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I figured I should open this article with an excerpt from a 2017 article entitled “Donald Trump Nationalism Should Worry Conservatives.” For reasons I’ll reveal later, I will not give you any more details on this article until after the exert:
“Because Trump’s definition of nationalism is not the conservative definition of nationalism. Conservatives love America because we believe it is a nation founded on an idea. Our interests ought to prevail because our principles ought to prevail: limited government, individual liberty, God-given natural rights, localism in politics, religious freedom, freedom of speech and of the press, and so forth. If America ceased to believe those things or stand for them, we would not deserve to win. ‘Make America Great Again’ would then ring hollow with the same blood-and-soil nationalistic violence of the Old World. If greatness is measured in utilitarian terms rather than ideological ones, nationalism is merely tribalism broadened, a way of valuing the collective over the individual.
“Trump’s vision of American greatness doesn’t lie in ideas. What does Trump believe makes America great? Success. ‘We don’t win anymore,’ he constantly complained on the campaign trail. In other words, he feels about the country the same way he feels about himself, measuring its greatness in crowd sizes and airplane sizes, in the height of towers and the breadth of walls.”
That was written by Ben Shapiro in February of 2017 in response to the right-wing embrace of Donald Trump-style nationalism. This was also published by the National Review, the editor of which was, and still is, a man named Rich Lowry.
Back on Townhall, Shapiro hated nationalism. “For many Americans, the Pat Buchanan wing of the conservative movement drives their deep-seated fear of conservatives. When you look at Buchanan’s work in recent years, it’s not hard to see why,” Shapiro wrote back in 2003.
Shapiro also supported the war in Iraq, which is quite unpopular among nationalists. Lowry was also a high-ranking member and top editor for National Review during the Bush years, where they were some of the biggest cheerleaders of the Iraq War.
I mention this because you would never get the idea that Shapiro or Lowry were ever anything but full-throated supporters of nationalism by watching the recent Ben Shapiro Sunday Special where Shapiro interviews Lowry over his new book The Case For Nationalism.
The entire interview was more or less one big defense of President Donald Trump. It is odd that Lowry loves the man so much considering that under his leadership, National Review published an entire issue bashing the then-Presidential Candidate during the 2016 Primaries.
These are the people who still publish articles from David French and George Will, both quite the opposite of nationalists.
Look, there’s nothing wrong with having people who disagree with you on your platform (at least I hope not, because then I’m screwed). However, Lowry and Shapiro are both acting like nationalism is not just a new important part of conservative ideology, but was in fact always a part of it. And National Review has, since its founding by William Buckley, marketed itself as a Conservative magazine. They even got the praise of Max Boot for God sake! Could you get any less nationalist than Mr. “[I would] sooner vote for Josef Stalin than . . . Donald Trump”?
Of course, everyone knows Shapiro will go on whoever is willing to host him. That man was even on Red Ice (a place even David Icke left before Shapiro did) a number of times back in the day, including one time to talk about Jewish influence in media. He also used to be friends with known anti-Semite Pat Robertson.
Shapiro currently considers the website Breitbart to be Alt-Right and fake news. Yet, Shapiro was editor-at-large for Breitbart, and Shapiro wrote its most infamous piece of fake news (the Chuck Hagel Friend Of Hamas Story).
Why am I telling you all of this? Because I honestly do not believe either Shapiro or Lowry believe in nationalism. I think they believe in money and influence first and foremost (Shapiro even said, “I’m out to make money,” in a recent speech).
Principles are not always profitable. As such, two men who had bet on being neo-cons are now going the way of Trump because they never believed anything to begin with. When Trump falls (and he will fall), they’ll embrace whatever the Republican Party tells them to next, even if that includes white nationalism.
Question Everything: Even when it’s bad for your wallet.
Ephrom Josine is a libertarian political blogger/commentator, and a frequent contributor to The Liberty Hawk. You can find him on Twitter @EphromJosine1, writing near-daily on Medium @ephromjosine or weekly on Freedom First Blog.
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