Why conservatives and libertarians should oust Trump this fall

I love and respect folks with all kinds of political beliefs. In my immediate family, there are people who voted for Trump, Clinton, Stein, McMullin, and Romney in the last election. Besides highlighting how I’ve got a big family (some of whom don’t understand multiple choice ballots), this diversity of thought demonstrates that decent and informed individuals can come to different political conclusions. I do not support tactics that dehumanize humans we disagree with. Whatever you believe, I respect you and hope to understand your reasons.

So, if this post isn’t a caricature of the “violent liberal mob” or a patronizing portrait of the “basket of deplorables,” what am I trying to do here? My purpose is simple. Whether conservative, liberal, libertarian, or vegetarian, I would like to persuade you to not vote for President Trump this fall.

You and I may not agree on policy issues, so let’s put those aside. You may be suspicious of my motives and background, so I’ll quote people you may trust (as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and a professor of ecology, I don’t fit squarely in many milieus). Above all, I will appeal to your values (moral and pragmatic)—values that I am convinced most Americans share.

After reserving judgement and holding out hope for several years after his election, my conclusion is that all of us need to vote President Trump out of office. For the sake of our wonderful and unique country and all its citizens, I encourage you to reflect on the material and moral consequences of Trump’s policies, personality, and approach to government.

Below, I’ve compiled a few excerpts from conservative and libertarian thinkers who have felt compelled to speak out against the president’s actions in the past few months. Whatever your convictions, I hope that you will consider these thoughts not as an attack or personal indictment—I will love you no matter who you vote for—but as perspective from individuals have long promoted conservative ideals. I've interspersed some photos of people and places I like.

Last December, the editor in chief of Christianity Today (Mark Galli) wrote an essay calling on all Christians to remove the president from power. After acknowledging that Democrats had been gunning for Trump since 2016, Galli concludes,

The president of the United States attempted to use his political power to coerce a foreign leader to harass and discredit one of the president’s political opponents. That is not only a violation of the Constitution; more importantly, it is profoundly immoral.

The reason many are not shocked about this is that this president has dumbed down the idea of morality in his administration. He has hired and fired a number of people who are now convicted criminals. He himself has admitted to immoral actions in business and his relationship with women, about which he remains proud. His Twitter feed alone—with its habitual string of mischaracterizations, lies, and slanders—is a near perfect example of a human being who is morally lost and confused.

...To the many evangelicals who continue to support Mr. Trump in spite of his blackened moral record, we might say this: Remember who you are and whom you serve. Consider how your justification of Mr. Trump influences your witness to your Lord and Savior. Consider what an unbelieving world will say if you continue to brush off Mr. Trump’s immoral words and behavior in the cause of political expediency. If we don’t reverse course now, will anyone take anything we say about justice and righteousness with any seriousness for decades to come? Can we say with a straight face that abortion is a great evil that cannot be tolerated and, with the same straight face, say that the bent and broken character of our nation’s leader doesn’t really matter in the end?

Reason #1 we should pick a different leader: our current one is morally bankrupt.

Last Friday, the libertarian blogger and journalist Megan McArdle was the conservative commentator on my favorite political podcast, Left, Right, and Center. She lined out another central reason to oust the president. When asked about the president’s handling of COVID-19 (and the underattended campaign rally in Florida), she said,

I’m sure that he was enraged, but I’m sure he’s found a way to blame someone besides Donald Trump. And I think this goes to [President Trump’s] fatal weakness…Republicans got so caught up [in their] legitimate grievances against the Obama administration…that what they chiefly wanted was a candidate who would reliably produce liberal tears. And liberal tears are not a useful product. They do not fix any problem you have except for a dearth of enjoyment in watching liberals cry.

And that was fine. Honestly, the president doesn’t affect the economy that much in normal times…in most cases, the policies that they make are marginal differences that aren’t going to show up in their term and probably not in two terms. But the problem was that when a crisis did show up that actually required some leadership, he wasn’t good at it, and Republicans had not bothered to select anyone that was because he was so good at producing liberal tears.

I think it looks extremely likely now that Republicans are going to lose the election…and I think they will deserve it. Because they selected for their candidate someone who was not up to the sort of crisis that a president has to be able to lead on. And not just lead on, execute on: run a bureaucracy, run a staff, make policy decisions. Donald Trump was never competent on any of that stuff, it was always pretty clear that he was never going to be competent at any of that stuff. And people decided to ignore that because he gave them a visceral joy in standing up to people who they felt intimidated, and threatened, and demeaned by. And I totally get that impulse, but it’s not a good reason to select a president for the same reason that you don’t select a new spouse based on the fact that your ex hates them. You need something more than that.

Reason #2 to pick a different president: our current one has shown incredible incompetence.

I also think McArdle’s insight about political disdain is important. When we mock and dismiss those who disagree with us, we undermine our opportunity to make a point or take a point. Long-term change doesn’t come from owning the libs or condescending to conservatives. As rewarding as those pastimes can seem, the only thing they accomplish is increasing your Twitter following (aptly called followers rather than friends).

If you prefer your critiques in Trump’s own style, the irascible Kevin D. Williamson pointed out another problem last month in the National Review. Writing about the aftermath of social media platforms flagging some of the president’s false claims, he wrote,

President Trump, ever the addict, was right back on Twitter, threatening to have the National Guard murder looters in Minneapolis. We don’t do censorship in the United States, and we don’t do summary executions, either. On Friday, another guest host for Rush Limbaugh allowed that the president’s actions were “unorthodox” or “outrageous.” We should speak plainly: These are lies and threats and abuses of the president’s position. These aren’t questions of etiquette. Republicans should stop making excuses for them or stop wrapping themselves in the mantle of patriotism — one or the other.

Republicans used to be the freedom people: free speech, free trade, free enterprise, free markets, freedom of religion, freedom of association, free to keep and bear arms. Trump and his partisans too often are the opposite of that: the neo-mercantilism people, the wildly expansive government power people, the Orbán toady people, the “total authority” people, the people who complain about abuses of presidential power on Monday and think up implausible excuses for them on Tuesday, the people who conflate corporatism with patriotism, the slanderers, the conspiracy goofs, the shut-down-Twitter-if-Twitter-doesn’t-do-what-we-want people.

Reason #3 to dump Trump: he either doesn’t understand or doesn’t care about the constitution or our human rights.

It’s not just what the president says that shows his disdain for democracy. He has shown disregard for the separation of powers by funding the border wall through an executive order and continuing the war in Yemen against bipartisan congressional consensus. He has sown doubt about the legitimacy of the most robust and long-lasting democracy on earth (The United States of America) by baselessly claiming widespread voter fraud, attacking the judiciary, using the military as a political tool, and insisting that no one but he speaks the truth. Finally, he has completely abdicated his responsibility as a leader by constantly disseminating false information and baldly contradicting research, intelligence, and common sense.

I want to end with General James Mattis, who released this statement earlier this month. He condemns the president’s response to peaceful protests but also outlines a hopeful path forward.

When I joined the military, some 50 years ago, I swore an oath to support and defend the Constitution. Never did I dream that troops taking that same oath would be ordered under any circumstance to violate the Constitutional rights of their fellow citizens—much less to provide a bizarre photo op for the elected commander-in-chief, with military leadership standing alongside.

We must reject any thinking of our cities as a “battlespace” that our uniformed military is called upon to “dominate.” At home, we should use our military only when requested to do so, on very rare occasions, by state governors. Militarizing our response, as we witnessed in Washington, D.C., sets up a conflict—a false conflict—between the military and civilian society. It erodes the moral ground that ensures a trusted bond between men and women in uniform and the society they are sworn to protect, and of which they themselves are a part. Keeping public order rests with civilian state and local leaders who best understand their communities and are answerable to them.

Donald Trump is the first president in my lifetime who does not try to unite the American people—does not even pretend to try. Instead he tries to divide us. We are witnessing the consequences of three years of this deliberate effort. We are witnessing the consequences of three years without mature leadership. We can unite without him, drawing on the strengths inherent in our civil society. This will not be easy, as the past few days have shown, but we owe it to our fellow citizens; to past generations that bled to defend our promise; and to our children.

...We know that we are better than the abuse of executive authority that we witnessed in Lafayette Square. We must reject and hold accountable those in office who would make a mockery of our Constitution. At the same time, we must remember Lincoln’s “better angels,” and listen to them, as we work to unite.

Only by adopting a new path—which means, in truth, returning to the original path of our founding ideals—will we again be a country admired and respected at home and abroad.