Thread by @davereaboi

In the 70s, some on the left were so disgusted by what they viewed as the excesses of their comrades, they broke Right (1)

These people were called Neconservatives, and many of them were brilliant and immensely talented, contributing a great deal to the Right (2)

But they didn’t have ideological or philosophical conversions to conservatism; they didn’t suddenly agree with WFB or NR. (3)

The primary motivation for the Neocons moving Rightward was a reaction to the rise of the New Left. They were appalled (correctly) (4)

So rather than a intellectual shift, it was feeling of “these aren’t the kind of people I want to be associated with.” And they split. (5)

It’s not a knock; that first generation of Necons included some of the most tough, smart and useful advocates for Reaganism. (6)

Being repulsed by “your side” (or “ex-friends,” as Podhoretz described them) is a motivation for a political shift as potent as ideology (7)

All this is relevant because it’s the best way to understand what’s happening now among the most feral of the NeverTrump crowd. (8)

They aren’t bothered by inconsistency—like that harpy Rubin suddenly endorsing the JCPOA—it’s that the “ex-friends impulse” is stronger (9)

None of this is to judge the wisdom of their position (that’s for a different day). But group dynamics are under-appreciated factor. (10)

It also explains their hysterical lashing-out. I mean, look at this. These people do not respond to their intellectual-enemies this way (11)

The hyperbole—calling @MZHemingway a Nazi—is like a high school psychodrama bc it is an issue of adolescent group dynamics and betrayal (12)

So, expect more of this. Yes it’s sad they can’t respect that some have come to a different conclusion based on reason. (13)

But these people—probably 85% of #SalonHot25—will eventually break to the Left. Truthfully, they were mostly never on the Right anyway. (14)

The smarter ones know, however, that their only relevance, at this point, is as a “Trump Hater from the Right”; it’s the meal ticket. (15)

Th dumber ones think they’ll wake up one day, and it’s 2006, and they’re at the height of their relevance. (Not gonna happen.) (16)

But it took many of the first generation of Neocons about a *decade* to switch parties and identify as “on the right.” (17)

That is to say, we have a long way to go. They’ll continue to be hyperbolic, angry and behave as a gleeful defeat mechanism for a while (18)

Remember: when you see these people losing their shit, it’s not ideological or “principled”; it’s high school psychodrama. Laugh it off (19)

The only power they’ve got, at this point, is to be used by the media; they’re no longer important as thought-leaders of a movement. (20)

UPDATE: It's occurred to me that some are reading this thread as an antii-Neocon attack. It's not. I'm trying to explain what I see as (21)

Internal, group-dynamics motivations for why some (not all) NeverTrump commentators can be so nasty to their former comrades. (22)

I posited that the betrayal/feeling of running away in disgust from your former comrades is potent, often more potent than ideology. (23)

I used an example from a group of folks in the past (1970s) who had a similar political break for similar reasons. (24)

Folks I'm speaking about today are very far removed from folks in the 70s. They're not the same at all. In fact, Norman P is pro-Trump (25)