This is more completely useless commentary.
The ONLY way to restrain certain federal programs is to appear to be "on the right".

"In the light of Trump's cabinet appointments, he explains that he and other pundits on the right who initially worried that Trump wasn't "far enough to the right are looking silly".

Perhaps Trump's success and momentum are pushing Hinderaker to the right. I gave up on that triangulating, Bushy pack of RINOs at Powerline long, long ago.

As InstaPundit likes to quip, the form of the Destructor has been chosen. They can't help themselves, it's who the Dems are. It comes back to the conceit that not only are they right, but morally right.

To oppose that is to be objectively evil. So comparisons to infamous evil doers is not only permitted, but justified.

There is nothing remotely "conservative" about a president who sees the courts, the media and all the other countervailing institutions of a civilized society as enemies to be crushed or ignored, rather than opponents to be engaged with. Protectionism is not "conservative", either. Nor is Twitter interventionism in the economy. Trump has more in common with the far left than with anything resembling "conservative".

Sort of agree with Jib Halyard. Trump is not right wing or conservative, but a populist. Many of his positions, e.g. anti-free trade, are definitely not right wing or conservative positions.

I think you are missing the point Snoopy and Jib. Yes, Trump has many positions in common with the far left. But he is becoming more right wing. Most of Trump's positions are negotiable. He never was an ideologue. So the insane reactions from the far left are moving him in a rightward direction.

The analysis looks accurate to me. But it isn't unique. This is why people keep saying 'Do you want more Trump? This is how you got Trump in the first place.'

Something I REALLY didn't expect:

"The Mythology Of Trump’s ‘Working Class’ Support:
His voters are better off economically compared with most Americans."

By Nate Silver, May 3, 2016

https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/the-mythology-of-trumps-working-class-support/

First paragraphs:

It’s been extremely common for news accounts to portray Donald Trump’s candidacy as a “working-class” rebellion against Republican elites. There are elements of truth in this perspective: Republican voters, especially Trump supporters, are unhappy about the direction of the economy. Trump voters have lower incomes than supporters of John Kasich or Marco Rubio. And things have gone so badly for the Republican “establishment” that the party may be facing an existential crisis.

But the definition of “working class” and similar terms is fuzzy, and narratives like these risk obscuring an important and perhaps counterintuitive fact about Trump’s voters: As compared with most Americans, Trump’s voters are better off. The median household income of a Trump voter so far in the primaries is about $72,000, based on estimates derived from exit polls and Census Bureau data. That’s lower than the $91,000 median for Kasich voters. But it’s well above the national median household income of about $56,000. It’s also higher than the median income for Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders supporters, which is around $61,000 for both...

(snip)

Of course, since we're talking about "household" incomes, one might at least suspect that Trump voters are likely to have larger families than Clinton supporters, which would change the data. But then again, later on he says:

...Many of the differences reflect that Republican voters are wealthier overall than Democratic ones, and also that wealthier Americans are more likely to turn out to vote, especially in the primaries. However, while Republican turnout has considerably increased overall from four years ago, there’s no sign of a particularly heavy turnout among “working-class” or lower-income Republicans. On average in states where exit polls were conducted both this year and in the Republican campaign four years ago, 29 percent of GOP voters have had household incomes below $50,000 this year, compared with 31 percent in 2012.

The median income for Clinton and Sanders voters — $61,000 for each candidate — is generally much closer to the overall median income in each state. But even Democratic turnout tends to skew slightly toward a wealthier electorate, somewhat validating Sanders’s claim that “poor people don’t vote.” I estimate that 27 percent of American households had incomes under $30,000 last year. By comparison, 20 percent of Clinton voters did, as did 18 percent of Sanders supporters. (Those figures imply Clinton might have a bigger edge on Sanders if more poor people voted, although it would depend on whether they were black, white or Hispanic.) Both Democratic candidates do better than the Republicans in this category, however. Only 12 percent of Trump voters have incomes below $30,000; when you also consider that Clinton has more votes than Trump overall, that means about twice as many low-income voters have cast a ballot for Clinton than for Trump so far this year...

@Ben,
What you are saying is that Trump is highly vulnerable to emotional blackmail by the left, and is unable to make rational policy decisions.

I still like the part where Hillary isn't pertinent.

"Trump has been stunned by the insane outpouring of hatred against him and his family from the Left and the Democratic Party... He must have been shocked by the hysterical hatred that the Democrats unleashed against him and his wife and children."

I completely lack the ability to read President Trump's inner thoughts and emotions. If it wasn't for all the political writers and commentators who have the ability to read his deepest inner thoughts and emotions and reveal them so clearly, I would limited to the words he speaks and tweets for any insight into his thinking. I never would have known just how mentally and emotionally disturbed he really is.

Amy, if you truly think that Trump is manifestly unfit for the office, the worst thing you could do -- and your not actually doing it presently -- is to join the Democrat carpet-bombing. These people are so disgusting, they are all but ensuring another four years of Trump, which, I must admit, brings a smile to my face.

I would correct that to Trump has very few firm political viewpoints. He is very much not an ideologue. So on policy points he has no significant preference he goes with whatever the people around him are suggesting. With Democrats vilifying him and keeping as much distance as possible the only people left for him to talk to are Republicans. Hence their policy preferences are advanced. The far right never-Trumpers have the exact same problem. After vilifying Trump for over a year it is a major change of pace to start cozying up to him. Also Trump has no reason to befriend them. So they are left out of the decision process.

Personally I fail to see the lack of rationality in his actions. He is ignorant on most of these topics. He knows he is ignorant. So he goes with what his advisers suggest.

Meanwhile the entrenched Nancy Pelosi is exhorting Democrats to treat Trump voters like a friend whose boyfriend is a jerk.

So your friend is deplorable and has a jerk for a boyfriend. Now there's a progressive view of the world.

More Of The Same, Continued

Lenona, that's very interesting.

And Ben, I agree with you. You got this exactly right.

Ben - that is exactly right. Trump is working with those who are willing to work with him. Therefore, their ideas are heard and implemented.

There is also the fact that so many were, and still are, engaging in over-the-top name calling. Why would anyone listen to ideas from someone who calls others "Hitler" etc.? Even if they didn't say it about me - they still engaged in stupid talk; how could anyone take their ideas seriously now? Since they are so clearly wrong with their name calling they must be wrong about other things as well.

So, clearly those folks are stupid on more than just one way. In fact, they are too stupid to even see just how stupid they are acting.

No mystery why Trump is so hated by the Left. The swamp he wants to drain is their habitat.

Honestly Rex they easily could have coopted him. Trump was far more comfortable with the average Democrat's culture and values. But right now they are throwing a tantrum. They thought they had this election in the bag. But they were wrong. So right now they are yelling and screaming and burning things so assuage their anger and confusion. And while they are throwing their little hissy fit they are losing their opportunity to advance their agenda.

What policy points has Trump consistently advanced?
1. Refocus the federal government on supporting jobs instead of boutique social issues.
2. Deal better with the large number of illegal immigrants. (Legal immigrants aren't part of this)
3. Renegotiate some of our trade deals to better favor the US.

As far as I can tell everything else is negotiable. And none of that is too offensive to most Democrat voters or even a fair number of Democrat politicians. Trump's desire to 'drain the swamp' is actually an example of him being coopted by libertarians. This verbiage from him is roughly two weeks old.

You have the timeline backwards Rex. The left pitched a fit and picked a fight. Trump's response was 'If you want a fight then let's fight.' His new friends on the right pointed out that firing left wingers who technically are his subordinates is an effective solution.