The Establishment vs. Trump – WSJ

Number them among the many who made a merely difficult situation, finally, apocalyptic. I called it the Trump-as-democratic-accident problem amid the 2016 primaries. The improbable enthusiasm of a large minority of GOP voters metastasized with the Democratic determination to nominate the repellant Hillary Clinton, who only showed herself more repellent in how she responded to defeat. It culminated in the bizarre antics of FBI chief James Comey who, in his determination to fix the problem, likely elected Mr. Trump

At this point, the establishment might have responded with maturity, restraint and a determination to put some guardrails on an interesting voter experiment, maybe even helping Mr. Trump accomplish some useful goals.

Instead, it gave us the collusion hoax so Democrats and others could tell themselves Mr. Trump s election was a message from Vladimir Putin, not voters. Mrs. Clinton can be remembered now in history with one word: coward. Whatever else, Mr. Trump can say he withstood the most scurrilous plot against an incoming president since Lincoln, with a resilience and humor that few others would have mustered. Millions of voters saw it and can still see it.

By now the establishment s losing streak shouldn t make us hopeful of the further efforts of Mr. Biden, Attorney General Merrick Garland and special counsel Jack Smith, not to mention a national media so inept in its intellectual dishonesty that it has long been Mr. Trump s best asset.

via www.wsj.com

Holman Jenkins.