them, as well.
“These people are not conservatives. They’re not constitutionalists.” Okay, maybe I am no longer a “conservative” because I support gay marriage, believe in evolution, and have softer stances on immigration than conservatives nowadays do. But on abortion, gun rights, fiscal policy, and other issues I consider myself to be fairly conservative. I believe the Constitution to be the law of the land, and I certainly believe that I have more respect for it than Trump does. Trump will see the Constitution as a mere list of suggestions that prevent him from making “great deals” or he will disregard it entirely! How does not voting for Trump make one not a “constitutionalist!” To me, those who vote for Trump are the ones who cannot call themselves “constitutionalists” for they are the ones voting for a man who will have more contempt for checks and balances even than Obama had.
“They’re frauds. They’re fakes. They’re not brave. They’re asinine. They’re buffoons.” I do not believe I am any of these things, nor do I believe any fellow #NeverTrump warriors are. By not supporting or voting for Trump, I will have a clear conscience for expressing my genuine belief that he is not the best person for the job. And I think it is far braver to vote against the party you grew up supporting rather than voting for a wolf in wolves’ clothing who happens to have an (R) next to his name. As to whether we are “asinine,” that is a matter of personal taste, but I patiently tried to explain why Trump could not be trusted for months. Potentially voting for Hillary Clinton is a last resort born of necessity. Finally, I do not believe myself to be a “buffoon,” but rather a serious philosophical conservative who will not allow Trump to scam me with his new-found conservatism. Historians will, I believe, look upon this movement and speak favorably of the genuinely courageous conservatives who resisted Trump until the very end. People like you, Mr. Levin, who surrender to Trump and endorse him out of this misguided belief that he is somehow better than Hillary Clinton, will be the ones called “frauds, fakes, not brave, asinine, [and] buffoons.” You will be the Vichy Republicans who sold out to him. Not I.
In conclusion, I will never, ever value anything you say ever again, Mr. Levin. I genuinely believe that Trump will wreck this country, his (current) party, conservatism, and the dignity of his office if he is nominated and (God forbid) elected. The country will be ruled by a mad tyrant, the party will be stained for a generation, conservatism will be redefined as “white nativism” and the Oval Office will be a joke under Donald Trump. The last nine months have been one unending nightmare for conservatives and Republicans, as Donald Trump has made a mockery of everything both groups stand for. Why on Earth would we want this nightmare to continue for another four years? If there has been one silver lining it has been that this election cycle has shown the true colors of people- those who actually have political principles and those who have no principles beyond hating Democrats. Mr. Levin, you are trying to have your cake and eat it, too, and that will not work this time. Among those conservatives opposing Trump, you are either a #NeverTrump Republican willing to go into the political wilderness for principles (like Sir Winston Churchill) or you are an appeaser in the mold of Neville Chamberlain. You, sir, have chosen the latter path and proclaimed your choice loudly.
I will preface this open letter by disclosing that I have never really been a fan of yours. I have read some of your writing and occasionally listened to some of your radio clips and podcasts or clicked on links summarizing your views, but when I tuned in to talk radio and punditry, it was usually to the likes of Sean Hannity and Michael Savage, and to a lesser extent, Rush and Glenn Beck. I never harbored any ill will towards you, or anything like that, but I just paid more attention to the aforementioned figures. So, you should not read this (on the infinitesimally small chance that you do) as you losing a devoted fan. But you have lost the respect of someone who has a few of your books among my collection of political books and who once valued what you had to say.
That said, let us move on to the purpose of this post. Two days ago, you stated that: “Now those people out there, those people out there who are saying ‘stop Trump,’ I can understand ‘stop Trump’ in a primary process, but stop Trump or you’ll vote for Hillary? Stop Trump or you won’t vote at all? These people are not conservatives. They’re not constitutionalists. They’re frauds. They’re fakes. They’re not brave. They’re asinine. They’re buffoons.”
You are, of course, entitled to your opinion and to vote for whomever you like in November, but what you have said is demonstrably false. Let us look at your charge line by line.
“I can understand ‘stop Trump’ in a primary process, but stop Trump or you’ll vote for Hillary. Stop Trump or you won’t vote at all?” Mr. Levin, you claim to be an Originalist thinker, in the tradition of Antonin Scalia, but that is clearly not the case if you cannot understand that #NeverTrump means “Never Trump.” “Never” means “never,” regardless of who Trump’s opponent would be in a general election context. The founders of this movement did not intend for #NeverTrump to end if he won the nomination at the RNC, it meant that we would not vote for Trump in the general election under any circumstances. Otherwise the movement would be something like #NeverTrumpPrimary. At least you recognize that #NeverTrump supporters will not necessarily be voting for Hillary, but I am willing to do that if it saves Virginia from falling to Donald Trump. More likely, I will just write in Vermin Supreme or Marco Rubio or even the “Sweet Meteor of Death” or vote for Gary Johnson.
Those who have committed to never voting for Trump recognize that there is nothing Hillary can do that Trump will not do worse. With Hillary, we will get an unpopular liberal who, at the end of the day, is a political realist who can be counted upon to act in her rational self-interest. The Republican opposition, united against her, will be able to counter her moves because they know exactly what they are going to get with her. But with Trump, a man who has a lifelong record of supporting progressivism until his convenient and recent switch to pseudo-conservatism, we really do not know what we will get. The man’s policy platform is essentially random and he is just as likely to stake out far-left positions as he is to stake out conservative positions. If he is the con man that I believe he is, Republicans on Capitol Hill will be stuck trying to figure out whether to support him or not for the next four years. I believe conservatives will be more powerful united in opposition to Hillary than divided in ad hoc support for Trump’s latest inane scheme.
With regard to the Supreme Court, we know that Hillary will appoint center-left jurists (another Merrick Garland or two), but we have no idea who Trump will appoint (and I suspect, neither does he). Picking a justice is always a risky endeavor, even George H.W. Bush, a brilliant man with a lifetime of political experience, failed to thoroughly vet David Souter and blew a chance to make the Court more conservative. Why should we expect Trump to do any better?
On foreign policy, Trump is a complete novice and has shown this throughout the campaign. Hillary, for better or worse, has a full presidential term’s worth of experience as Secretary of State and will almost certainly be more judicious and realistic about foreign policy than Trump will. Trump, one of the most insecure people I have ever seen, has no plan to do anything to stop ISIS that can actually succeed and would probably drop nukes on countries if someone remotely insults him. He is about the last person I would ever entrust with a nuclear arsenal at his tiny little fingertips.
On fiscal policy, Hillary Clinton is probably the more fiscally conservative of the two. Her husband managed to achieve the last fiscally responsible federal budget this country has seen, and I imagine she would retain many of her husband’s economic advisors. Trump, on the other hand, has launched numerous failed business ventures and has only talked about building his wall (which, as John Oliver shows, is a hefty investment), while also cutting taxes drastically. In other words, making the budget deficit and national debt even worse. Hillary is also more of a conservative on trade policy, supporting free trade agreements and trade partnerships, while Trump wants to return to protectionism, tariffs, and trade wars! To me, this indicates that Hillary is the more fiscally conservative option.
Trump might be the more socially conservative of the two, but again, we just do not know where he really stands on abortion, guns, and other such issues. I do think it is a sign of the Religious Right’s dying influence that a thrice-married philanderer who sexualized his infant daughter and his other daughter and talked about the size of his genitals in a presidential debate is now the standard-bearer for so many social conservatives, like Jerry Falwell, Jr. Hillary’s positions on these topics are well-known and represent, essentially, the status quo. But Trump has taken every side of every position publicly, even as recently as last week where he changed his position on abortion four times! Social conservatives will not win with Hillary, but Trump is essentially a crapshoot for them, as well.
“These people are not conservatives. They’re not constitutionalists.” Okay, maybe I am no longer a “conservative” because I support gay marriage, believe in evolution, and have softer stances on immigration than conservatives nowadays do. But on abortion, gun rights, fiscal policy, and other issues I consider myself to be fairly conservative. I believe the Constitution to be the law of the land, and I certainly believe that I have more respect for it than Trump does. Trump will see the Constitution as a mere list of suggestions that prevent him from making “great deals” or he will disregard it entirely! How does not voting for Trump make one not a “constitutionalist!” To me, those who vote for Trump are the ones who cannot call themselves “constitutionalists” for they are the ones voting for a man who will have more contempt for checks and balances even than Obama had.
“They’re frauds. They’re fakes. They’re not brave. They’re asinine. They’re buffoons.” I do not believe I am any of these things, nor do I believe any fellow #NeverTrump warriors are. By not supporting or voting for Trump, I will have a clear conscience for expressing my genuine belief that he is not the best person for the job. And I think it is far braver to vote against the party you grew up supporting rather than voting for a wolf in wolves’ clothing who happens to have an (R) next to his name. As to whether we are “asinine,” that is a matter of personal taste, but I patiently tried to explain why Trump could not be trusted for months. Potentially voting for Hillary Clinton is a last resort born of necessity. Finally, I do not believe myself to be a “buffoon,” but rather a serious philosophical conservative who will not allow Trump to scam me with his new-found conservatism. Historians will, I believe, look upon this movement and speak favorably of the genuinely courageous conservatives who resisted Trump until the very end. People like you, Mr. Levin, who surrender to Trump and endorse him out of this misguided belief that he is somehow better than Hillary Clinton, will be the ones called “frauds, fakes, not brave, asinine, [and] buffoons.” You will be the Vichy Republicans who sold out to him. Not I.
In conclusion, I will never, ever value anything you say ever again, Mr. Levin. I genuinely believe that Trump will wreck this country, his (current) party, conservatism, and the dignity of his office if he is nominated and (God forbid) elected. The country will be ruled by a mad tyrant, the party will be stained for a generation, conservatism will be redefined as “white nativism” and the Oval Office will be a joke under Donald Trump. The last nine months have been one unending nightmare for conservatives and Republicans, as Donald Trump has made a mockery of everything both groups stand for. Why on Earth would we want this nightmare to continue for another four years? If there has been one silver lining it has been that this election cycle has shown the true colors of people- those who actually have political principles and those who have no principles beyond hating Democrats. Mr. Levin, you are trying to have your cake and eat it, too, and that will not work this time. Among those conservatives opposing Trump, you are either a #NeverTrump Republican willing to go into the political wilderness for principles (like Sir Winston Churchill) or you are an appeaser in the mold of Neville Chamberlain. You, sir, have chosen the latter path and proclaimed your choice loudly.
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