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I’m on a DTD (Donald Trump Diet)
A few weeks ago, following the elections and Trump’s proclamation that he was running again, I declared that I would avoid posts that described anything Trumpian. I even requested that people refrain from bringing him up in my posts, and for the most part, people have been obliging.
I don’t hate Trump, but I don’t like him. And I am tired of having to explain and justify my positions regarding him. I felt like people were centering their worlds around him—conversations, opinions, declarations—and I wanted no part of it.
I realize that this post breaks my vow. But I wanted to share some of my reactions to my decision.
First, I feel so relieved and much more at peace. I’ve stopped pulling out my hair (kidding) and I feel free to focus on other issues of the day: the other crazy political situations, the cultural issues of the Woke agenda, situations in Florida, and just (what I hope are) thought-provoking posts that provide food for thought.
Maybe my posts aren’t as dramatic or passionate or even hysterical as some. Maybe they aren’t clickbait that are so intriguing and fun to read.
But they are honest and, I hope, thoughtful.
And my DT Diet has greatly reduced my angst and frustration. It is low-calorie and definitely good for your health. Will I be able to maintain it over time? I’ve already been tempted by some rich and filling posts, so it’s hard to say. We’ll have to see how much willpower I have.
Anyone want to join me?
Published in Politics
On the other hand, Trump did not deliver any knockout blows against Biden in his debates either, which should have been easy pickens. In one debate he even looked pretty bad.
I was at the first Republican Primary debate in Cleveland where Trump declared that socialized medicine works great in Canada.
The perfect is the enemy of the good enough.
That is just as bad as the Republican “never Trumpers” sitting out.
I share your dream but I think (pardon the phrase) it is a pipe dream!
What’s already happened? They’ve been ragging on DeSantis from the day he took office, and I think he’s handled himself masterfully.
I agree, but even half-obnoxious is still way too much.
Then the same could be said of support for DeSantis.
You nailed it! He’s already been handling it well. (That’s what I meant by “this already seems to have happened”)
Glad I am not on any of those contact lists.
That’s why I was coughing!
I live in Seattle and have been to Canada many times. It could be we’ve been influenced by a PR campaign against it coming from our own AMA, but I honestly believe they like their health service based on my discussions about it with various Canadians. Whether it could work here is another subject entirely.
The Canadians I have gotten to know over the last few years, around 20 or so, prefer the Canadian health system, but favor the American health care.
They like it right up until they get sick.
Dr. Trink’s practice was not too far from the Canadian border and got bundles of patients from Canada when their own system delayed diagnostics and treatment. As the saying goes: you can have affordable, high quality, or (timely) accessible healthcare. Pick two. In Canada, maybe just one.
Yep. Dr. Trink says that at one time during his practice, the city of Toledo had more MRI scanners than in the entire country of Canada.
The fact the RINO wing refused to hold their noses and vote for our guy after we did that for all their guys has angered me. Worse yet is the fact they mock us. They won’t find us so accommodating in the future.
Trump’s CEO translated some into the office. Of course, he will be hated by the left even more then they hated Trump. He dared to beat them and put a roadblock into their agenda. Anyone who thinks the Dems hated him for any other reason are naive.
Agreed. They’re calling us election deniers (making us out to be Nazi-adjacent) rather than fighting tooth and nail to reestablish trust in our elections and expect us to vote for the next establishment pick? The next McCain or Romney? It’s not happening. What would be the point? The ratchet moves one way — toward oligarchy. Lots of us will sit out elections instead.
DeSantis will need the backing of the establishment. He’s not independently wealthy like Trump. That makes him vulnerable to caving to the elite status quo. These people don’t fight for us. They fight everything that might be a threat to their wealth and position. Currently, there’s one guy who’s shown he’s willing and able to take on the status quo on the national stage: Donald Trump. Newt Gingrich was cut of the same cloth, but he doesn’t have the money needed. As Milo says, Trump is a once-in-a-lifetime phenomenon.
He hasn’t gotten the wrath of the globalists, the targeting by the DOJ and FBI, and the fabricated accusations. And then there is Congress. Have any of you forgotten how Cruz was treated.
I think you make some good points, WC, but though Trump is very popular with some Republicans, there aren’t enough of them to win a general election. Trump is the one candidate that Biden can and will beat, if Trump is our nominee.
Susan, first of all, thanks for this most intriguing post; to say that it is thought-provoking would be an understatement. Second, and to my point, your comment about completely shutting out the media really hit home with me as I have been making more and more of a concerted effort to do exactly that and my track record on that score is spotty at best. I find myself making an effort to be focused on other things, such as the book I’m presenting at our next book club meeting, and eventually I am more and more tempted to check into the maelstrom of noise which many, if not most, of the news channels have become to see what inanity has visited our Nation today. If you or anyone here has any suggestions as to how to control that malady, I would be forever in your debt for helping me out with this problem. Actually, I think part of this problem is simple fear of not keeping up with what damage this administration is doing to our Nation generally, and to us as individuals, specifically. As you put it, I feel an obligation to know what is going on and what new wounds are being inflicted upon us citizens on any given day. I see that you said in a later comment that you were signing off of any further comments on this post but I do hope that if you see this comment and request that you might be able to share any insight you may be able to offer as I would highly value your words of wisdom on this.
@EdG, I don’t disagree with your comment but do note that while much of what we hear from this babbling class of pundits and the politicians they discuss or favor or savage depending upon their bias, which usually goes only one way, is fake we still have to rely on it to some degree. No one on this planet is more fake than Biden-res ipsa loquitur!
Thank you for speaking so eloquently in favor of basic civics and justice–so rare these days to hear words like that and they are very much appreciated. I would take it one step further and express my belief that if this politicization of the Justice Department and FBI and CIA, etc., continues on its present course, we may have something in the next couple of generations which physically looks like our America, but it will be, for all intents and purposes, a police state, exactly like the Stasi of East Germany was. What they are doing now, in some cases, is not just similar to what police states do to their enemies, it is exactly the same.
Also, thanks for the reminder that, from the reports you and I apparently have read, Trump’s success rate was in the range of 93%. It is beyond troubling how a narrative repeated by the garbage “mainstream” media ad nauseam quickly becomes “fact” no matter how demonstrably false it may be.
Bravo! Do we have an official “comment of the year” award? If so, consider this my nomination!
Amen! Bullseye! Right down the smokestack!
This is one of the main reasons I like Ricochet- the wonderful variety of interests which are touched on in the posts, some of which are exceptionally well written. I love the recent post about someone attending their first operatic performance and the discussion of various favorite arias it engendered. I always look forward to reviews from @doctorrobert about his most recent symphonic experience. I could go on but this is just a small sampling of how much more there is to life than the kerfuffles which some time erupt over issues which seem so much less worthy of our time, noting, as I must, we still have obligations as citizens to be informed about public issues. There’s just so much more life out there.
He will not be allowed too. I suspect he would have after 2020 but they kept poking the bear.
Hi Jim, I wasn’t clear about “signing off.” Although it may be awkward, I just don’t want to debate about Trump. So your question of finding a way to limit exposure to the media is a good one. I don’t read other blogs except for Ricochet. I watch a couple of Fox News shows, but not regularly. I read the WSJ, mainly for the OPEd page, and only glance at the Orlando Sentinel. I read more online if I am researching a topic. I have the impression that many people read much more than I do. At some point it becomes repetitive and disturbing for me. So once I’ve gone to my regular places, I’m done. I rarely read anything related to Trump. I don’t think there’s any Trump news that will make a difference to me, since I plan to vote for him if he’s the Republican nominee.
Thank you for reminding us of one of his greatest quotes (question follows):
“Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children’s children what it was once like in the United States where men were free.”
― Ronald Reagan
Question: is the next one going to be the one he was talking about? In answering, bear in mind that the voters of Pennsylvania, in all their wisdom, just elected a person to the United States Senate who is very obviously mentally deficient due to a serious stroke and undoubtedly has health issues of which we know very little.
The figure of 93% is misleading. Trump made a lot of endorsements in areas where there the race was uncontested or in solidly red areas. What matters is how his picks did in contested areas, and his record there is not good. In Ohio, for example, one of the few Trump successes in contested areas, DeWine outperformed Vance, which indicates that that there were lots of people who voted for DeWine who rejected Vance. And that’s where a Trumpy candidate won. In other contested races, where the outcome really mattered, Trump candidates lost, even in areas where other non-Trumpy Republican candidates won.
I thought it was incredibly stupid of Kari Lake to tell McCain voters to “get the hell out”. If you want to win elections, you need a broad base. Telling people not to vote for you should not be your strategy.
I think this is wish-casting, not forecasting. Both that Trump can’t win the primary (see 2015-2016, where other candidates were eliminated despite Trump only garnering a plurality of voters among multiple candidates) and the general (2016 — mirabile dictu!), and that any Republican can beat any Democrat in the current (rigged) electoral climate. Trump won Florida and Ohio and 2020 and still “lost.” I can foresee the same happening to another Republican in 2024. In fact, I think it’s likely.
I recently re-registered independent, so I may vote in the Democrat primary and leave my Republican choice entirely to the whims of fate. I’m just hanging on for the ride in reality anyway, since none of us has any control over any of this.
Trink’s tagline is: if you don’t like change you’re living on the wrong planet.
I’ve decided mine is: we are privileged to be witnesses to the end of civilization.
How many people have gotten to say that?!
No matter the candidate, you are voting on which party will lord over you, the authoritarian one on the one prone to prefer liberty. The “quality of the candidates” is a red herring.it isn’t a battle to get quality candidates.it is a battle between those who want liberty and those who want a nanny state.