Republican response to Romney

If this slipped by you, Mitt Romney, the new senator from Utah, wrote an op-ed piece in which he criticized President Donald Trump's character.

As if that was a big deal. Anybody with a moderately functional brain knows that Trump is an AAA-class jerk -- and I'm being real nice saying just that.

But the thing is, Mitt is still a very conservative Republican, and despite his criticism of Trump as a person, he didn't really take on Trump's multitude of policy failings as a President.  So I can't muster much admiration for Mitt here, despite being somewhat principled.  He's still a Republican.

Now, other Republicans have reacted to his op-ed piece by basically saying he shouldn't have done that.  As the article linked below points out, they really don't say he was wrong -- see the second paragraph.  They just basically admit that character doesn't matter as long as they get what they want, politically.

"Those very logical arguments aren’t countenanced by the most prominent defenses of Trump. Instead, leading voices in the GOP seem to be arguing that tribalism is the end goal — that the ends justify the means. The party of values and morality is increasingly arguing that such ideals are mere speed bumps on the way to conservative policy goals. And they’re saying it publicly."

The GOP’s amoral response to Mitt Romney’s op-ed

Seriously, though -- character does matter.  Who would want to work for someone who belittles them when they leave his "employ" (or that of his administration)?  What allies can believe anything he says when he lies all the time and betrays them, both supportively and morally?  And it's been shown multiple times that he can't give up his own greed and vices for the good of the country, which makes those of us with moderately functional brains wonder if push came to shove (like a deal that would substantially enrich him yet cause economic or security problems for the country), what would determine his decision?  How do evangelicals support him when he's committed documented and publicized adultery?  (Oh yeah, King Cyrus. Sure.) 

For those over that deep end, there's nothing that can be done.  But for the rest of us, we have to hope that the end of the Trump disaster of a Presidential administration happens sooner rather than later.