A Salute to "Never Trumpers"
To the likes of Jennifer Rubin, Rick Wilson, Steve Schmidt, Nicole Wallace, and even Bill Kristol and Jeff Flake; a tip of the hat 
I have political disagreements with all of them. I have severe political disagreements with most of them. I know that, with some notable exceptions usually regarding racism and xenophobia or "free trade", most of them actually support most of Trump's policy positions These people are not my allies in the larger political sense. Often they are my adversaries if not my literal enemies. In many ways over many years they either contributed to or turned a blind eye toward everything that led to the rise of Trumpism in America. It would be bad for most Americans if the likes of these people ever get to rule over American again. They supported wars that needlessly killed millions. They plundered the poor to pamper the wealthy. I know, I know...
Still I offer them this salute; because our nation is in an existential crisis, the ultimate response to which will determine whether we even retain an active Democracy, under the rule of law, that enables us to peruse freedom and justice for all through political means. If they will stand by our democracy during this profound test of it's ultimate resiliency, I will stand by them in acknowledging that stance. We all must live to fight another day and, should we succeed in our mutual struggle against Trump, fight again we most certainly will once this storm is passed. That is tomorrow, this is today.
I salute them for, under duress, standing by genuine convictions when it became more politically expedient to back down. I salute them for showing at least some elements of a refreshing lack of hypocrisy, when they condemn a Republican president for things that typical Republicans would eagerly attack only a Democrat for doing. Some "Never Trumpers" show greater courage than others, no doubt about it, but I will take what we can get so long as their resistance to Trump is genuine, and based on real democratic principles.
The American people will never achieve a perfect consensus on how our society should look, what laws should govern it, and what our priorities should be. That consensus did not exist when our Republic was founded and it never has since. We only come close during catastrophic times such as World War II, and even then differences remain. But people of relatively good will have, when the chips were down, been united against stark corruption by those trusted to govern us. For over 200 years our leaders for the most part heeded the warning implicit in the reply Benjamin Franklin gave to a woman's inquiry as to the type of government the Founders had created: "A Republic Madam, if you can keep it."
I salute all those who now acknowledge what fundamentally is at stake.
= new reply since forum marked as read
This is a first for me here, seven recs and no replies 
