This transmogrification seemed necessary for the party operators in order to head off the surging candidacy of Donald Trump. Although one can cite other indications of how this is happening, the most telling example of how Jeb Bush is being transformed, has come courtesy of the Koch Brothers. Billionaire supporters of the GOP establishment, Charles and David Koch have not only poured a king's ransom into Jeb's candidacy—perhaps for starters. They have also recently flipped the bill for a two-day "Tea Party summit" hosted by Americans for Prosperity, starting on August 21 in Columbus, Ohio. The purpose of this gathering was to showcase the maverickness (I've just invented the term) of their preferred presidential candidate.

Here Jeb was supposed to emerge as a quintessential "conservative" and someone who is about to shake up Washington with his decisive newness. My young friend Jack Kerwick managed to have posted on the very Republican townhall website a scalpel-like dissection of Jeb's claims to be on the right. This claim is true in one sense, and in one sense only. Jeb is a friend of the corporate interests that pay for his candidacy, and he supports bank bailouts and cheap illegal labor. Besides being by his own admission "an unabashed immigration enthusiast," Jeb as a Florida governor promoted "racial and ethnic diversity in justice, public administration, and college admissions." He also arranged as director of Bloomberg Family Foundation to hand in gifts over 10 million dollars to Planned Parenthood.