This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
It's ironic that the party given to denouncing manufactured victimhood (on campuses, among liberal activists) should be so, well, wimpy and quick to cast blame these days. Donald Trump threatens not to show up at the debate on Thursday because Megyn Kelly, he says, is biased. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, whines that the "establishment" (people with two Ivy League degrees?) is united against him, even though he has been haranguing the establishment for years. (What, he expected a ticker-tape parade for all the insults he doled out?)
The Republican National Committee, maybe in anticipation of complaints from Trump, says National Review cannot participate in the debate because the magazine is telling its readers not to vote for Trump. Forget for a moment that National Review is telling its readers not to vote for Jeb Bush either, whom others in the conservative commentariat weirdly accuse of unleashing Trump on us. (Trump rose to prominence long before the negative ads from the Right to Rise super PAC.)
Talk radio hosts incessantly complain that the "party" or "insiders" forced the respective 2008 and 2012 presidential nominees Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Mitt Romney on Republican voters. Xenophobic voices on the right blame immigrants, even though the latter are no longer "pouring across the border," for economic woes that result from a confluence of factors, including globalization, substandard U.S. schools and poor policy choices. And even with Fox News, conservative print and online publications and talk radio, the right complains about the mainstream media more than anything else. And don't get me started on the Beltway right-wing groups that raise money by complaining that GOP leaders are always selling out.
Can we set the record straight? Trump was the one who attacked Kelly, and in any event, if he cannot handle her, goodness knows how he is going to deal with the entire press corps as well as the foreign media if he ever got the nomination. The "establishment" — which includes National Review, many senators and congressional leaders who have spoken up against Trump, etc. — is all over the map, with many opposed to Trump. Cruz is playing a familiar game since "the establishment" means anything that the purported victim thereof wants it to. (If establishment means people who have worked with Cruz and seen him up close, then yes the majority of that "establishment" cannot stomach him.)
Continuing on, no one unleashed Trump on us; Trump unleashed himself into a political environment in which aversion to immigration and contempt for politicians had been going on, with the help or at least without objections from many of the people who are now alarmed by Trump. As for recent nominees, it was self-evident at the time that the voters selected the nominees, and it is even more obvious in retrospect that the RNC could not have masterminded a political conspiracy if its (political) life depended on it.
We all know that anger, grievance and resentment draw audiences, viewers and donors. All the griping, however far-fetched, is not all that surprising. Sure, it is ironic that many on the right castigated President Obama for constantly blaming George W. Bush and the media for his own blunders and bashed Hillary Clinton for blaming the "vast right-wing conspiracy" for her own conduct. But then no one ever said consistency was a required attribute for politicians and the media. All the grousing and blame-casting from conservatives who believe in personal responsibility does, however, get to be tiresome. Moreover, eventually voters tune them out, which explains the gradual decline in talk radio audiences.
No wonder that the public figures who eschew complaints, go about their business and cheerfully offer their ideas — like House Speaker Paul Ryan (who vowed to wipe the slate clean on intra-party fights) — now stand out. What a breath of fresh air to hear what someone proposes to do, not why he is being assaulted or who is blocking his way. We hope those voices (including many well-regarded governors) inspire others to give up their gripes and get on with problem-solving as well as inspiring and unifying the electorate.