Before we get into that, it’s important to understand that I hold no bitterness towards Cruz. It became clear through his primary campaign that many of the things we clung to regarding Cruz as a principled conservative were negotiable. This didn’t make him any worse of a candidate in most of our eyes. It simply made us realize that he’s much more of a politician than we had initially hoped. No big deal, really. Just as we put our best foot forward easily during a first date but often struggle to maintain it as a relationship continues, the revelations early on that Cruz was a politician didn’t take away from the fact that he was the best candidate for the job.

This latest “betrayal” was simply a political move, one that will prove to be a poor one. By turning the attention away from Trump’s shortcomings and towards the existential threat that Hillary Clinton poses, Cruz attempted to justify his decision as a righteous one. He, Trump, and the GOP hoped that it would be a wakeup call to those of us opposed to Trump that we have a bigger battle to fight. It was the standard “lesser of two evils” argument that we’ve been hearing for months.

That’s the problem. We already know Hillary is an existential threat. Our concern is that Trump may be a little less of an existential threat or may be even worse. At this point, we don’t know and it was people like Cruz who we looked to in order to act as the conservative dissent against Trump’s leftward lurch. Cruz pointed to a mode disciplined campaign in recent weeks as justification for changing his mind. What he failed to mention is that Trump has changed in other ways since the convention as well. He’s exposed more of his liberal ideologies, pulling down his tax cuts, promoting big government spending, proposing a minimum wage increase, pushing for government-funded maternity leave, and a handful of other Democratic ideas being adopted by the GOP. In other words, Trump may be campaigning nicer, but he’s even MORE of a threat to society today than when Cruz failed to endorse him at the convention.

This is going to hurt the GOP. It brings to light the thing that conservatives have feared the most: an unchecked Trump. Please don’t take this as support for Hillary in any way, but the one thing she has going for her in the eyes of conservatives is that she’s a clear force for us to unite against an oppose. With Trump, the opposition from the right is currently scattered. It was people like Cruz who gave us at least a little hope that Trump could be reined in by conservatives if he were to win the Presidency. By endorsing, he loses his standing as a conservative dissenter to Trump’s liberal ways.

Some would say that an endorsement does not mean that someone has embraced them fully. I disagree. That’s not to say that endorses are incapable of dissent, but it takes away their core argument. Trump represents the new Republican Party, one that can finally achieve its long-term goal of being the moderate party rather than the conservative one. The more that conservatives like Cruz endorse Trump, the more relevant a new party becomes.

We will be building this party. With or without Cruz, the need for conservatives to have a valid and tangible voice has never been more clear. If anything, Cruz boarding the Trump Train is further justification and an example of how lost the GOP has become.

If you haven’t read it, I wouldn’t recommend it. Over the years it’s been put on a philosophical pedestal and glorified by many political pundits, particular Libertarian-leaning fiscal conservatives, but in my humble opinion it was above-average at best. Nonetheless, here’s my spoiler alert. I’ll be going into details about the ending which was utterly ludicrous in any reality other than three:

1. If the world descends into a dystopian vision due to industrial economic collapse not brought on by war or natural catastrophe, the book’s end is viable.
2. In a post-apocalyptic world that attempts and fails to properly rebuild, the end is viable.
3. In the 2016 election where conservatism is tossed to the wolves, the end is applicable.

Obviously, I’m focusing on the last reality since it’s our reality.

Leave, Regroup, Rebuild

In Atlas Shrugged, the people who have the skills, gumption, and ambition to succeed are the people who can save the collapsing socialist society around them. Unlike the realities we’re seeing around the world and the one that is emerging in America, the socialism described in Atlas Shrugged is hidden and subtle. It’s wrapped in a faux-totalitarian government that has embraced the ideas of crony capitalism without the benefits of a capitalistic engine upon which to mooch.

The capitalists, represented in Atlas Shrugged as industrialists and practical scientists, leave. The best minds are plucked from the world suddenly and completely. John Galt, the ideological leader of the movement, takes the people who can preserve society and hides them away in a mini-utopia off the map where they build a working community separate from the outside world.

They live for themselves and believe two concepts: paraphrasing, they will demand nothing of any other man and they will not accept demands from any other man.

The near future that they see is one where the world essentially collapses and falls back 100 years. Without the industrialists, trains will be replaced by horse and buggy. Electric light will be replaced by lanterns. Infrastructure will collapse. Dog will eat dog. When everything is so bad and the government is completely abolished, they will reemerge and rebuild.

This is the model that conservatives must adopt, though not as dramatically and without the deadly repercussions. We fill the role in the real world that the industrialists and practical scientists filled in Ayn Rand’s world. Through conservatism, the GOP has harnessed our proper and righteous mentalities in their campaign slogans while simultaneously acting against our precepts. Just as the “looters” in Atlas Shrugged took from the industrialists, the Establishment has taken from conservatives their “fair” share of political power while refusing to actually embrace the solutions that conservative politicians, pundits, and wonks have recommended.

For centuries in Atlas Shrugged, the looters took from the industrialists and accepted the benefits of their brainpower, then used it against them to promote an agenda that was contrary to the industrialists’ strengths and values. For decades, the Establishment has held the mantle of conservatism while engaging in tactics to take conservatives down.

It’s time to depart. It’s time to leave the GOP. It’s time to take our ideas and talents to our own political party utopia and let the liberals in both parties battle to see who can do the most harm to the country, Unlike the industrialists in Atlas Shrugged, we will not wait for the collapse before we start taking action. We will regroup as quickly as possible under a new conservative party and begin preparations to rebuild conservatism and therefore America itself.

It won’t be easy. When reading Atlas Shrugged, one is left with the feeling that everything would be fine and that the industrialists will be able to essentially reverse the apocalypse. Our situation as conservatives is the opposite. What we’re about to go through with the next liberal President isn’t necessarily going to be the apocalypse, but we’ll need all of our talents, effort, and the grace of God in order to pick up the pieces from the messes the liberals make. New parties have failed since the 19th century. We only have two things going for us:

1. Never since the 19th century has there been a more suitable moment to galvanize conservatives behind a new party. The GOP has abandoned us with the expectation that we’ll return because we always do.
2. We’re in the right. They, both major parties, are in the wrong.

By taking advantage of this unique political atmosphere and applying the principles of velocity and exceptionalism, defying the odds of building a new party can be achieved. Like the industrialists in Atlas Shrugged, we will allow the political landscape to hit rock bottom before bringing our ideas back to the table in a new and controlled manifestation. Conservatives will finally be able to call the shots. That’s the only way for America to see it’s brightest days once again.

The GOP will learn a lesson from this experience, but it won’t be what they expect. They’re looking for conservatives to come running back to Trump if he wins or to the Establishment if he loses. We will do neither. They must be made to realize that we will no longer answer to the demands of the GOP, nor will we demand that the GOP appease us. Through a clean break, we’ll be able to heal conservatism and the nation quicker while building a stronger foundation around conservatism.

The biggest irony, though, is that Trump would likely consider it endearing in some way. He would respect Stalin’s absolute authoritarian power over the land and while he would condemn Stalin’s actions against his own people, there would be a hint of longing to be like him in other ways.

If you haven’t read the book, do so before reading this article if you ever plan on reading it at all. There are spoilers coming. It’s still taught in most public schools, so we’ll assume that most have read it.

The story follows Napoleon who, after the farm animals vanquished their human masters, shared a leadership role with Snowball. Through cunning and manipulation, Napoleon forced Snowball from the farm as well, leaving the fate of the animals on the farm in his own hands. He went on to convince the animals that his actions, while seemingly contrary to the precepts they’d established from the start, were actually in their own best interests. Some of the animals questioned his intentions mildly, but they all eventually went along with it.

Over time, his shifts away from the independence and beneficial living circumstances that they fought for initially led to harsh realities facing the animals. They thought they remembered that things were different in their initial thinking, but they trusted Napoleon, his fellow pigs, and the harsh dogs who accompanied them everywhere. In the end, they came to understand that the pig they’d followed to keep away from the evils of men was actually working towards becoming one of the enemies himself.

Donald Trump is Napoleon to the Republican party. He’s slowly shifting the conservative principles of the party out the door and replacing them with the same sort of populist views that helped to build the modern Democratic party. Some Republicans are noticing the shifts and crying foul, but most are accepting him just as the farm animals accepted Napoleon. “He’s not perfect, but at least he’s not a Democrat.”

If Trump wins (and I believe that he will), we will see through his first and only term that he’s a big government, big-spending Democrat who has used immigration as a way to demonstrate his conservative credibility. I don’t doubt that he’ll build his wall, though not necessarily for security. There are better ways to secure the border that won’t cost $70 billion and that won’t require the use of eminent domain to lurch the lands by the border away from Americans who own them. In fact, a drone-based electronic border would be exponentially more effective because it would allow us to actually monitor the entirety of the border and to catch those who try to cross it. The wall will bring us a false sense of security as we’ll hope that there are no 31-foot ladders to scale a 30-foot wall or as we pray that there aren’t a ton of tunnels that the wall would not be able to detect. or prevent.

A virtual wall would be practically impenetrable, but one would have to understand Trump’s motives for building a wall in order to understand why he won’t go with the better, cheaper virtual wall. He wants a monument. He wants The Great Wall of Trump to rival The Great Wall of China in a thousand years. It’s his windmill from Animal Farm.

If Trump is Napoleon, then his fellow pigs are Chris Christie, Ben Carson, Rick Perry, and the various Republican officials who have stood by his side. That would mean that Trump’s variation of Napoleon’s dogs would be Sean Hannity, Ann Coulter, and Rush Limbaugh, protecting him from insult and attacking those who would question their top pig.

When the dust settles, we’ll have a wall and a bunch of liberal policies that would be very similar to the ones we would get with a President Clinton. The real difference is that with Clinton, we can oppose her in unison just as the animals opposed humans together… and won. Trump will deliver us to the humans (liberals) and it will be too late for opposition when it’s revealed.

This isn’t a call to vote for Clinton. She is exceptionally awful and I would never ask anyone to vote against their conscience. However, a vote for Trump is just as bad because he’s the enemy within rather than the enemy we can all unite against. 2016 is a sad year for conservatives, but at least it gives us the ability to start fresh with a new party separate from the GOP or the Democrats.

The Democrats say such laws are racist. They know that minorities are less likely to have valid forms of identification, so they make them the victims of laws that require identification in order to vote. They stop with voting, though. They don’t point out that the same should apply to buying age-restricted items like tobacco or alcohol. There are other situations that require identification, but we’ll focus on that one.

By law, one has to present a valid form of identification in order to purchase restricted items. If progressive sensitivities (aka their liberal agenda) say that voting is a right that should not be taken from someone just because they don’t have proper identification, shouldn’t the same be said about buying beer? Cigarettes? If someone is a U.S. citizen who has chosen to not get valid identification, why should their right to purchase items be removed based upon racial discrimination? They should just be able to go in and say that they’re of a valid age just as a voter can in North Carolina today.

If that doesn’t make any sense to you, it’s because you can’t warp your brain to the way that a liberal is required to think.

One might wonder how the Republicans are politicizing it. The reality is that they have a solution. All they have to do is set a law declaring acceptable forms of identification for all age-restricted activities. Buying alcohol or tobacco would be included. Entering premises that cater to adult patrons such as bars, casinos, or strip clubs would be included. Some things, such as buying a firearm, require two forms of valid identification. And yes, voting should be included on the list because it’s age-restricted as well.

The challenge in doing this is two-fold. First, it would mean consolidating individual laws listing requirements for specific age-restricted activities into one which would be a much larger task than most realize. The second reason is catering to special interest groups. Oversight in many industries such as alcohol and tobacco is already established and appreciated. Changes, even for the sake of preventing voter fraud, are frowned upon by these groups. With the solution staring them in the face, they refuse to act upon it.

Would voter ID laws affect minority voter turnout? Yes. Is that bad? If we don’t politicize it and isolate it outside of the concept of voter fraud, then again the answer would be Yes. Once voter fraud is brought into the equation, everything changes. In Crawford v. Marion County Election Board (2007), the Supreme Court upheld an Indiana state law that required all voters to present a photo ID. The majority opinion found that the burden placed on voters was “offset by the benefit of reducing the risk of fraud” and that the law was “eminently reasonable.”

This same argument was made and failed in the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals. There’s a good chance it wouldn’t have failed in the Supreme Court, but we’ll never know because they were too busy to consider it.

For the record, I am not a Donald Trump supporter. I’m also not a Hillary Clinton supporter. Lastly, I’m not one who has bought in fully to Clinton’s failing health conspiracy theory. With that said, I’m also not blind to the fact that her coughing and odd behavior should warrant an independent health evaluation (which, to me, should be a requirement for every Presidential and Vice Presidential candidate, but I digress).

With all of the appropriate disclaimers out of the way, let’s look at the censorship occurring at the Huffington Post. This isn’t the first time it’s happened. They censored a review of Vaxxed and have been prolific in their use of Orwellian comment controls. They’ve deleted many stories in the past, though this one is arguably the most perplexing since it addresses an issue that’s vibrant right now. Whether you believe that Hillary is in good health or not, it’s valid to question it.

For posterity, we will post the article that was deleted. We do not own the rights to the article and if Seaman would like us to take it down, I’d gladly do so and link to wherever he ends up posting it instead. I just don’t want it to be lost in the dungeons of HuffPo’s trash folder for nobody to see. After the article, I’ll continue with my commentary as well as show a video with the journalist’s reaction.

Hillary Clinton’s Health Is Superb (Aside From Seizures, Lesions, Adrenaline Pens)

Hillary Clinton: Stronger Together. How strong? Well, the great woman’s health is excellent, superb even. Her heart and mind one hundred thousand times stronger than the strongest beams of steel that built our great American cities more than a century ago. Her soul a shining exemplar of selflessness, service, and humility, her footing sound… wait, are we talking about the same person here?!

Now, he’s going to deport “the bad ones” which, assuming that he’s talking about those who have committed crimes other than being in the country illegally, will account for about 180,000 of the 11-12 million illegal immigrants in the country today. That means that he went from wanting to deport 100% of the illegal immigrants down to under 2%. It won’t matter, though. We’re finally starting to see the real motivation for his supporters.

During part 2 of Sean Hannity’s town hall interview with Trump on Fox News, Trump did something amazing. He used a variation of push polling to convince the audience that THEY wanted amnesty. Keep in mind that he repeated over and over again that it’s not amnesty and that they won’t become citizens, but at the end of the day it all means the same thing. People who are here illegally will continue to stay here and have the vast majority of the benefits given to citizens and those who have been granted amnesty.

The push poll didn’t start out very well for Trump. Even after loading the question in his first poll, the majority of his supporters still replied that illegal immigrants, including the “great people” who have been here for “15 or 20 years,” should be deported. To someone of lesser skill, this might be bad news. Not Trump. He’s the best salesman to ever run for President. He persisted with his “poll” until he got the results that he wanted. Eight times he polled the crowd.

Eight.

By the end, there was literally ONE man in the audience willing to say that these “great people” should be deported. He stood up at Hannity’s request and as the camera focused on him, we saw the lone voice of opposition in a sea of fools who had just been conned into denying their political perspective for the sake of their chosen one…

…and that’s the point. Many conservatives are saying that this is going to hurt him. It will not. He’s going to rise in the polls. I’m not Nate Silver, but I would say that at this point he should be considered a slight favorite to win. Why? Because his base will not leave him and Hillary Clinton is just that bad. Millions of Independents and right-leaning Democrats who were held up by his harsh tone towards immigration will now have the excuse they need to dump Hillary.

What about the wall? Some are saying that he’s going to eventually backtrack on that as well. They point to an instant a few weeks ago when he said he was “almost 100%” certain he’d get the wall built. They perceived this as an early sign of flip-flopping, but it wasn’t. He’s simply facing the reality that he’ll still have to sell the wall to Congress in order to have it built and funded. He will absolutely, positively NEVER back down on the wall even if it takes three or four Presidential terms to get it built. This is his monument. He doesn’t want another library like other Presidents. He wants a big, beautiful, and unique reminder to generations in the future that says, “Trump was here.”

A word of advice to fellow NeverTrumpers: it’s time to stop talking policy against Trump to his ardent supporters. He’s not a man of policy and neither are they. There is no promise other than the wall and his intention of increasing spending that will stick. Everything else he proposes from his SCOTUS list to being pro-life to protecting the 2nd Amendment to defending Israel can change at any moment. In fact, here’s even better advice: stop talking to his ardent supporters altogether. They cannot be reached. This is the clearest example of a cult of personality that American politics has ever seen. The only thing that can stop him is to focus on the conservatives and Independents who are only considering him because they believe Hillary is worse. It’s a waste of time to attempt any discussion with his full-blown supporters.

If he can change the perspectives of a huge room full of people in eight minutes with a push poll, he’ll be able to do or say whatever he wants from a policy perspective and his followers will never leave him. They’re hooked on his authoritarianism, not his policy proposals. They’re lost and chances are they’ll never come back. The GOP is their party, now. It’s time to start a new party.

First, we have to understand the dynamic behind how Supreme Court Justices make it to the bench. It’s a three-step process that starts with the President and ends with a vote by the Senate. The process is detailed nicely by Paul Caputo. The important thing to note is that control of the Senate by a particular ideology will have a huge impact on the confirmation of Supreme Court Justices today and going forward. It didn’t used to be that way; even originalist Antonin Scalia was confirmed 97-0 in a day when Senatorial decorum character rather than ideological reasons for blocking a nominee. Today, decorum will only play a small role. Character will still be an issue, but partisanship will be the deciding factor.

In other words, for a President to get an extreme ideologue in one direction or another such as Clarence Thomas or Ruth Bader Ginsberg, he or she would need the Senate to be controlled. Otherwise, we’ll see Justices in the ideological center such as Anthony Kennedy, a Reagan appointee who is technically a Republican but whose voting record puts him slightly left of center.

With that understood, let’s look at the scenarios:

1. Tight Race to the End: It doesn’t matter who wins if the polls are close going into election day. The way the Senatorial map is currently aligned, the risk of Trump being elected will propel Democrats to vote in fear and many Independents will “hedge their bets” on Trump by voting for the Democrat in their Senate races. Illinois (Mark Kirk) and Wisconsin (Ron Johnson) are currently very much at risk while five other Republican-controlled seats are considered toss-ups by 270towin.com. By comparison, only Harry Reid’s seat is considered a toss-up for the Democrats and no other Democratic Senate seats are even at risk.
2. One Candidate Leading Heavily: Unless Hillary “Teflon” Clinton can somehow have something stick to her that would compel voters to switch to Trump, the chances are high that she would be the candidate that is heavily favored if either candidate would be. Then again, this is a crazy election year, so discounting Trump leading big going into election day is not impossible. This being a year where voters are going against the other candidate rather than for their own party’s candidate, it’s very likely that a big lead in either direction would yield a Senate majority for the opposite party. If Hillary is winning big, it could be enough for the GOP to retain the Senate. If Trump is winning big, the Senate will be controlled by the Democrats in a big way.

Now, the argument by Trump supporters would be that the risk of losing the Senate is even more incentive to push for him to win. If we’re playing the odds, that’s simply not the case. The electoral map itself heavily favors Clinton. Again, she can have a major misstep, but let’s be honest. She’s made it through pretty much every scandal over the last two decades with barely a scratch on her armor of deceit. If we couldn’t take her down with Benghazi or the email scandal, we’re probably not taking her down at all. As such, the lack of understanding by average Americans of how the electoral college works means that the worst-case-scenario is Trump staying close in national polls to scare control of the Senate into Democrats’ hands while Hillary wins the actual election. That would yield conservatives’ worst nightmare: President Hillary and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer turning the Supreme Court into a liberal mess.

Let’s say that the polls are close and Trump wins. Some would say, “Yay!” The GOP would lose the Senate in that scenario, but at least we’ll have his list of conservative judges to throw at them until they confirm one, right? Wrong. Trump is a deal-maker. He hates losing. He’s also a liberal on most issues outside of immigration (sorry, Trump fans, but it’s true). His magical list of conservative judges is paper. If there’s one thing he’s proven in his life and particularly throughout the election process, it’s that he’ll change his mind whenever it suits him. Lastly and most importantly, it was completely under-reported that Trump will be adding names to his list of 11 conservative Justices:

Trump also said he’s planning to add to his list of possible Supreme Court justices.

“I’m actually going to expand it by three or four very soon,” he said, calling the candidates “fabulous.”

There is one hole open in the Supreme Court today and the potential for two or three more over the next two Presidential terms. Why would he need to add names to a list that already has 11? How many does he need?

If he wins the Presidency, he will probably lob one of the names at the Democrats in the Senate, determine that they won’t confirm a staunch conservative, and then he’ll find another Anthony Kennedy or worse. It shouldn’t shock anyone that in order to make a deal with the Democrats, he’ll even give them an activist liberal in exchange for other considerations. That’s Trump. It’s his modus operandi. He makes deals. That’s what he does.

The best way to prevent an activist liberal Justice is to retain the Senate. The only possible way for the GOP to retain control of the Senate is if Trump is losing very badly going into election day. Otherwise, Schumer will by working very closely with the liberal Democratic President from New York regardless of which candidate wins.

Today hit home with a slew of manipulated, spun, or outright false stories hitting conservative media on what is apparently a slow news day. I’m looking at the usual suspects like Drudge, Breitbart, and Gateway Pundit, but I’m also looking at some other sites that should know better.

Let’s start with Drudge. Their current front page features an image leading to a story that rips on Hillary Clinton’s inability to climb stairs without assistance. While Hillary’s health is clearly a real concern and there are indications that she may not be physically fit for the office of President, this is not an example of it.

The problem with this report, as pointed out by Twitchy and CNN, is that the image was taken in February when Clinton apparently slipped on ice and was helped up slippery stairs. To all of the Hillary haters (of which I’m one), there are plenty of substantive problems to focus on when attacking her. This is not one of them and it makes conservative media look terrible.

This photo is from February 24. She slipped. But it's suddenly getting a lot of right wing media attention today https://t.co/zdV4zAhKkl

— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) August 7, 2016

What makes it worse is that The American Mirror, a site that is normally more accurate and respected than Drudge, was the one that tried to make this into a real problem when it wasn’t. They’re perpetuating the lie and promoting the wrong agenda.

Now, let’s turn to the realm of denial and political stretching. In this case, it’s Breitbart and Gateway Pundit, two conservative websites that have been on board the Trump Train since well before the primaries, attempting to find something, anything that will paint their liberal messiah as a winner.

Seriously, I know you guys have some sort of interest in making sure that Trump wins the election, but you’re grasping at straws if you believe that there’s any real correlation between social media fans and votes. The election process is much more complicated than amassing likes. The act of clicking a button on Facebook is not the same as getting out and voting. Moreover, we have no view of the demographics or locations of the candidates’ social media influence. Who’s leading in swing states? If Trump owns social media in Texas, that’s not going to help him much on election day. In fact, it will have zero influence on the final result.

I’m not suggesting that social media isn’t a factor or that polls are to be trusted, but between the two, I’ll believe the state-level polls before I believe the number of retweets or a candidate’s popularity on Reddit.

The saddest part for me is that I have to sift through this junk. In an effort to do my part in bringing conservative media back up to the high ground and promoting a message of Christian Constitutional Conservatism, I tie into just about every conservative news source on the internet. Yes, there are hundreds and yes, it takes a long time every day, but it’s worth it as we build a truly conservative Drudge alternative. As a result, I have to see things like this pop up in feeds even though the sources have already been debunked.

There are other examples that really chapped my khakis this weekend, but you get the point. Those in conservative media who have gone down the road of manipulative journalism are not helping. You’re latching onto tactics that your liberal messiah would use. Alinksyism and Trumpism are close cousins when political tactics are in focus.

We need more. We deserve better. The origins of conservative media that drove many of us to participate are being lost in an effort to bump up page views and promote Donald Trump. I get it. This is business. At some point, America and the conservative movement have to come in somewhere on their list of priorities. It’s a shame that neither is close to the top of the list for many of these publications.

Here are some of the winners from this trending topic:

Little lies are only just the beginning. #CrookedHillary #HillaryAccomplishments pic.twitter.com/XzFSDmPrA3

— Rep. Steven Smith (@RepStevenSmith) August 4, 2016

#HillaryAccomplishments
The most despised and untrustworthy Dems candidate ever. pic.twitter.com/U5pcMkFT32

— Polly Tickal (@PollyTickal) August 4, 2016

A full spectrum of GHASTLY outfits. #HillaryAccomplishments 😉 pic.twitter.com/LOuLsX0NPb

— I am Chuck, Dude. 🙂 (@ChuckNellis) August 4, 2016

Being able to fool the LGBT community into supporting her when she takes 20% of camp $ from regime that kills gays #HillaryAccomplishments

— KGB Agent PPB (@PizzaPartyBen) August 4, 2016

#HillaryAccomplishments Hijacking the Republican AND Democratic parties, & our republic + democracy, in 1 fell swoop pic.twitter.com/jyyPkKUh2e

— Zach Haller (@zachhaller) August 4, 2016

"Extremely careless in the handling of very sensitive, highly classified information" – FBI Director, Comey#HillaryAccomplishments

— Leah the Boss (@LeahRBoss) August 4, 2016

#HillaryAccomplishments Lying about dodging sniper fire in Bosnia https://t.co/1s6cv4XuP0 (via Us Navy SEAL @DomRasoJr) #NRA

— NRA News (@nranews) August 4, 2016

Recieves hundreds of millions of dollars from countries that execute gays & christians, treat women as slaves.#HillaryAccomplishments

— Makada (@_Makada_) August 4, 2016

#HillaryAccomplishments rigging an election. pic.twitter.com/yoIvvxUyB4

— DAMIEN DARKO (@raider_truth) August 4, 2016

Making murder acceptable #HillaryAccomplishments pic.twitter.com/zFdlGpD9mL

— ???? / Samer (@WaladShami) August 4, 2016

Viewing rape & harassment victims as liars unworthy of being heard. https://t.co/pvE5sW8Ztf #HillaryAccomplishments pic.twitter.com/A55pyq0PLh

— National Review (@NRO) August 4, 2016

#HillaryAccomplishments To stand by her man and keep the bimbo eruptions to a minimum and the casualty count, high. pic.twitter.com/itQLdTZYmg

— Bob – EX GOP (@Scgator1414) August 4, 2016

#HillaryAccomplishments getting away with murder for decades?? pic.twitter.com/uiDRBx6QxX

— Cristina Laila (@cristinalaila1) August 4, 2016

Convincing democrats that giving $20,000/min speeches aren't bribes #HillaryAccomplishments pic.twitter.com/1aYm8L9oHG

— Watch Clinton Cash (@JaredWyand) August 4, 2016

#HillaryAccomplishments
Replacing true feminism with white feminism pic.twitter.com/wwsBFkzktH

— Zach Haller (@zachhaller) August 4, 2016

#HillaryAccomplishments being so in bed with corrupt media that CNN has to cut its own feed when she gets exposed pic.twitter.com/XGS6ynbT1o

— AltRight (@_AltRight_Anew) August 4, 2016

The saddest part is that these are just from the last hour or so since the hashtag started trending. Seriously, folks. She’s done nothing of note other than marry a bad person and staying out of jail.

This election year has forced journalists to make some hard choices. I’ve attempted throughout the cycle to maintain a discipline of evaluating facts while minimizing the spin associated with those facts, but it’s becoming harder with Trump. It’s not because of personal feelings. It’s because Trump himself has a tendency to spin the facts against him to the point that conservative journalists have to either apologize for him or condemn him for what he says. This is one of those cases where condemnation is due. First, watch the segment of his interview this morning.

Trump goes after mother of fallen soldier-“She had nothing to say-maybe she wasn't allowed to have anything to say" https://t.co/Dlof5Hie41

— Edward Mejia Davis (@TeddyDavisCNN) July 30, 2016

The portion that many are focusing on was when he pointed out that the mother wasn’t speaking because she may not have been allowed. In reality, this may or may not be true and shouldn’t really be the focus. When Trump talks about the tenets of Islam and the dangers of radical Islamic terrorists, that tends to dominate the reactions by the media. The real zinger here had nothing to do with their religion. A patriotic American went to fight for our country and died. His sacrifices and the sacrifice of his family are so far above and beyond the “sacrifices” that Trump has made with hard work that it shouldn’t even be compared in the same interview.

As a result, #TrumpSacrifices is trending on Twitter. Here is a sampling:

Sacrificing some of his fortune to take care of Lorraine McFly's kids in Back to the Future 2 #TrumpSacrifices pic.twitter.com/VuG3BEQBJI

— TODD SPENCE (@Todd_Spence) July 30, 2016

That terrible time Donald had to endure Detective Munch on L&O #trumpsacrifices https://t.co/SwadLx4P8a

— Claire Kerr (@snotforprofit) July 30, 2016

#TrumpSacrifices The haters say #Trump never sacrificied. So dishonest. He's sacrificed lots. Here's my list: pic.twitter.com/gYX3KJmfD7

— WorkingStiffie (@WorkingStiffie) July 30, 2016

#TrumpSacrifices
Honesty
Facts
Decency
Spelling
Grammar
Math
Integrity pic.twitter.com/Q8a6GMJREy

— Laura Sesana (@lasesana) July 30, 2016

Had to settle for green and not gold houseplants. #TrumpSacrifices pic.twitter.com/8RRflTGswa

— Bob Schooley (@Rschooley) July 30, 2016

#TrumpSacrifices Almost ran out of reasons to avoid the draft.

— Crutnacker (@Crutnacker) July 30, 2016

.@realDonaldTrump had to stick with Mike Pence as his VP even though he didn't want to. #TrumpSacrifices https://t.co/kJZqHDabht

— Kaili Joy Gray (@KailiJoy) July 30, 2016

Got ONLY a million dollars from Dad to start business #TrumpSacrifices

— Greg Pinelo (@gregpinelo) July 30, 2016

I have the best sacrifices. Believe me. Better sacrifices than anyone. That taco bowl I made famous? No tortilla strips! #TrumpSacrifices

— Chris Dougherty (@cdougherty81) July 30, 2016

Our national security for his personal gain… #TrumpSacrifices pic.twitter.com/Hd5X6KpvDa

— Blake Moliere (@BlakeMoliere) July 30, 2016

Trading in his wives every 10 years for a newer model instead of every 5 years. #TrumpSacrifices

— Girls Really Rule. (@girlsreallyrule) July 30, 2016

#TrumpSacrifices American workers by making all of his clothing out of the USA.. pic.twitter.com/50TfcEF6DY

— NurseMom (@Dem4Hillary) July 30, 2016

Risking assassination everyday for telling the truth#TrumpSacrifices pic.twitter.com/NstnoyExVp

— Watch Clinton Cash (@JaredWyand) July 30, 2016

The important thing to note is that Trump brings these things onto himself. As President, his callous nature and irresponsible way of demeaning others will represent our country. That more than anything else he could do to damage foreign relations is arguably the worst.