I don't like anonymous writing and generally don't support it, but I'll make an exception for this essay. Rush Limbaugh quoted from it extensively yesterday. I don't think there's a single motive that unites the Never Trumpers. Some of them, I am sure, have a principled (and therefore respectable) opposition to Donald Trump, but others, I am equally sure, oppose him because it's good for their business or because they're engaged in moral preening or virtue signaling. These are not respectable motives.
Philosophers distinguish between ideal theory and nonideal theory. In ideal theory, you have the luxury of describing (and defending) what you take to be utopia. In nonideal theory, you take the world as it is (for better or worse) and try to make it better, even if only incrementally. Many of the Never Trumpers aren't men or women of action; they're eggheads, policy wonks, or talking heads. They have no idea how to make real-world changes and they look down on those who dirty their hands by engaging in political action. My suggestion is that conservatives stop reading the likes of Jonah Goldberg, George Will, William Kristol, and Stephen Hayes. They've opted out of practical politics. Fine. Those of us who care about our country and understand the need to keep Hillary Clinton out of the White House opt out of them.
