It's this kind of stuff - today's edition

Actually, I may either need to rename this series of LITD posts or begin another series the name of which expresses a greater degree of alarm at how the Trump phenomenon is making a mess out of several levels of our national life: foreign policy, political discourse, the nation's economic health, and conservatism as a recognizable world view. "It's this kind of stuff" indicates mere annoyance, a message of, "He sure does make it hard to continue supporting him." I was never going to don a MAGA hat, but until recently, I had a fairly solid sense that there were enough adults in positions of influence within the administration that it presented the actual alternative to the Left's obvious agenda of civilizational destruction. I'm now increasingly convinced that it presents nothing but a steaming pile of incoherence.

There's foreign policy.

Regarding China, there is the Very Stable Genius's call for the Chinese government to investigate the Bidens - something which caused LITD to express gratification that Ben Sasse had spoken against it. There's also the VSG's pledge to China to not weigh in on the Hong Kong situation as long as US-China trade negotiations were ongoing. Those freedom-loving protestors filling Hong Kong's streets are not a bargaining chip in a deal, Mr. President. To go back a bit further, there is Trump's characterization, in a tweet, of Xi as an enemy, mere days after saying they had a great relationship (and, in order, you'll recall, to set up Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell as much more of an enemy than Xi - yet another example of how Trump expects heads of autonomous agencies to be his personal henchmen).

Then there is this withdrawal of US troops from northern Syria (a move that has apparently left the Pentagon "completely blindsided") Turkish president Reccep Tayyip Erdogan has long held the region's Kurdish population in low regard, and it's clear he's about to have Turkey invade it. That will pretty much pull the plug on any confidence the largely-Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces has had in the United States. And then who will be left to fight the resurgent ISIS that will waste no time regrouping and reestablishing its hellish rule?

Two Senators who have, of late, been quite willing to see Trump as a glass half full are no fans of this latest move:

Here’s what Rubio has said on Twitter: “If reports about US retreat in Syria are accurate, the Trump administration has made a grave mistake that will have implications far beyond Syria.” There’s a weird balance here between condemnation—”a grave mistake”—and a tentative escape route for Trump—”if reports…are accurate.” But of course the reports are accurate! They’re not reports. The White House released the news itself!

Graham was far tougher: “By abandoning the Kurds we have sent the most dangerous signal possible – America is an unreliable ally and it’s just a matter of time before China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea act out in dangerous ways.”

Then there's political discourse. A recent response to a remark by Mitt Romney on Trump's conduct of foreign policy engaged the Utah Senator on the merits of his argument for one short tweet and then  took the alpha-male / playground-bully tactic of trying to portray Romney as a political weakling and loser, alluding, without substantiation, to some kind of growing buyers' remorse on the part of Utah voters, and an assertion (a false assertion) that Romney had begged for Trump's endorsement when Romney ran for Senate.

Rick Moran at PJ Media states exactly what this boils down to:

. . . it's Trump's insistence on slavish loyalty that makes him dangerous. He brooks no criticism whatsoever. If you get out of line by a millimeter, he falls on you like a ton of bricks. He has Republicans terrified and running scared. Trump is partially aided by the hysterical partisanship of Democrats, which creates an atmosphere where sticking together is the only way to survive. But that support is a mile wide and an inch deep. It will melt away if it's found Trump committed an impeachable offense.

Is this really the sort of Republican Party you want -- with Trump as fuhrer taking out his rage on anyone who isn't 100% for him? Romney is a meaningless actor in this drama. Why spend the time cutting his legs off? Used to be in America that "everyone has his own opinion." In Trumpland, you're not allowed that freedom.

Trump's thin skin and pettiness may yet be his undoing.

If the current trajectory continues, we may reach a juncture at which a critical number of GOP lawmakers decide that being shredded on Twitter by the VSG - and the attendant effect on the flow of donor dollars - is a price they're willing to pay in order to speak out against what is happening.

At this point, at the very least, I think Trumpists are beginning to see that actual conservatives with a dedication to a coherent worldview and consistent set of principles never went anywhere, were not marginalized, and intend to keep defending the only viable alternative to leftism.