To use a term in vogue these days, Mr. Boot seems intent on gas-lighting himself.

Washington Post writer Max Boot is not a happy person. This much is evident when you see his appearances on news shows, or read his columns, or peruse his social media. Boot should be an ebullient sort these days, what with a new book out and adulation from leftist media sorts, and copious ink dedicated to this “conservative” leaving the party in loud fashion. Everything is breaking his way ostensibly.

And yet he seems miserable. His columns continue to be on par politically with the curmudgeon chasing kids off of his lawn. His news net visits are scornful lectures about how wrong, racist, and evil conservatives are these days, and his twitter account is mostly a series of “proof” given of Trump’s venality, dotted with whiny diatribes about not being given proper attention from conservative outlets. All of this mind you is coming from an individual positioning himself as the one in the correct position.

The revealing aspect of this is while trumpeting his chosen exodus from the party he is acting like he is on involuntary exile. While declaring a supposed happy exit he bemoans that not enough conservatives are paying him attention he feels due. In a video message he sent out Max says “Conservatives are ducking a difficult debate about their complicity with Donald Trump.” That is hardly the case, but reasoning with someone who demands they be taken seriously as a political authority while at the same time posing with Stormy Daniels is foolhardy.

This is a man let down that he has not garnered a desired reaction, and he is not being invited on numerous programs to tout his tome. Funny thing — when you brand and label people as racist and hateful they tend to not wish to engage you in further discussions of this nature. I think Max was expecting some grand inflamed reaction, the kind we see from the left when someone strays from their narrative. Except conservatives see Boot as the closet leftist that he is, so his invective about “leaving” is basically generating a wave in return, as we quietly close the door.

In response to this lack of response Max has dialed up his tantrum. The latest is that he suggests now, for the midterm election next week, we all should vote Democrat. In all offices. From D.C. down to city commission seats. Because he hates Donald Trump. Don’t apply pragmatic thought to this directive, just accept that Trump is vile and vote accordingly. The fractured rationale behind this is only perplexing if you hold that Boot is in any manner a serious conservative.

Boot has been on an acerbic tear since Donald Trump’s political ascendency, and has made noise about joining in with other prominent Republican names who have “fled” the party in the Trump era – Joe Scarborough, Bill Kristol, Steve Schmidt, etc. “Never-Trump” has been a sub-movement that is evolving, going from a noble voice of opposition to some becoming more virulent contrarians. It is almost as if Trump actually achieving some positive (dare I suggest “conservative”) policy success has this group becoming more obstinate.

It looks as if the back-slapping he has received from the Left has not been enough; Mika Brzezinski fawning over him for 4 minutes was not satisfactory. Despite the pontificating and condescension Max seems dispirited that his departure has not rendered more people in the Republican party. He has complained that conservative outlets, which he has lambasted and labeled, will not pay enough heed to his book, “Corrosion of Conservatism”. He has labeled the entire movement as beholden to Trump, and there are as a result no independent thinkers remaining.

Much of this has to do with the feeling by many he was merely wearing a conservative label. In a piece he wrote for Foreign Policy last year, he described some of his positions thusly: I am socially liberal: I am pro-LGBTQ rights, pro-abortion rights, pro-immigration.” This is the person who considers himself the final arbiter of the conservative bona fides of others?

Boot betrays a common trait found in most of the True-Con militants; they all seem more focused and more critical of conservative figures than of liberals. If a candidate displays something approximating 75% conservative values, let’s say, that person will be pounced upon and criticised far more than say a Bernie Sanders-level leftist. And a growing number are, like Boot, now commanding that the solution here is to vote Democrat.

This would be like a hard-core vegan getting upset at pescatarians who are corrupting their message, and the response is told hold a full-on barbecue in order to purge them from their ranks. The reaction makes no sense whatsoever, but their fervency is what should be listened to, not the actual message. Max sounds more like he is trying to convince himself he is on the correct path. He certainly is not swaying minds on the right.

If Boot were indeed a conservative worried about the state of the movement he would instead be promoting conservative candidates who were not beholden to Trump. They would be far more effective battling the man from within, taking him on directly on policy and reestablishing conservative values. Instead he advocates that we simply abdicate everything and turn it over to the Democrats. When he sees a raccoon in the house instead of calling in the dogs he wants to fling open the doors so that rats can overwhelm the space.

He has reasoned in the past that there is a need to purge the GOP entirely, because this will lead to rebuilding of the the party in “proper” fashion. What you are not allowed to conclude is that you are turning over the keys to a party that is beholden to state-run policies. They would never allow for the GOP to rise anew.

Here’s the ultimate illogical conclusion offered — because the GOP is not conservative enough Max Boot declares you need to vote for those who are not conservative at all. How this will lead to any kind of conservative solution is a figment that he is unable to share with us. But just know, an impure conservative leads him to support a pure liberal agenda. He just needs to convince himself that he is a conservative — the rest of us on the right are not buying it.

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