"Peter Thiel: 'WHAT TRUMP REPRESENTS ISN'T CRAZY AND IT'S NOT GOING AWAY'
Speaking at the National Press Club in Washington, Thiel amplified on his support for the Republican nominee to whom he donated $1.25 million in a move that stunned Silicon Valley.
by Jeff Cox
Tech entrepreneur Peter Thiel amped up his support for Donald Trump on Monday, saying the billionaire businessman gets "the big things" right despite "offensive and inappropriate" remarks.
"No matter what happens in this election, what Trump represents isn't crazy and it's not going away," he said, according to prepared remarks. "He points toward a new Republican Party beyond the dogmas of Reaganism. He points even beyond the remaking of one party to a new American politics that overcomes denial, rejects bubble thinking and reckons with reality.
"When the distracting spectacles of this election season are forgotten and the history of our time is written, the only important question will be whether or not that new politics came too late."
Speaking at the National Press Club in Washington, Thiel amplified on his support for the Republican nominee to whom he donated $1.25 million in a move that stunned Silicon Valley and has led to him being ostracized by his peers.
Thiel conceded that Trump is not the perfect candidate. But after decades dominated by asset bubbles and a Washington culture that has made many Americans feel disaffected and powerless, Thiel said Trump represents a new path."
What a strange election this is. We have actually high-profile gay men like Peter Thiel and Milo Yiannopoulis rooting for the Right Cause! And rooting with a passion at that!
I guess the Right may indeed need a bit of a shake up, though I'd like that to happen without compromising our core principles. I can only speak for myself of course, but even though I appreciate support from men like Thiel and Yiannopoulos very, very much, I would, for instance, not for one moment want to give up the defense of the traditional family, a typical Rightwing battle point. Actually, just today I emailed an organization which once started as the League for Big and Young Families (BGJG) that I gave up my membership. One of the reasons I cited was that their support for gay marriage. Their paperwork sports, amongst others, a logo of two men and a kid, representing one of those fancy new formulae that have to pass for families in the 21st Century. Though in fairness, the main reason I cited was their subscribing to the Big Lie of Multiculturalism.
However, the "New Right" may indeed have to go in search for a respectful, but initially possibly awkward relationship with gays. I think that we should make it clear that we do not despise them. Even if we feel inclined to do, we should make an honest effort not to. All this is not going to be easy. But we will have to try anyway. After all, one's sexual orientation is but one facet in the huge kaleidoscope that is the field of human relations and interests. Even if gays understand that we cannot compromise on our stance regarding gay marriage and adoption, we can surely find many other fields in which cooperation is possible and highly valued. Brave men like Thiel and Yiannopoulos are actually a godsend, and the flamboyance of the latter is a bonus, in that I cannot fathom a high-profile straight rightwinger pointing the way towards cooperation in such a humorous manner.
Apart from that, Thiel suggesting the Right should look "toward a new Republican Party beyond the dogmas of Reaganism" deserves close scrutiny. As glad as I am that he has taken the brave decision to wade into this battle on our side, we should be cautious not to take all his words for granted - even though he is a tech whiz kid with a resume that makes us mere mortals blush. My IQ is far below that of Thiel, but not so that I don't see that "the dogmas of Reaganism" have actually not been applied enough. I can cite only three countries where it, or a slight variants of it, has been tried: in the US itself, in Pinochet's Chile, and in Thatcher's United Kingdom. Every time the results were solid and undisputable. The problem is that conservatives around the globe have actually betrayed, or at best neglected, the core tenets of Reaganism, as first formulated by William Buckley. Instead, those who should proudly have borne the banners of Modern Conservatism have in far too many cases listened to the siren songs of Leftism. Over time they even shamelessly parroted them and followed them, like mesmerized children following a modern day version of the Pied Piper of Hameln - to the extent that far too many so-called "rightwingers" now sound almost like leftists themselves.
In short, instead of Peter Thiel suggesting today that the New Republican Party should look "beyond the dogmas of Reaganism", I would much more have liked it if he had said "Rediscover them".
It's not that so many in the GOP have been faithful followers of Reaganism and found out that the vehicle needed tinkering.
It's rather that so many Republicans have actually BETRAYED Reaganism.
Be that as it may, you won't hear me say that the New Right doesn't need at least some cosmetic changes. And it that respect Thiel and Co may give us some advice, certainly.
MFBB.
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