Paul Mero

On the northeast corner of the National Archives Building in Washington, D.C. is the inscription “What’s past is prologue,” a quote from William Shakespeare’s The Tempest, meaning that history often sets the content for the present. One piece of history that very well could explain conservative opposition to Donald Trump occurred mid-January, 1962.

National Review founder, Bill Buckley, received an urgent phone call from William Baroody, then president of the American Enterprise Institute. Baroody urged Buckley to come to the Breakers Hotel in Palm Beach, Florida, to meet with Barry Goldwater, Russell Kirk and a public relations man named Jay Hall, who worked for General Motors. They were meeting ostensibly to discuss the policies of President John F. Kennedy and the failed Bay of Pigs invasion. But the topic soon turned to The John Birch Society and, as it turned out, the real reason for the meeting. Goldwater needed counsel. read more

Imagine you are a motel owner and local riff-raff has been using your property to sell their illegal drugs. You take every reasonable step to prevent these crimes from being committed on your property – you buy flood lights, put up fences and video cameras. But the buying and selling continues until, one day, your local police and the Feds swoop in to break up the drug ring. In the course of arresting the drug dealers, authorities confiscate your property. Yes, the Feds take your motel from you as part of the crime. Yes, your property (not you) is a part of the crime so the Feds confiscate it and sell it right from under your feet. Adding insult to injury, you get none of the proceeds. Whatever the Feds or local authorities got for the property they kept. read more

Ted Cruz’s moment last night at the Republican national convention was an excellent, if not dramatic, reminder that being a conservative is different than being a Republican. Typically, in debating political differences here in Utah, we are focused on who is the real conservative and forget, that for most citizens anyway, the real choice is principle or party.

In light of Cruz’s convention speech, many pundits hearken back to 1976, the last time Republicans really had a contested convention. Back then Ronald Reagan was the Ted Cruz figure and Gerald Ford was the Donald Trump figure. Reagan pushed hard for the nomination but, when it was clear that Ford captured a majority of delegates, Reagan acquiesced and endorsed Ford. Many critics of Cruz judge him now by Reagan’s standard then. read more

I am out of the Republican Party. With the rise of Donald Trump, the Republican Party has dumped the last vestiges of conservatism. Though party faithful scramble, spit and stutter to make the best of this intellectual disaster, it pains me to see so many otherwise reasonable people defending the indefensible. Mike Pence isn’t running for president. Trump’s kids aren’t running for president. Newt, Christie, Paul Ryan and other more reasonable Republicans aren’t the Republican nominee. It should tell us something that Trump’s defenders must point to people who support Trump rather than pointing to Trump himself. read more

LDS Church leader Bruce R. McConkie died in 1985. If my memory serves me correctly, we were told at the time that Elder McConkie knew when he would die. He got dressed in a suit, laid on his bed, gathered his family around him, said goodbyes, and then he passed. For most of us, that’s the perfect way to go, isn’t it? It is dignified, considerate of loved ones and a testimony to a life well lived.

Not all of us have such a connection to heaven. But, I dare say, all of us would like to die in that sort of circumstance – with dignity and love. read more

Not that her political coffin needed a final nail in my opinion, Hillary Clinton had that nail hammered home by FBI Director James Comey’s report and testimony before Congress regarding Clinton’s email scandal. And it is a scandal – scandal not as titillating as her husband’s extramarital affairs but scandalous in the sense that Hillary Clinton’s actions bring disrepute to public service and, along with the other nails in her political coffin, once again demonstrate her lack of character and her wanton disregard for the rule of law. read more

Perhaps like me, you were a bit puzzled to hear news of a group of conservative religious leaders meeting with Donald Trump a week or so ago. They were concerned about his stance on issues such as abortion and transgender rights. The group of religious leaders was comprised largely, if not entirely, of evangelicals – people such as Mike Huckabee, Franklin Graham, James Robison, Ralph Reed and Tony Perkins.

After the meeting one of Trump’s earliest evangelical supporters, Jerry Falwell Jr., along with new Trump convert Ralph Reed were on Fox News excited about their candidate. No official endorsements were handed out after the meeting but, clearly, many attendees left there with typical obligatory optimism. They want to like Trump…they need to like Trump…because they so thoroughly despise Hillary Clinton. read more