A few weeks ago a group of public figures dubbing themselves Scholars and Writers
, er, for America issued a “Statement of Support” that read, in toto:
“Given our choices in the presidential election, we believe that Donald J. Trump is the candidate most likely to restore the promise of America, and we urge you to support him as we do.”
The signatories were a depressing mix of intellectuals and cranks. But on the other hand, at least they had the nerve to publicly tie their names and reputations to Donald Trump. Good for them?
But now the Scholars and Writers for
America have released another statement. This one is a good bit longer and makes a positive case for Trump along policy lines. It’s not especially convincing—for instance, on “Religious Liberty” the statement says “We would expect that attacks upon religious institutions, begun under Obama, would increase were Mrs. Clinton elected. By contrast, Donald Trump has pledged to defend our religious institutions.”
They would “expect” based on what? Trump’s habitual hostility to the First Amendment? His embrace of the transgender project? His support for same-sex marriage? His bedrock foundation of personal religious belief?
But leave the actual policy questions aside for a moment. What’s amusing about this new statement is that it is titled a “Statement of Unity.” Yet a number of the signers from the original “Statement of Support” have not (yet?) signed the new statement.
At this point I wish we had Nigel Tufnel here to say, “So it isn’t really a statement of unity, then, is it?”
In case you’re curious and/or collecting evidence for the coming Truth and Reconciliation Show TrialsTM, here’s a list of the folks who signed the original “Statement of Support” for Trump but have yet to sign the “Statement of Unity”:
Jeffrey Anderson
Hadley Arkes
Larry P Arnn
Stephen H. Balch
Mark Bauerlein
Conrad Black
James Bowman
Lynn Chu
Mickey Craig
David Deming
Marshall DeRosa
Phillip Henderson
Jack Kerwick
Lawrence Kudlow
Steve Moore
David Palm
Fran Fawcett Peterson
R. R. Reno
Dan Surber
Carol Swain
Peter Thiel
Jeffrey Wallin
Robert Weissberg
Arthur Herman
D. Brian Scarnecchia
Roger Beckett
Michael Doran
Charles C. Johnson
Ronald J. Rychlak
J. Eric Wise
Samuel J. Mikolaski
Stephen D. Cooper
Michael A. Livingtson
Paul Driessen
Charles Akemann
Sean K. Anderson
Christine P. Ries
Robert Maginnis
James M, Holland
Diana Klebanow
Ruthie Blum
