I had been, perhaps foolishly, thinking that most of these conversations would be done now that the election has been won, but it seems not. While there are certainly elements of the conservative movement who will justifiably retain doubts about if and how well the President Elect will hold to the promises he made on the campaign trail and how he will lead the nation, having regained control of the White House and both chambers of Congress for the first time in ages should have put a smile on most of your faces. Unfortunately that’s not the case across the board. I was reminded of this when reading this recent piece from David French at National review on the subject of Trump’s appointments of both Reince Priebus and Steve Bannon. French layers this into a comparison between two “competing visions” among elements of Trump’s supporters. Some hoped that The Donald would embrace the old guard establishment while others hoped he would truly “drain the swamp” and bring in outsiders.

Both of these competing visions were ultimately faith-based. His establishment and anti-establishment fans believed the favorable things Trump said or did and disregarded or discounted the contradictory evidence. And he always gave each side just enough crumbs to keep them satisfied.

And so it is now, as he puts Mr. Establishment next to Mr. Breitbart, and Mr. Establishment ends up compromising, effusively praising an alt-right hero. Who is using whom? Trump is using both.

I’d like to say up front that I’m not singling out or seeking to pick on David French. I’ve followed his work for quite a while and have zero questions about not only his skill as a wordsmith but his dedication to conservative principles and causes. And this one, short article isn’t the only piece which fits a disturbing pattern we’re seeing… far from it in fact. It’s simply one of the most recent examples to catch my eye.

With that said, the subject of this piece (and others like it) has to do with a couple of appointments of staffers who are not taking charge of any department or setting any policy. Yes, the Chief of Staff is a vastly powerful position in terms of access to the Oval office, but in the end both of these men are advisers. The final decisions of any import come from the President himself. But the subject of the piece isn’t what’s the key here. It’s the fact that even such a relatively minor decision before Trump is even sworn in is being met with this level of anger. French makes sure to work in the “Alt-Right” buzzword, as so many other Never Trumpers continue to do. (I’m still waiting for one of these authors to point out an article they published prior to the summer of 2015 where they used the phrase. It was dredged up from the gutters of the internet and injected into the common parlance as a tool to smear Trump.)

Why are we still doing this? Seriously, the time for all of this vitriol should be over. The election is over. Donald Trump will be the next president come January and his coattails assured some marginal wins to hold the House and the Senate. (As opposed to #NeverTrump predictions that he would cost us both chambers.)

Back when we were in the heat of the primary… I get it. You wanted someone else. Anyone else. Many of us did. Even when Trump was the nominee I suppose there was some fever swamp explanation for telling us how your principles were more pure and you were supporting the best candidate. I mean… who knows? Evan McMullin might have come out of nowhere and secured 270 electoral votes, right? And your efforts at every stage were, well… less than successful. Not only did Trump win the nomination but he went on to capture larger shares of the general Republican vote than our last attempt. He got more evangelicals. He even roped in more black and Hispanic voters. With an outcome like that I understand how some may feel angry, depressed or bitter. Keep in mind that you’re hearing this from a lifelong fan of the New York Jets. Trust me… I get it. Hopelessness and despair are pretty much built into our DNA at this point.

But as much as I argued before November 8th that Donald Trump was the only viable path available to prevent the election of Hillary Clinton, as of the following morning there is not only no path… there’s no destination. It’s over. The Republican Party and the conservative movement are at the threshold of possibilities which were, until very recently, unimaginable. With the White House, the Senate and the House of Representatives all secured and a new Supreme Court Justice soon to be nominated and confirmed by a Republican majority, significant positive change is possible, though still not assured.

Nobody is saying that you shouldn’t criticize any actions of President Trump while he is in office. I have done the same to presidents from both parties. I have zero doubt that, as President, Donald Trump will do things I don’t approve of and you can rest assured that I’ll be right here complaining about it loudly. (For one example, if he comes out of the gate with a trillion dollar infrastructure proposal and no way to pay for it, plenty of us will be setting the barn on fire.) But I remain hopeful that he will do other things which advance the conservative agenda and improve the overall health and future prospects of the nation. And when that happens we shouldn’t be too stingy with our praise or dwell on “Alt-Right” accusations of the past.

You see, that’s where the wheels come off of this continued Never Trump impulse. If there is progress being made and you still feel compelled to battle against it for no reason other than to assuage your hurt feelings we are in a new phase of the game. If you continue to wave the bloody flag of the #NeverTrump movement and attack him at every turn, then you are no longer working to elect Hillary Clinton. You are working to defeat the GOP agenda and advance the Democrats and the Social Justice Warriors. A new administration is about to come into power and there is no longer anywhere to hide.

It’s time to come in from of the cold. I can assure you that the long history of conservative support most of you have expressed is not forgotten and we can get on with the business of putting the country on a positive course. Or, alternately, some of you can choose do Elizabeth Warren’s bidding in a four year battle to see if you can defeat Donald Trump in 2020. And if that’s the case you are no longer momentarily estranged friends. You are, to borrow the title of a truly awful Julia Roberts movie, sleeping with the enemy.

Think about it.