RISIBLE DENIABILITY.

Here's the pitch from Matt Lewis at The Daily Caller:

We Didn’t Start The Fire: So Who Created Trump?

You can't blame conservatism for anything these days -- not the mess in the Middle East, not anti-abortion terrorists, not racism -- and, Lewis is here to tell you, certainly not the jingoistic, pro-torture, pro-bombing blowhard Archie Bunker/Reggie Van Dough hybrid who's been leading Republican Presidential polls for three months. Why not?

Trump is not a conservative, although his perverted version of conservatism currently represents a very vocal minority of the GOP base. Historically, America’s Right and Left have both had moments when strains of nativism and populism were more or less prominent. This is one of those times.

Both sides do it -- populism, that is. Don't you remember Henry Wallace hollering that we had to torture people and steal oil from the Middle East?

Today, for a variety of reasons (none of which indict conservatism as a philosophy) the environment is ripe for a master demagogue to exploit... 

...the liberal media and President Obama’s disastrous presidency are part of the story. Liberals aren’t responsible for the Republican base’s decisions, but if the goal is to understand this phenomenon, it’s fair to point out some of what we are witnessing is a backlash. This is a scary time, both domestically and internationally, and people want to find a strongman to fix the chaos that weak men have created.

This reminds me of how  back in the day Moral Majority types would tell you the Weimar Republic caused Hitler -- by which they did not mean hyperinflation and instability were among the forces that led to his rise, but that there were a lot of homosexuals in Cabaret so God punished the world with Nazis. And by the way, the late Obama Administration ain't Weimar; a 46% approval rating isn't great but it's not Helter-Skelter-she's-coming-down -fast either. Maybe Lewis is thinking of the previous President? Or Congress?

We are also undergoing a continued cultural revolution that began in the 1960s. This might have begun on the Left, but the degradation of traditional family values is now ubiquitous. We once prized virtues like humility, wisdom, experience, and prudence. Now, we value celebrities.

If it weren't for Woodstock we wouldn't have Trump.

But I want to get back to where we began, which is with the notion that Trump-ism is somehow the inexorable denouement of conservatism’s historical arc. If liberals can get this notion to stick, then they will have discredited the Reagan era, which brought us an unparalleled time of peace and prosperity.

Well, there's the real reason Trump can't reflect badly on conservatism -- liberals would benefit if he did! But don't worry, Matt...

Some of the people pushing this narrative have ulterior motives; others are frankly just sincerely (mis)guided by a liberal worldview. This is one of the reasons why the subtitle of my book—“How the GOP Betrayed the Reagan Revolution to Win Elections (and How It Can Reclaim Its Conservative Roots)”—is significant.

...however the party does next year, you'll still be able to work the crowd for shekels -- and if the book doesn't work out, you can always sell them gold and survivalist supplies.