Endorsing Trump, part Two: Falling into line.

Marco Rubio wants a "strong man" dictator after all.

Republican voters got a taste of authoritarianism, and they like it. They want it back, and more this time. 

Trump may be a dangerous, lawbreaking autocrat, but he's their dangerous lawbreaking autocrat.

Marco Rubio described exactly what is taking place now. Eight years ago he said Latin America-style "strong man" politicians were a grave problem. Now he endorses one, saying we need him, only him, so he can do the "extraordinary things" needed to break through the constraints of limited government.

Here is Rubio in March, 2016:

Click: YouTube

 

Here is a transcript.

Tapper:  You compared Donald Trump to a Third World dictator in an interview with The New York Times a last week. How so?

Rubio: Well I don't know about a Third World dictator. I said "strong man." You know he's running for president so he won't be a dictator unless our republic completely crumbles, which I don't anticipate it will, but yeah here's what happens in many countries around the world. You have a leader that emerges and says, "Don't put your faith in yourselves, don't put your faith in society, I'm a strong leader, and I'm going to make things better, all by myself."  

It's very typical. You see it a lot in the Third World, you see it in Latin America for decades. Basically, the argument he's making is that he, single handedly, is going to turn things around. We've never been that kind of country. We have a president. The president is an American citizen who serves for a period of time, constrained by the Constitution and the powers invested in that office. The president works for the people, not the people for the president. And if you listen to himself and what he's going to do. He's going to do this and do that, without regard for whether it's legal or not. 

Look, I think we're going to have to make up our minds. I can tell you this. No matter what happens in this election, for years to come,  there are many people on the right, in the media, in voters at large that are going to have to explain and justify how they fell into this trap of supporting Donald Trump. Because this is not going to end well, one way or the other. He's going to be the nominee and he's going to lose. Or he'll have thrown this party into it's most chaotic and divisive period ever, and that's unfortunate because the Republican Party is the home of the limited government, free enterprise movement in America. And if it crumbles or it divides or it splits apart, it will be very difficult to elect candidates that hold those views at any level, until we can pull the party back together.

That was then. 

This week, just before the Iowa caucuses, Rubio tweeted his endorsement of Trump. 

When Trump was in WH I achieved major policies I had worked on for years (like expanded Child Tax Credit & tough sanctions on regime in Cuba & Venezuela) because we had a President who didn’t cave to special interests or let bureaucrats block us.

 I support Trump because that kind of leadership is the ONLY way we will get the extraordinary actions needed to fix the disaster Biden has created. It’s time to get on with the work of beating Biden & saving America!

Rubio wants a "strong man." Now those constraints of laws and the Constitution are the problem.  And Trump is the all-caps "ONLY" one who can fix things.

Rubio has fallen into the trap he described. An authoritarian dictator isn't so bad after all, he says. If we get through this, Rubio will have some explaining to do. Meanwhile, he doesn't want to get crossways with Trump. Rubio sees what happens to people who stand up to him.

"Little Marco," indeed.

[Note: To get daily delivery of this blog to your email go to Https://petersage.substack.com  Subscribe. The blog is free and always will be.]