Ricochet is the best place on the internet to discuss the issues of the day, either through commenting on posts or writing your own for our active and dynamic community in a fully moderated environment. In addition, the Ricochet Audio Network offers over 50 original podcasts with new episodes released every day.
OK, Maybe Controversial, But Trump Is Owed a Second Term
A friend of mine says, “Of course, the NeverTrumpers were right after all. Trump had so alienated suburban women by his personal behavior, he couldn’t possibly have won a second term.”
This person was Trump-resistant but voted for him nonetheless and was pleasantly surprised at all he accomplished. In the end, however, after he lost, my friend returned to type. Trump was icky all along and deserved all he got.
The recent indictment of Hilary Clinton lawyer Michael Sussman, and the even more recent arrest of Michael Steele consigliere Igor Danchenko, along with the naming of various other high ranking Democrat conspirators, including Jake Sullivan, who works in the State Department at this moment, revives in me deep anger, fear, and a certainty that Donald Trump is owed four more years in the White House.
What I tell my friend and what I will say to you now is that Donald Trump was the victim of the most significant political crime in the history of our country. He came under assault from this crime and these criminals every day of his four years. This assault was perpetrated by a criminal political class within our government and was nothing less than a coup d’état unlike we have ever seen in our history.
And yes, it is likely Trump won anyway.
Consider what has been revealed in recent days by the team surrounding prosecutor John Durham.
Michael Sussman was a lawyer with the Washington DC firm of Perkins Coie, a Democrat, and Bill and Hilary Clinton legal redoubt. Have you heard about the secret connection between a Trump organization computer and a Russian bank? Supposedly this was the backchannel of communication and cash that proved Trump was owned and even an agent of Vladimir Putin. It was all made up. It was totally false. Sussman cooked it up along with a top-ranking tech executive, a major American university, and others.
In a private meeting with the General Counsel of the FBI, Sussman presented this fabrication in hopes the FBI would investigate, which they did. Sussman et al. also peddled this lie to the news media, which happily reported it. Some of them still do. It was all a lie.
In even more recent days, a Russian national named Igor Danchenko has been arrested and indicted for making false claims to the FBI. Danchenko was one of the primary sources for the so-called Steele Dossier used by nefarious figures in the FBI and the Department of Justice to invade the Trump campaign, lie to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court to spy on the political opponents of Barack Obama and Bill and Hillary Clinton. The Steele Dossier was the report that roiled our politics for every minute of the Trump administration. Every minute of his administration was spent in fighting this complete fabrication.
Do you remember the Steele Dossier charge that Trump hired prostitutes to urinate on the bed in the Presidential Suite of the Ritz Carlton-Moscow? He supposedly did this because it was where Obama and his wife once slept. Danchenko totally made it up. It had no basis in fact. Of course, most of us knew that at the time. It made no sense. This alone should have been enough to stop federal agents from persecuting Donald Trump and his staff.
I will repeat that Trump and his team had to deal with this every single day for more than four years. Even now, a close friend of mine is convinced the Russians have something on Trump. And this person is highly placed in Washington DC circles.
Besides all the fabrications, it was the Clinton campaign that was hip-deep in Russians. Danchenko was a Russian national. Charles Dolan, identified at PR-Executive 1 in the Durham indictment, has been a longtime advisor not just to the Clintons and the Democrats but also to the Russian government.
Even though Donald Trump and his team had this millstone around their necks every day for more than a year, they accomplished a great deal. I covered this in detail in my book The Catholic Case for Trump.
Trump destroyed the physical ISIS Caliphate that occupied more land than Great Britain, something Obama could not do. Trump made the U.S. energy independent, an energy-exporting country, something frittered away in months by Joe Biden. Trump utterly remade the federal judiciary and the Supreme Court. It is irrelevant that he had advisors helping him. All presidents do. Trump was the most pro-life president the United States has ever had post-Roe v. Wade. He initiated pro-life policies that someone like George Bush never even considered. Instead, Bush sacrificed the pro-life issue for his forever war in the Middle East.
Trump did all this and more even though wicked men and women in and out of the federal government came after him with lies and fabrications that had to have occupied a great deal of his time and mindspace.
I understand that many conservatives may have Trump fatigue. Consider this, though. Much of that Trump fatigue had to have been related to the poisonous Steele Dossier and all that came from it. He was a man cornered by liars, and he reacted, sometimes badly. Imagine what might have happened if the FBI had done the right thing and recognized the Russian hoax for what it was? What might have happened if the FBI and the Justice Department had not acted like criminals? What might have been if Trump had been given an open field to lead the country? Sure, Trump would have been Trump, and a lot of folks do not like Trump. But at least he would have been given a chance.
My view after reading the Durham indictments of Michael Sussman and Igor Danchenko is that Trump is owed four more years. I know this will likely not happen. Nonetheless, we owe him that.
[Image Credit: Unsplash]
Published in General
This post was promoted to the Main Feed by a Ricochet Editor at the recommendation of Ricochet members.
Like this post? Want to comment? Join Ricochet’s community
of conservatives and be part of the conversation. Join Ricochet for Free.
Trump probably does owe Pence an apology, but I don’t think Pence is treating Trump badly. I think he’s wrong. A lot of Republicans need to be dumped.
That show more spine then I expect from Pence. Wonder whose great man’s arse he is connecting himself too this time.
Guess I’d have to look at the individuals in question, and the alternatives. As I recall, Vice President Pence served loyally in the Trump administration, and only caused offense when he had to decide how best to carry out his duty following the election. My impression is that the Vice President comported himself well, and I’m inclined to trust his judgment.
Of course, I’m also lukewarm about a primary challenge to McConnell, whom I think is a valuable and powerful ally. But then I’m not into attacking fellow Republicans without extreme provocation. (McCain and Romney and a few others earned it.)
Remember the TEA Party? McConnell said, “We’ll crush them.” He did. I’ve had no use for him since, and it wouldn’t bother me much if his face appeared on a milk carton.
Could be. I’d have to know more on a case-by-case basis. But you are right that a lot of Republicans need to go.
By the way, there are still a lot of Trump yard signs up around here. At least there were a month ago when I last did any outdoor bicycle rides. But there are some Trump yard signs that have been modified–to remove Pence’s name. I don’t approve, but I still have to smile when I go past those, seeing how intense people are about it.
I’m sure a lot of people feel that way. My view is that he’s a very effective senatorial leader and he will probably serve better than anyone likely to replace him.
I was involved in the TEA Party movement, and I had several conversations with incumbent Congressmen about it at the time. I was frustrated by their seeming unwillingness to learn from the grass roots, to hear our anger and meet us half way. I was pleased that we managed to get a bunch of people into the House. But I decided eventually that grass roots efforts are most effective at the state level, where the game of politics can still be practiced by amateurs.
I’ll support the most conservative candidate with a reasonable chance of winning in the primaries, and then the Republican candidates in the general.
Gorsuch > Garland. That’s some use.
Indeed. I think it’s likely that McConnell’s efforts in that regard contributed significantly to Trump’s 2016 victory, by keeping the Supreme Court in play.
His attitude toward the TEA Party was, “Thanks for the seats. Now, shut up and do as your betters instruct you.” My attitude toward him and his ilk is, “Thanks for keeping Garland off the SCOTUS. Now, take your lovely parting gifts and get the [redacted] out.”
Austin, you’re going to drive the NeverTrumpers crazy with this. ;)
Actually I don’t think it’s controversial at all. I do agree, he was robbed and deserves another term. Robbed in not so much of the ballot stuffing but from the changes to the rules of voting due to Covid. Now because he was robbed and deserves another term does not automatically get my vote in the primary. Ultimately it’s who the best person for the job running, and at this point I have no idea. The primary process will pit Donald against others such as De Santis or my current favorite, Abbott of Texas. We’ll see who earns my vote but I certainly will give a ten point advantage to Trump.
Did Hayes and Goldberg really resign from FoxNews? I will be shocked if they did. Frankly they deserved to be fired. Or perhaps their resignation was a forced “resignation.”
Funny, even without the 2020 election I feel that Trump deserves another term. He was hamstrung by the Intel Community (and its FBI and DOJ) and the general left. He breathed easy, what, one day: the day he was acquitted of his first impeachment. And after that still Dems, Justice, and the GOPe frustrated his every move.
Thank goodness no one suggested that because the press was unfair to Mitt Romney, we owed him another nomination for president.
The snakes are a feature of the bureaucracy.
Unless you know how to drive out 2 million snakes, you’ll see the same garbage for the next Republican nominee, and president.
I think a Trump-DeSantis ticket would be hard to beat . . .
I doubt that the 2020 election was stolen from Trump, but it is increasingly clear that his effectiveness as president was stolen from him by the falsehoods advanced by the Clinton campaign, enforced by a corrupt FBI, and promoted by the mainstream media. Trump is indeed owed another term, and our country really needs it.
I don’t think we owe Trump or any other politician anything. Yes, he was conspired against and treated badly, but so are a lot of politicians.
I certainly don’t want another 4 years of Trump. The American people are owed someone better.
How’s that working out?
Someone better would really be nice! Have anyone in mind? I mean, who has a realistic chance of winning the election, of course.
I said someone better. Biden is worse.
C’mon… think it through.
Well, I think a couple of terms of Desantis would do the world a lot of good. But there are others. I was very impressed with Youngkin and Winsome Sears during their campaigns here in Virginia. Youngkin could well be a good candidate as it looks like he is going to hit the ground running and will do well as Governor. I so wish, Sears was born in the USA, as she is amazing.
Not all bureaucrats are snakes. Internal affairs with special prosecutors with the ability to fire bureaucrats that rotate with presidential terms and are intentionally politicized to investigate politicization by the other side would help. Term limits on bureaucrats would also help. Bureaucrats having periods of service outside the federal government before being hired would help. Not allowing federal bureaucrats to go into corporate bureaucracies dealing with matters the federal bureaucracies deal with after their service or acting as lobbyists or consultants would help. Moving bureaucracies out of highly politicized DC would help.
Who owes it to us? Where can we collect this IOU from? Chuck Schumer?
Don’t be facetious please. We owe it to ourselves. The Founding of this country was a miracle. Let’s vote like we appreciate this country and the incredible gift we have been granted by our citizenship. We owe it to ourselves to vote wisely. We don’t owe Trump anything.
I think “we” collectively owe him a first term. :)
Trump’s Presidency was stolen from US by a corrupt DC bureaucracy and a media/nig tech cabal. Nobody’s being facetious. People like me elected Trump and want what we are damned well owed. “Move along, nothing to see here” is just playing the enemy’s cards for him.
He had a first term. We, collectively don’t owe him a thing.
You don’t get it, and you’re not going to convince anybody.