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The USS Trump! High Adventures on Rough Seas!
To Democrats, Trump is the equivalent of the guy who cheated with, then married, the ex-wife. To anti-Trump Republicans, Trump is the guy who dumped your sister in high school on the day before prom. Just like those loathsome creatures, everything Trump says or does is blackened by familiar dark circumstances; just seeing the man sets off immediate and debilitating fight or flight adrenal surges. There is no other way to explain the animus elicited when the man says or does anything. Trump could be as kind as the Pope, as generous as Santa Claus, as handsome as Robert Redford, as wholesome as Andy of Mayberry, as earnest as Jimmy Stewart, as courageous as Audie Murphy, as thoughtful as Albert Einstein and as funny as Samuel Clemons, and they would still hate his guts.
Of course Donald Trump is imperfect, as is so obsessively pointed out, and he is vain and prone to vindictiveness. Worse yet, he makes it clear every single day that he succeeds despite his determined opposition and the vitriol endlessly heaped upon him. Like the kid who can’t help but poke the neighbor’s mean cat, Trump can’t help but antagonize his detractors. He calls them out, ridicules them, revels in their suffering, and brags on about his own success. For Trump, hyperbole is a potent weapon. “Lies!” says the opposition, frothy with venom and looking for a camera or a microphone. Their urge to bite is overwhelming.
Trump smiles and sends his detractors into convulsions.
This is nothing new from the Left. They hated Reagan with the same ferocity. And we all remember BDS (Bush Derangement Syndrome.) The difference here is Trump’s willingness to engage his opposition, to push back and even antagonize them. Reagan might make a wry joke. W ignored them. But Donald Trump is no diplomat and he fights back.
Good for him.
Now, for all you anti-Trump Republicans: listen up. Trump, as antagonistic and loathsome as you might find him, is doing and achieving things that are unprecedented in recent politics. He is backfilling the judiciary with originalists. He is reducing the scope of government by stripping the bureaucracy of regulatory over-reach. He has simplified and restructured our tax system. He has called out NATO allies for not keeping their funding promises. He has pointed out that our so-called allies expect us to continue to accept unfair trade deals. He has opened dialogue with North Korea. He scuttled a foolish deal with Iran and stiffened sanctions against them. He also stiffened sanctions against Russia because of their aggressive actions. He’s called out China for the blatant theft of American intellectual property. He sent ISIS to their virgins. He’s fortified our borders.
Prosperity, it seems, is on the comeback trail.
Sometimes the vessel is ugly. It may even stink. But if it gets us safely to the place we want to go, who cares? Grab the rail. Hold your nose. Take a Dramamine. Complain if you must. Just remember, we are on the right heading and the wind is on the quarter. It might be a little rough, but what do you expect? Nothing is being compromised but a little dignity, and since when, in politics, has that mattered?
Published in Politics
Thanks Doug. I’m not very articulate and you’ve just helped me to be able to verbalize some arguments.
I took the opposite point of view in a OP that I just posted, “Fruits of the Spirit” where I assert that sooner or later, someone’s character comes to impact all that they do.
Then maybe one of you is wrong?
It was a bad press conference. He is not the best.
Give me one more Supreme Court Justice to replace Ginsburg and you can add him to Mt Rushmore.
Maybe. Or maybe its a mystery and a paradox.
Given Mitch’s Scalia’s rule, Ginsberg (or Breyer) would need to step down in 2018 or 2019. 2020 would be too late.
I am reminded of the statistic of “Wins over Replacement Player.” If we had another Republican in office, I believe that President Rubio would have worked hard with Mitch to fill the appellate courts, wipe out regulations, and reform the tax code, which I see as Trump’s best efforts. However, we wouldn’t have all of the Trump baggage.
I remember Dems hating Reagan and the Bushes, but never at the fever pitch that they despise Trump. I think that a huge blue wave is coming.
One last thing. Trump reminds me of the bullies who beat me up as a child. I can forgive them, but I cannot and will not support them.
Neither will step down.
Gary, politicians are not saints and don’t need to be. Churchill was no choirboy, but he led England, saved them. Reagan was no choirboy either; divorced, a mediocre parent, prone to joking that would seem scandalous today, etc. Bill Buckley was also a reluctant parent, prone to drinking and smoking too much, a bit haughty and judgmental and a person who liked his Adderol and his sleeping pills. We all have our faults and vices. Your animus toward Trump misses the importance of what is being accomplished. And I don’t think for a nanosecond that any other Republican would have fared as well. Trumps strength is that HE DOESN’T CARE WHAT HIS OPPOSITION THINKS! He’s not looking for compromise. He’s looking for success.
Guess who?
Wrong. Oh, you’re correct in regards to the Left: They would despise him no matter how angelic, wise, gracious, and gentlemanly he could be. But if he had all the attributes you mention, there would be no Never Trump or Trump skeptics.
One of the most entertaining side affects of his election!
And that is great…. I applaud his efforts at restoring a business-friendly atmosphere.
Character matters. I think we saw that at Helsinki.
In view of the events of recent days, this is a good time to underscore my quasi-objection to this line of thinking, no matter how well stated. “Anti-Trump Republicans” are not monolithic and we have a couple of different species here. My tribe is “Anti-Trump saying unnecessarily dumb things Republican.” I (and others) defend him regularly from unhinged attacks, but also invest some energy in wanting a better Trump.
It doesn’t mean we hate him, it doesn’t mean we’ll vote for a Democrat, and it definitely doesn’t mean we don’t recognize that he generally has the country on the right path (something that may have been impossible with anyone else). It means we recognize that his unforced and unnecessary errors are still errors, and aren’t any less so because of partisan carping. Expending political capital is not a myth, and there are elections to be won. I do not see what’s wrong with accepting the good, wishing for better, and regretting when we get worse.
In my legal career, I occasionally encountered property developers whose personalities exactly match this description of President Trump, albeit these folks were successful competing in a much, much smaller market than he did in Manhattan, and then beyond. This personality style has been called the “Director”:
The President returns from how many days overseas, visiting how many countries and he gives a bad press conference. If that is a bad thing, then I guess it gives a tiny bit of credence to all his detractors who are convinced that his stance on NATO is an impeachable treasonous offense, while his meeting with Putin shows the world he is not the President of the US but the prime minister of Russia.
The “Trump is a Mirror” OP recently may mean that they’re both right…Just sayin’. :-)
Yes sir. The thought did cross my mind. That is why I wrote maybe… but I did not write: One of you is wrong. The question mark at the end was also telling, I thought.
I think you overstate his accomplishments.
Mitch McConnell and the Federalist Society deserve more credit for the judges than Trump. I like the tax cuts, but again that was accomplished more by the Congress rather than Trump. The best thing he did was largely stay out of it. There were no comments about the bill being cruel, unlike the healthcare bill.
Regulatory reform is great, but not much has been done materially.
Nothing has been accomplished with NATO countries spending more on defense, something all Presidents have pushed Europe to do. They have made a commitment, something they have done before.
There is no resolution with North Korea. They have committed to play nice. Again, they have done this before.
There is no accomplishment on Chinese IP theft, another thing all Presidents have spoken out against.
I can’t believe you’re talking about border security as an accomplishment. Very little has been done. Illegal crossings have jumped back up this year.
The deficit is going back up and projected to be near a trillion next year. He doesn’t understand trade, and is threatening to slow the economy with his tariffs. He has made it impossible to get any Democratic support for any significant legislation because of his unpopularity.
There is a real good chance we lose the House, and may only pick up 1 Senate seat in the best electoral map in recent memory. The only thing keeping the Republicans viable is that the Democrats are acting bat excrement crazy.
So I’m not ready to board the SS Trump. The shore seems just fine to me.
Very well said Doug. His biggest attribute is his independence. He is more independent than anybody that has ever been president.
Ha, ha, ha. Wrong. The Republicans controlled the Senate in 2016, and they’ll likely control it in 2020.
I doubt Mitch McConnell and the Federalist Society would have had much to say about the pick if Trump hadn’t won. That seems like an accomplishment to me. In fact, one of Trump’s greatest accomplishments may be that he does listen to conservatives, something rare for recent Republican presidents.
He’ll always be MD to me, but yes.
I know where CHAOS comes from, whence comes MD? Maybe I can like it more if I know its provenance. (I don’t mean to be cheeky, I just recall hearing that he prefers one more than the other…).
Where does ‘CHAOS’ come from? I only knew him as MD, voiced on rare occasions in back rooms and fighting positions in hushed tones. Don’t know the origination.
CHAOS was a call-sign at one time, standing for: “Colonel Has An Outstanding Solution”, I’ve heard from my Cousin-Colonel; I gladly accede to your first-hand knowledge…S/F, ST,
Exactly. Well put with a living example who predictable volunteered. How clever of you.
Remember Nixon? Hated by the best people.
No. Under Mitch’s Scalia Rule, there should not be an appointment in 2020 if there is an upcoming Presidential election that year.
Likewise LBJ was prevented from replacing Earl Warren in 1968 with Abe Fortas.
And Nixon was removed from office. Let’s let the Mueller Probe play out.