If there is one thing that I can say I have common ground with Trump on it is that he is not a militarist or military adventurist. And, I have believed for some time that we need to become less enmeshed in the Middle East as our insertion of ourselves into that region has brought us nothing but trouble and grief. He's a guy who never served and neither "gets" the military nor has made any effort to try to "get it" with the military unlike Clinton and Obama who also never served but respected and trusted and earned the respect and trust of people for whom military service was in their blood. Trump hasn't hesitated to demean military people when they disagree with him and, on occasion, even ridiculed service. Having said that, Trump goes to the opposite extreme and is something of a neo-isolationist which presents a host of other problems.
As for the coup alert, I think much of the GOP mainstream is actually probably secretly ecstatic about this election. The party did great downballot and they are rid of Trump whom they never wanted to begin with. They don't want to publicly cross him but they--quietly--look forward to being rid of him.
As for the GOP base, I am not so sure they are all that in with Trump and hereâs why. One difference between Democrats and liberals and Republicans and conservatives is how each sides views the partyâs one-time standard-bearers. Democrats and liberals celebrate theirs, even the ones who lost badly like Carter, Mondale and Dukakis. They look back at them fondly and proudly say, âYeah, I voted for them.â Republicans and conservatives, on the other hand, look back on their former standard bearersâwith the notable exception of Reaganâwith complete and utter disdain, even the ones who actually won the office. Nixonâyeah, the libs were right, he was a crook all along. Fordâa stair-tumbling doofus. Bush 1âbetrayed the conservative movement and was a disaster who made Clintonâs presidency possible. Doleâa doddering old fool who was probably more an Alf Landon Republican than a conservative movement Republican. Bush 2âan idiot who squandered a golden opportunity to finish Reaganâs unfinished business, started needless wars [which, oh gee by the way, they once robustly supported] and was a disaster who made Obamaâs presidency possible. McCainâbetrayed his country (conspiracy theories that he betrayed his fellow servicepeople and US military plans to the North Vietnamese at the Hanoi Hilton) and then betrayed his party. RomneyâMcCain without the treason. You get the picture. Yes, there will be a cabal of Trump diehards. But, I think the party and the conservative movement will eventually start to view him as another one of their ex-lovers to be scorned. In short, your typical Republican politician and voter is a "company person" who tows the company line. Trump is the company line but only for now.
And, didnât they used to boast about how the Bushes were America's first family?