When an unusually astute and articulate DJT water-carrier tries to discredit actual conservatism, we must let it sharpen our vision all the more

Honest, Kurt Schlichter doesn't live rent-free inside my head. It's just that the elements he combines - an undeniable understanding that the Left in post-America is waging war on the foundations that have given this nation its unique identity and heritage among the countries of the world, a writing style that, while a little bombastic, is genuinely funny a lot of the time, this abrupt shift to an actual enthusiasm for Trump after regularly reminding us prior to Trump's winning the nomination path that Trump was his fifteenth out of sixteen choices, his conflation of the pretty-much-worthless Republican majority on Capitol Hill with the actual solidly conservative pundits who still find Trump troubling but actually agree with Schlichter on the congressional GOP, and, to get to the crux of the matter, his main message, which is that conservatives can and ought to adopt Trump's roughest stylistic edges - can seem formidable to those of us who refuse to lionize Donald Trump unless we are prepared to counter them.

His latest column - you know where to find it (Townhall); I don't link to such things - really tightens the screws. The basic message, aimed at those of us who still can't stand Trump, is, "You know damn well that Congress has not delivered on "A"CA repeal or tax reform, and is now going wobbly on DACA. Can you honestly say that you're not endorsing the same old, same old?"

So what's our answer?

I'd say it begins with a repeat of what I've asserted here often: Trump is too flawed a weapon to effectively accomplish what we envision. For starters - and the damn thing is that Schlichter has always acknowledged this - Trump has no consistent ideological core. He thinks in terms of deals and winners and losers. He's been all over the map on health care policy. Then there is his utter lack of a core faith. He may have prayers sessions in the Oval Office, he may call the nation to prayer over Harvey's devastation, but he's never said anything that indicates any depth, any grounding in scripture or the theological traditions of Christianity. Then there is that crudeness that Schlichter thinks we ought to adopt . . .

But as I say, he's got us in a vulnerable position, and we'd best gird ourselves appropriately. That starts, it seems to me, with keeping those principles of which Schichter makes light front and center. Issues and political, cultural, economic and world-stage developments are ephemeral. They constantly morph in response to circumstances. Let us remember that there is no point in talking about them except in terms of how to apply our principles to them.

And we will be echoing him as we lambaste Congress for being such a squishy blob. He's not wrong about that. In fact, bringing our ire to bear on Congressional squishiness burnishes our bona fides. Our credibility is in good shape for when the conversation turns to how Trump is a bombastic buffoon and nobody to rally around.

One last point, speaking of credibility: Schlichter squandered pretty much the last few subatomic particles that remained of his in that column today by lumping the great Ben Sasse in with Jeff Flake. It just illustrated how hopelessly skewed his entire worldview has become.