George Will had reduced himself to a small man of big words

For president, George Will comes out for Senator Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), the lefty who's progressive but not crazy. Personally, Bennet's announcement was the first I've ever heard of the guy, and it's jarring that Will, for no other apparent reason than Trump animus, is now beating drums for Democrats. He was once well thought of by Republicans. Will has revealed himself to be another small-minded little man of big words. That's what the Left always loved about him. Like Adlai Stevenson, he sounded smart and well read and went to the best schools and conducted himself with appropriate arrogance, sniffing disapprovingly of the unwashed and finding America falling ever short. Those superficial traits will take you far in the liberal Game of Thrones once you get your foot in the door.

There was a time when Will really did contribute meaningfully to the national discourse, but with the passage of years, we see his true self coming into relief. He never was a conservative or even a classical liberal. He has always been the little boy who couldn't play baseball or football, trying to get attention by sounding clever. It worked for a lotta years, before the rest of us caught on to the larger game. To be sure, he still fits right in at Georgetown cocktail parties, but that's because he goes around shouting that Donald Trump is the worst president of all time. Had he gotten to know Trump before the latter's ascension to the highest office in the land, Will would have found The Donald a fun, agreeable guy, as Piers Morgan did, and would now be defending him, as Morgan has. So George and Donald never happened, and Will can't take back all the invective he's hurled at the president. The wildly positive fruits of Trump policy have put old George in the worst possible light as a commentator, and he doesn't like it one bit. That Trump has been exactly what America needed, at precisely the right time in history, seems not to matter. Personal revulsion, perhaps tinctured with envy and salted with spite, takes precedence. It's simple if childish: no one as facile and bumptious as Donald Trump should outdo someone as smart and cultured as George Will. George Will, sad little man. Image: Gage Skidmore via Flickr.