This just popped up on my Washington Post feed, and while I was inclined to pass it by given how little I care for Joe Walsh, I thought I would take a look. I’m glad I did.
I’ll start with the money quote first:
But I’m not a Democrat. It’s not my job to tell Democrats whom to choose. What I can do, and what I have done, is pledge that I’ll vote for their nominee. Even Bernie. He and I hardly agree on anything, but if he’s the nominee, I won’t just vote for him, I’ll campaign for him.
The opinion piece is a quick read but it’s blistering in its scorn for his fellow “Never Trumpers” who are starting to look for the exits now that the prospect of a Bernie Sanders nomination is looking more and more like a possibility. And to be perfectly honest, I think there are some Democrats who could take a lesson from his words as well. We have one shot at this opportunity to get rid of our current POTUS and if we fail, we fail our country. It’s not “just” another lost election this time. Can anyone seriously doubt that our country will be damaged beyond all recognition if we are foolish enough to allow four more years of the current regime?
Mr. Walsh explains it for us:
This isn’t complicated. “Never Trump,”“never-Trump” or, if you prefer, #NeverTrump has always been a straightforward concept — the word “never” is right there in the name. But with Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) moving ahead of the pack as the clear front-runner in this year’s Democratic presidential primaries, some of my Republican and ex-Republican brethren have started implying that what never-Trump actually meant was something more like: fingers-crossed-I-really-really-hope-not-Trump-but-I-guess-sometimes-Trump if Democrats wind up nominating a self-described democratic socialist. But that’s not how this works.
Mr. Walsh packed a lot into his short opinion piece, and I’m at about the end of what I can share without violating fair use but he had this to add about why he is so passionate about defeating Trump, and it’s all worth reading if you can get past WaPo’s paywall. I have to say as little as I agree with Joe Walsh on, well, probably everything else, I do agree with him that the thing I worry about most is Trump wrecking my country.
Yes, I’m a fiscal conservative who still worries about the national debt. But not as much as I worry about Trump wrecking my country.
We could make this last quote into a little personal exercise, fill in the blanks:
Yes, I’m a ___________________________________ who still worries about _________________________________.
But not as much as I worry about Trump wrecking my country.
And now I’ve got to get back to work. I would love to stay around and chat but duty calls. Treat this as an open thread and have fun but play nice.
Peace out.
UPDATES…
Thing One — Thanks to the folks who pointed out the typo in the headline! That was embarrassing, but it’s fixed now.
Thing Two — Thanks to 1BQ for finding us this link to a non-paywalled version of the op-ed so everyone can read it.
Thing Three — I was hoping that a couple of people might see and enjoy this kind of amazing fire-breathing op-ed that Joe Walsh wrote, so I'm glad you all found it. Thanks for the recs. I hope y'all are having a fun and respectful time in the comments. Take heart from the fact that someone who normally opposes all we hold dear is with us in the fight to replace Trump and let's all pledge to ourselves that we’ll do everything we can to make sure that the Democratic nominee becomes the next POTUS. If Joe Walsh can do it, surely we can too.