DoD photo by Helene C. Stikkel. (Released)

Michael Gerson can’t stand the idea of a Trump nomination:

Many Republicans could not vote for Trump but would have a horribly difficult time voting for Clinton. The humane values of Republicanism [bold mine-DL] would need to find a temporary home, which would necessitate the creation of a third party. This might help elect Clinton, but it would preserve something of conservatism, held in trust, in the hope of better days.

The lack of self-awareness in Gerson’s column is remarkable. Gerson worked for the Bush administration as a speechwriter, and was responsible for crafting some of the president’s more outlandish and ideological statements. George W. Bush launched an unnecessary and illegal war that caused the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people, the displacement of millions, and the ongoing destabilization of multiple countries to this day. He allowed the use of torture on detainees in violation of U.S. and international law. Bush did these unjust things while presenting himself as a pro-immigration “compassionate” conservative, and so Gerson had no problem with Bush or what he and his supporters were doing to the reputation of GOP and conservatism a decade ago. If there were still “humane values” in the GOP when he took office, Bush trampled on them daily, and Gerson was and remains one of his biggest supporters.

Gerson’s biggest problem with Trump boils down to a strong dislike of his anti-immigration pose, and apparently for that reason alone he would prefer to split the Republican vote and hand the election to Clinton. Anti-Trump Republicans can do that if they want, but dead-ender Bush loyalists have no business complaining about anyone else “defacing” the GOP when they did so much of that already.