Why conservatives must do more than denounce Donald Trump

On National Review and the pitfalls of yelling "stop!"

It'll take more to topple Trump.
(Image credit: Scott Olson/Getty Images)

Last week, the venerable conservative magazine National Review attempted to make good on the mission its founder William F. Buckley once assigned it. "A conservative is someone who stands athwart history, yelling stop," Buckley wrote at the launch of National Review, "at a time when no one is inclined to do so, or to have much patience with those who so urge it." Perhaps at no time did Buckley's words come to life more presciently in the 60 years since than in the aftermath of its "Against Trump" issue.

The magazine assembled nearly two dozen writers who oppose the candidacy of Donald Trump for the Republican presidential nomination to explain their objections on the basis of conservative ideology. Most of the writers are well-known conservative activists, both from inside and outside the ranks of the magazine. Some are friends of mine; symposium contributor Katie Pavlich is both a good friend and a colleague at the Salem Media Group. They put forward coherent and ideologically sound arguments about Trump's lack of conservative temperament and approach to public policy. The magazine's editors offered an institutional denunciation of Trump to match their cover.

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Edward Morrissey

Edward Morrissey has been writing about politics since 2003 in his blog, Captain's Quarters, and now writes for HotAir.com. His columns have appeared in the Washington Post, the New York Post, The New York Sun, the Washington Times, and other newspapers. Morrissey has a daily Internet talk show on politics and culture at Hot Air. Since 2004, Morrissey has had a weekend talk radio show in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area and often fills in as a guest on Salem Radio Network's nationally-syndicated shows. He lives in the Twin Cities area of Minnesota with his wife, son and daughter-in-law, and his two granddaughters. Morrissey's new book, GOING RED, will be published by Crown Forum on April 5, 2016.