I Have Seen the Future and It Is…Trump

 

In 1983 I saw a compact disc player for the first time. I told my then-fiancee (now wife of 36 years) that “I have seen the future.” And, indeed I did.

As I am writing I am watching Mark Levin interview Donald Trump Jr., on Life, Liberty and Levin. Fox News has posted some clips from the show. Trump is flogging his new book Triggered: How the Left Thrives on Hate and Wants to Silence Us. And I am getting the same reaction to watching Donald Trump Jr. as I had at seeing the compact disc for the first time.

I have seen Trump before, of course. But children of politicians generally have small speaking parts or are sent out with the talking points in friendly confines. In those settings he has seemed like a competent messenger, but not as a potent independent actor himself.

Tonight was different. Tonight you heard a passionate man speak of his own experience. He acknowledged how being his father’s son has advantaged him. But he ably contrasted his situation from Hunter Biden. Trump has been working in the private sector for decades achieving success with private capital; Biden achieved his gains based on taxpayer furnished power and capital for his father as a Senator and Vice President.

Tonight you heard Trump’s side as the #2 target in the Mueller witch hunt. You heard Trump’s disgust with leftist tactics. You heard Trump speak of his mother’s (Ivana’s) experience as someone who lived through Naziism and Communism. You heard him speak of his maternal Grandparents who still live in the Czech Republic, who only get US news through CNN, and who are terrified for their grandchildren and great-grandchildren in America due to the ascendancy of socialism in the USA.

I don’t know what is going to happen to President Trump in the House, the Senate, or the voting booth in November 2020. I do know that President Trump will not be in the White House in February 2025. But Donald Trump Jr. may not leave the political field when his father is either taken down or obtains emeritus status. And listening to him tonight, I hope he doesn’t.

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.

There are 16 comments.

Become a member to join the conversation. Or sign in if you're already a member.
  1. Manny Coolidge
    Manny
    @Manny

    I’ll have to try to catch the repeat. Thanks. 

    • #1
  2. Fake John/Jane Galt Coolidge
    Fake John/Jane Galt
    @FakeJohnJaneGalt

    I have always thought that Trumps gambit for the Presidency was to move his family dynasty from private sector into politics.  I suspect the election itself was a win-win situation for him with an actual win being the best of two good outcomes.  If his children are a capable as they seem to be they will be players for decades to come.

    • #2
  3. EJHill Podcaster
    EJHill
    @EJHill

    I hope not. I am personally opposed to dynastic politics.

    • #3
  4. Franco Member
    Franco
    @Franco

    I hope this doesn’t sound cruel, but picking Kimberly Guilfoyle as a partner renders his judgement questionable.

    I am turning into a huge fan of the Donald. I like his son, and I will enjoy the show, but I am also against these dynasties. They seem to metastasize. It’s amazing though….When we Americans are deprived of royalty, we are compelled to invent it.

     

    • #4
  5. Kevin Schulte Member
    Kevin Schulte
    @KevinSchulte

    No More dynasty !

    • #5
  6. E. Kent Golding Moderator
    E. Kent Golding
    @EKentGolding

    I have about 2000 music CDs  ( mostly used.  I can’t afford new ).  CDs are not the future.  They are a dead end.   Too much physical clutter to organize.  Tidal and Quboz are the red pill,  Apple Music is the blue pill.

    I am not a Trump fan boy,  but I will vote for him in 2020.    The idea of a Trump dynasty appeals to me fully as much as a Clinton, Obama, Bush, or Biden dynasty.

    • #6
  7. E. Kent Golding Moderator
    E. Kent Golding
    @EKentGolding

    Kevin Schulte (View Comment):

    No More dynasty !

    The TV show was rather successful.   Most of the actors and actresses are rather decrepit now,  but perhaps it could be brought back with fresh young actors and actresses.

    • #7
  8. Rodin Member
    Rodin
    @Rodin

    Interesting how many of the commenters reacted to this post and thought “dynasty”. Stepping back now, I can see how that was evoked. But it is also interesting that I did not think of that at all as I posted my reaction to Donald Trump Jr.’s appearance on Life, Liberty & Levin. What I saw was a man coming into the peak of his energy and influence with an important outlook on what has gone wrong in the country and a passion to communicate that and pursue restoration. A man who was embodying what many of us dream of in the realm of the citizen representative — a productive life outside of politics and a willingness to serve in government to preserve the liberty that lies at the foundation of personal success.

    Now, it is true that when you have political families and a sense of entitlement, that energy can be placed in service of dynastic ambitions. That wasn’t the note I heard last night. 

    There is a long fight ahead. We need all the sharpest weapons to hand. We will be lucky to keep the hounds at bay through 2024. I think Donald Trump Jr.’s perspective is important for the long march.

    • #8
  9. Annefy Member
    Annefy
    @Annefy

    I am enjoying this. Uploaded this am, Don Jr. on The Dave Rubin Show.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=twZXsp00bl4

    • #9
  10. Valiuth Member
    Valiuth
    @Valiuth

    Kevin Schulte (View Comment):

    No More dynasty !

    Shut up and get on the Trump Train. This is what you people voted for. Trumps all the way down. 

    At least God had the good sense to start killing off the Kennedy’s though he seemed to stop short of completion. Now he has abandoned us. Why have you forsaken us Lord? There are people in need of a good smiting. 

     

     

    • #10
  11. Stad Coolidge
    Stad
    @Stad

    EJHill (View Comment):

    I hope not. I am personally opposed to dynastic politics.

    I am too, when it comes to political appointments.  However, the voters have a say whther or not they want a family member of a current or former politician in office.  Think about how many wives or widows have run for and won their husbands’ seats?  Got another one brewing in Maryland . . .

    • #11
  12. Kay Ludlow Inactive
    Kay Ludlow
    @KayLudlow

    Franco (View Comment):

    IIt’s amazing though….When we Americans are deprived of royalty, we are compelled to invent it.

     

    I will take Ivanka over Kate and Meghan everyday and twice on Sundays.

    • #12
  13. Franco Member
    Franco
    @Franco

    Valiuth (View Comment):

    Kevin Schulte (View Comment):

    No More dynasty !

    Shut up and get on the Trump Train. This is what you people voted for. Trumps all the way down.

    At least God had the good sense to start killing off the Kennedy’s though he seemed to stop short of completion. Now he has abandoned us. Why have you forsaken us Lord? There are people in need of a good smiting.

    We are on the Trump train. 

    God killed the Kennedy’s ? I thought it was the Deep State and their mafia friends (and I thought I was being conspiratorial!?)

    I never thought it went all the way to the top! Bombshell if true!

     

    • #13
  14. Franco Member
    Franco
    @Franco

    Stad (View Comment):

    EJHill (View Comment):

    I hope not. I am personally opposed to dynastic politics.

    I am too, when it comes to political appointments. However, the voters have a say whther or not they want a family member of a current or former politician in office. Think about how many wives or widows have run for and won their husbands’ seats? Got another one brewing in Maryland . . .

    But do voters really have a say? 
    Look, if it was between voting for Don Jr, and Pete Buttegieg in 2028, I’d pick the former. But is that a choice? Family members are uniquely positioned in party politics to get nominated. 
    If you look at the Bush family, they had the father as VP for 8 years, President for 4, and then the son for 8 as President. That’s 20 years of installing allies into key positions in government and in party politics. 
    Hillary would never have been able to succeed in politics without the Clinton machine behind her.

    I want a law that bans any direct relative or spouse of a President from holding office in line for the Presidency. That’s son, daughter, wife, ex wife, ex husband, brother, sister, father, mother ( the last two cases are highly unlikely but should still be included)

    • #14
  15. Rodin Member
    Rodin
    @Rodin

    Franco (View Comment):
    I want a law that bans any direct relative or spouse of a President from holding office in line for the Presidency. That’s son, daughter, wife, ex wife, ex husband, brother, sister, father, mother ( the last two cases are highly unlikely but should still be included)

    I am sympathetic with that view. (It is a view oft expressed by Mrs Rodin and so I must agree with it.) But it is easier to ban titles than it is to control familial relations. The basic complaint is the tendency toward authoritarian rule when “machines” are created. But the element of “machines” are not limited to family members. And the banning of family members from holding certain elective offices do not defeat “machines”. 

    When you look to where allies are placed — government at various levels, media, corporate boards, NGOs — the familial ban is weak. We have to admit that dynasty bans are like campaign finance reform: we either cut off our nose to spite our face or simply shift strategies. 

    • #15
  16. CarolJoy, Above Top Secret Coolidge
    CarolJoy, Above Top Secret
    @CarolJoy

    Franco (View Comment):

    Valiuth (View Comment):

    Kevin Schulte (View Comment):

    No More dynasty !

    Shut up and get on the Trump Train. This is what you people voted for. Trumps all the way down.

    At least God had the good sense to start killing off the Kennedy’s though he seemed to stop short of completion. Now he has abandoned us. Why have you forsaken us Lord? There are people in need of a good smiting.

    We are on the Trump train.

    God killed the Kennedy’s ? I thought it was the Deep State and their mafia friends (and I thought I was being conspiratorial!?)

    I never thought it went all the way to the top! Bombshell if true!

     

    Of course God was involved. How else could one explain that magic bullet? (Unless that was from Satan.)

    • #16
Become a member to join the conversation. Or sign in if you're already a member.