As Arte Johnson might have said, 'Very interesting. But half-baked.'

I happen to agree with Mike Garner of The Federalist that the delegate revolt at the upcoming Republican convention has a fatal weakness: you can't beat somebody with nobody. I think he's also correct in saying that most of the names that are mentioned- Paul Ryan, Ted Cruz, and even Mitt Romney (any of whom might have been credible third party candidates, especially Romney) ideally ought not to be the choice, lest the whole thing look like a cynical power play rather than a desperate attempt to rescue the party and the country from looming disaster.

Ideally.

Of course, the Trumpkins will interpret the nomination of anybody but Trump that way. I'm not sure that Mitch Daniels would be seen any differently than Ryan or Cruz or Romney would be. But at some point, the NeverTrumpers have to come up with an alternative. Maybe not now. Maybe the moment would be when (and if) the convention approves the "conscience clause." In fact, if the moment is not going to be squandered, the NeverTrumpers had better have an alternative to Trump willing, vetted, and ready the moment Paul Ryan's gavel comes down after that vote.

This whole NeverTrump business- though honorable and necessary it is- has been a half-baked disaster from the beginning. I continue to hope, of course, as should we all. But I don't think that the people gathered in Cleveland, whatever their inclinations, will have the guts to do the right thing and slam the door in Il Duce's face. While I continue to hope, I just don't see it happening.

The real tragedy is that this is a year in which the political parties are nominating the two least popular candidates in the history of the American Republic. A decent third-party candidate with recognized credentials and credibility (read Mitt Romney) would actually have had a realistic chance of winning a three-way race, and at the very least would have spared us the ordeal of choosing between two unmitigated disasters. I realize that it's not my life and family and psyche I'm talking about here, but the failure of anybody of national stature to come forward and head a conservative Third Party (the pseudo-conservative Libertarians don't count) is, next to Trump's success, the most disgraceful and cynicism-inspiring part of this whole miserable election year.

But it is what it is. A half-baked, half-hearted resistance is all anybody who counts is willing to offer, and the rest of us are stuck with it. I guess we'll just have to hope against hope that a miracle happens and the delegates grow some guts before Monday or reconcile ourselves to a four-year nightmare no matter how much Hillary wins by in November.