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Trump2020: A Response to One Objection
One objection to re-electing President Trump in 2020 is that, because he exhibits so many of the personal traits which conservatives have traditionally condemned, his election by Republicans casts the latter as hypocrites and removes character as a dimension on which future Republicans can differentiate their candidates from those of the Democrats.
While I made this argument during the primaries leading up to the 2016 election, I think it is no longer relevant. Republicans have already elected Trump; failing to re-elect him will not in any way redeem Republicans. We live in a hostile, left-leaning media environment, and there is no voice on the left that will speak well of Republicans for rejecting President Trump in 2020. That would require a degree of charity the left is completely unwilling to extend.
Whatever damage to the moral standing of Republicans that the election of President Trump can do has been done, and nothing will reverse it or make it significantly worse. Those who think otherwise are crediting the left with more grace than there is any reason to believe it possesses.
I continue to believe that, on balance, the arguments in favor of re-electing President Trump remain compelling.
Published in Elections
After two years of reading (Congressional testimony transcripts, articles from the few sane journalists I find worth reading) and listening (news and podcast interviews like Byron York’s excellent sessions with John Dowd) — and yes, reading the Mueller report — there’s one thing I know: I may not have voted for Donald Trump in 2016, but by God I will be in 2020.
If lawyers like Weissmann and Mueller are what’s been considered DOJ poster boys of excellence, it’s no wonder Comey & Co. (and likely some upper echelon intelligence) crossed several lines in their pursuit of a crime serious enough to take out a POTUS.
According to my reading, charging obstruction of justice was a section 1512 pipe dream Weissmann had used before, succeeded and been overturned by higher court. Barr’s June 2018 letter to Rosenstein discussing collusion/obstruction by a POTUS was spot on.
I also don’t believe wanting to relieve Mueller is obstruction of justice, particularly given there was no basis for special counsel under DOJ guidelines and Mueller had obviously already concluded no collusion. (The one strong criticism of Mueller given by John Dowd was that Mueller did not keep his word to expedite things in response to the extraordinary access Trump admin gave him.) Unwise to remove him, IMO, but not obstructing justice.
To my knowledge and memory there has never been a modern day POTUS who allowed this level of access to the inner workings of his administration, and definitely not one who waived executive privilege to the extent Trump has. I notice writers like David French who claim Trump to be a morally bankrupt character don’t elaborate on this if they make mention at all; it doesn’t fit easily in the “Trump is a liar” frame.
This could have been an interesting thread. Instead we got Obstructing Assertions from a Zealot. Oh well….
If a lawyer lies and obstructs justice, he or she will be disbarred.
If a President repeatedly lies and obstructs Justice, he should be removed from office. I would prefer removal by being rejected by his or her party. If not, the party should be removed by the voters.
Read the Mueller Report.
Now so common around here that some adaptation of it ought to be adopted as the new site slogan.
Interesting. I believe the Republicans (I assume you mean elected Republicans) did more damage to their moral standing by not fighting the Democrats with every fiber of their being. As for the moral standing of Republican voters, there’s no damage whatsoever. In fact, I’d argue voting for Trump was the right thing to do, because to vote for Hillary or not even vote at all would have allowed evil to triumph.
And yes, I think the left in this country has reached the level where they can be considered evil. I believe a lot of Democrat voters don’t realize what they have voted into office . . .
The remedy for a sitting President is not prosecution, but removal from office.
Read the Mueller Report.
I had never heard that the Constitution was written on vellum. I always thought it was parchment — high quality paper with a high rag content.
But the National Archives web site says parchment and vellum were originally terms for the same thing – animal skins scraped thin and smooth. Learn something new every third day, I guess.
Policy-wise, Trump has been no worse than any Republican in living memory. I would still vote for Ted Cruz again in the primary, if he ran. I can’t think of anything Trump would do that Cruz wouldn’t.
I am even more convinced that I need to run away from two labels, conservative and Republican, not because of Trump but to separate myself from some who claim them. Two years of NTs have moved me into the Schlicter Militant Normals group. I am not likely to move back.
I hadn’t heard “Militant Normals” before. I like it but am still partial to “Rational Anarchists.”
Well put, @fakejohnjanegault. What really concerns me that seems to be getting lost in so much of the reporting/discussion is the a) abuse of power by federal agencies in “investigating” Trump, including the Mueller team’s out of line prosecutorial actions, and b) relentless drumbeat of most press and anti-Trump efforts to remove him from office. How is he able to get up in the morning, let alone get anything done in office?
In my view point a) should be a primary focus of the AG and Congress in its oversight role, and point b) should be a strongly mitigating factor in any consideration of the Mueller report assertions regarding Trump’s words/actions.
I haven’t seen any laws cited that Trump broke. All I have seen is a man justifiably angry about being excoriated every minute 24/7 for something he knew he didn’t do. And, as it turns out, he didn’t. So during these past two years or more he had moments of frustration which he apparently openly expressed to his closest associates, who wisely convinced him to cool down–which he did. He didn’t fire anyone but Comey. He handed over millions of documents–everything Muller asked for, except an interview. He allowed Muller access to all associates without citing executive privilege. Trump even allowed the entire final report to be published–an unprecedented amount of Presidential transparency. Nothing is ever good enough. Gary and all the other Lucys out there will always pull the football back. So at this point Trump should send all overflow of illegals he is forced to release to “sanctuary” places whilel he takes money from anywhere he can to build the wall. He should keep building the wall no matter what individual judge in Seattle or anywhere says. Only if and when SCOTUS says stop, should he stop. What does PDJT have to lose? When all this is over and he is no longer POTUS, he will still be a billionaire with a loving family. And he will have tried as hard as he could to get this country squared away again. Maybe, just maybe, he’ll succeed.
How about win, for starters? I like Cruz too @aaronmiller. I believe he has been stalwart in his behavior and support for Trump, even though he has as good a reason as anyone not to. For that alone I tip my hat.
I don’t understand the “poor character” arguments. I do not care about the morals of my politicians as long as said morals do not affect my freedom. Give me good policies. Setting your moral compass based on the views of politicians, or musicians or actors should strictly be a left thing. That’s why whenever someone like Kanye West talks about supporting Republicans, the left goes completely insane. Celebrities are their Jesus Christ.
I don’t care if Trump committed adultery. That does not in any way affect my chances of committing adultery. I don’t care about his Twitter or Twitter in general. The overemphasis we place on the “morality” of our candidates borders on deification. Furthermore, the most “moral” politicians seem to always find a way to impose what they think is moral on me. No thank you. Barring something insane happening, voting Trump in 2020 will be one of the easiest decisions I’ve ever made.
So a constant refrain of “read the report,” and not a single detail of how a crime was committed. Just telling people to read a 400-page document.
Sounds like someone with no specifics to point to.
No worse? How about as good or better than Reagan, and certainly better than the Bushels, Ford, and Nixon.
Anyway, it just might depend on your policy preferences and idea of what a President “should be”.
However, I doubt Cruz could maneuver as well as Trump has through the media fog. I think he’d be somewhat paralyzed by his ideology, and the left knows well how to attack on that front. They can’t quite get a bead on Trump, so they go for his character and random tweets. Meanwhile, all kinds of things are getting done. Trump is allowing his persona to be martyred for the sake of winning and getting things done.
Imagine if the left went after Trumps policies-as they would versus Cruz.
But politically, if Cruz chose to primary Trump ( not likely) Cruz would lose. If Cruz won, he’d almost certainly lose to the Democrat.
So in my view, you are stuck with Trump.
Reelection.
What has he done that will not easily be undone by the next Democrat?
He nominated judges, which is a crapshoot for anyone. We would expect any Republican in office to nominate similar judges.
Most of his accomplishments have been executive orders that can be undone by the same.
His one great accomplishment has been to push legislators to reduce the corporate income tax (double taxation) by a significant amount. That will take legislation to undo (which probably will happen).
He’s a lame duck. Republican legislators gave him nothing.
If his legal team successfully breaks Obamacare via SCOTUS, that would be huge. Otherwise, his presidency — like that of any Republican — has been a blip in the long march toward totalitarian government. Any mildly conservative Republican would have done as much.
The most historically significant aspects of his first term as President are useless legislators and the continuing degradation of elections (the Mueller-media strategy). Perhaps disintegration of the GOP and conservative alliances will also prove a lasting consequence, but there were cracks long before Trump.
I would expect Cruz to nominate similar judges, but I frankly would not expect most of the Republicans in office to do so.
Do we know for certain that he would have been impeached and convicted? That’s a sincere question. I was only 6 or so when Watergate happened and definitely wasn’t paying any attention to politics then. Nor have I done a lot of research on the subject since then.
So the question is an honest one: how certain was it that Nixon would have been impeached and convicted had he chosen to ride the situation out? Did he resign because he was certain Congress would remove him from office, or did he resign simply because he felt it would be best for the country if he did – that fighting to stay would cause severe damage to the public trust and he didn’t want to do that?
Definitely.
He brought 5 million new jobs and presided over historic employment levels. Wages have gone up for middle and low income earners for the first time in decades. He renegotiated trade agreements with Canada, Mexico and Korea, with important negotiations with China underway, the only result possible is improvement. He moved the US Embassy to Jerusalem-something promised by every Presidential candidate since Reagan, but somehow, not delivered. Defeated ISIS by allowing our military to use different rules of engagement.
Ended the Iran deal. Is making NATO countries pay their promised amounts. Withdrew for the ridiculous Paris climate change accords. Stopped Norma from threatening neighbors and facilities a detente between N and S Koreas.
Forced the media out of their closet. Forced phony conservatives and phony Republicans to chose their true sides and show their true colors. Highlighted the ongoing border crisis which will ultimately have positive effects no matter what. Has and will bring more Blacks and Hispanics into the fold – more than any previous Republican. Has passed much needed prison reform.
Given people who voted Republican tangible things so they can once again trust their vote means something.
And there’s things he didn’t do or hasn’t done, like engage us in more foreign adventures.
There’s even more…
All this in an extremely hostile media and legal/intelligence environment.
Imagine what could be done with allies in the House and Senate.
That’s what saddens me. The GOP so often seems to squander any advantage.
From Wikipedia (yes, I know, but I’ll also pull the citation):
(Citation: Black, Conrad (2007). Richard M. Nixon: A Life in Full. New York: PublicAffairs Books. ISBN 978-1-58648-519-1. p. 978)
Deregulation by fiat and trade deals are significant. They are also temporary. The next president can undo his work.
I almost mentioned the recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capitol. It’s a good gesture, but it won’t affect anything. If we elect another Obama, our diplomacy with Israel will suffer all the same. We still suffer the UN.
Good point on the rules of engagement.
The Iran Deal — good, but Cruz would have done the same. I don’t see any lasting change with North Korea. Sadly, we have reached a point where many Republicans are wishy-washy on climate/green hysteria. Getting NATO members to pay up is good.
Again, I’m not saying he’s a bad president. He has been better than most in some ways. But he’s a blip in history. A decade from now, we will still be hearkening back to Reagan more than Trump.
Because Nixon had some guilt of the underlying crime.
President Trump does not.
Agreed. Merely answering @weeping’s question.
Agreed as well. Just adding to the point for the overall conversation.
Deleting and placing my thanks with post #61.