Even conservatives who tell themselves they prize the eternal truths are subject to intellectual fashions, storms of passion, and the irritation that comes from being slighted. Being a coalition made up of human beings, conservatives who normally align with each other but come to different judgements on one war, one presidency, or one policy will usually find their disagreements leaking over into personal slights. Because he is the Republican president and has mostly done the normal things people expect Republicans to do (tax cuts, appointing conservative jurists), most conservatives are united behind Donald Trump now. Some grudgingly. But a few are not. Although most of them have disclaimed the label, they get called the Never Trumpers.

And the remaining Never Trumpers are lashing out at the faults of the movement they were in. They complain of the baleful influence of talk radio. They point to the presence of idiots who learn a little anti-liberal patois and rake in a ton of money. Not so far beneath the surface, they occasionally let a contempt for the masses of conservative voters start to sneak in. They welcome liberal readers to thrill at their denunciations of the Right. Soon, someone, possibly here at National Review, will come along for the kill shot and say of them, “They began by hating the populists. They came to hate their party and this president.”