Trump Is Not Conservative, He’s A Pragmatist

mychal-massie.com ^ | January 19, 2016 | Mychal S. Massie

[Trumpinator]

Trump Is Not Conservative, He’s A Pragmatist

By Mychal Massie on January 19, 2016

We recently enjoyed a belated holiday dinner with friends at the home of other friends. The dinner conversation was jocund, ranging from discussions about antique glass and china to theology and politics. At one point reference was made to Donald Trump being a conservative to which I responded that Trump is not a conservative.

I said that I neither view nor do I believe Trump views himself as a conservative. I stated it was my opinion that Trump is a pragmatist. He sees a problem and understands it must be fixed. He doesn’t see the problem as liberal or conservative, he sees it only as a problem. That is a quality that should be admired and applauded, not condemned. But I get ahead of myself.

Viewing problems from a liberal perspective has resulted in the creation of more problems, more entitlement programs, more victims, more government, more political correctness, and more attacks on the working class in all economic strata.

Viewing things according to the so-called Republican conservative perspective has brought continued spending, globalism to the detriment of American interests and well being, denial of what the real problems are, weak, ineffective, milquetoast, leadership that amounts to Barney Fife Deputy Sheriff – appeasement oriented and afraid of its own shadow. In brief, it has brought liberal ideology with a pachyderm as a mascot juxtaposed to the ass of the Democrat Party.

script>

Immigration isn’t a Republican problem – it isn’t a liberal problem – it is a problem that threatens the very fabric and infrastructure of America. It demands a pragmatic approach not an approach that is intended to appease one group or another.

The impending collapse of the economy isn’t a liberal or conservative problem it is an American problem. That said, until it is viewed as a problem that demands a common sense approach to resolution, it will never be fixed because the Democrats and Republicans know only one way to fix things and the longevity of their impracticality has proven to have no lasting effect. Successful businessmen like Donald Trump find ways to make things work, they do not promise to accommodate.

Trump uniquely understands that China’s manipulation of currency is not a Republican problem or a Democrat problem. It is a problem that threatens our financial stability and he understands the proper balance needed to fix it. Here again successful businessmen like Trump who have weathered the changing tides of economic reality understand what is necessary to make business work and they, unlike both sides of the political aisle, know that if something doesn’t work you don’t continue trying to make it work hoping that at some point it will.

As a pragmatist Donald Trump hasn’t made wild pie-in-the-sky promises of a cell phone in every pocket, free college tuition, and a $15 hour minimum wage for working the drive-through a Carl’s Hamburgers.

I argue that America needs pragmatists because pragmatists see a problem and find ways to fix them. They do not see a problem and compound it by creating more problems.

You may not like Donald Trump but I suspect that the reason people do not like him is because: 1) he is antithetical to the “good old boy” method of brokering backroom deals that fatten the coffers of politicians; 2) they are unaccustomed to hearing a candidate speak who is unencumbered by the financial shackles of those who own them vis-a`-vis donations; 3) he is someone who is free of idiomatic political ideology; and 4) he is someone who understands that it takes more than hollow promises and political correctness to make America great again.

Listening to Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders talk about fixing America is like listening to two lunatics trying to “out crazy” one another. Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio are owned lock, stock, and barrel by the bankers, corporations, and big dollar donors funding their campaigns. Bush can deny it but common sense tells anyone willing to face facts that people don’t give tens of millions without expecting something in return.

We have had Democrats and Republican ideologues and what has it brought us? Are we better off today or worst off? Has it happened overnight or has it been a steady decline brought on by both parties?

I submit that a pragmatist might be just what America needs right now. And as I said earlier, a pragmatist sees a problem and understands that the solution to fix same is not about a party, but a willingness and boldness to get it done.

People are quick to confuse and despise confidence as arrogance but that is common amongst those who have never accomplished anything in their lives and who have always played it safe not willing to risk failure.

About Mychal Massie Mychal S. Massie is an ordained minister who spent 13 years in full-time Christian Ministry. Today he serves as founder and Chairman of the Racial Policy Center (RPC), a think tank he officially founded in September 2015. RPC advocates for a colorblind society. He was founder and president of the non-profit “In His Name Ministries.” He is the former National Chairman of the conservative black think tank, Project 21-The National Leadership Network of Black Conservatives and a former member of its parent think tank, the National Center for Public Policy Research.

[TBP]

To quote the late, great Howard Phillips, founder of the Conservative Caucus, “Pragmatism doesn’t work.”

[Trumpinator]

Credit goes to VideoDoctor for finding and turning me on to this article.

I did point out in my conversation with the Doctor that I remember either on talk radio (was it Rush?) of in columns back in the day stating that to be a conservative was to be pragmatic/reality based and it was the liberals who were based on pie in the sky ideologies not grounded in real world realities.

[Trumpinator]

prag·mat·ic
praɡˈmadik/
adjective
adjective: pragmatic

dealing with things sensibly and realistically in a way that is based on practical rather than theoretical considerations.
“a pragmatic approach to politics”

[TBP]

he is antithetical to the "good old boy" method of brokering backroom deals that fatten the coffers of politicians

No, that's exactly what he's promising. He's running as a deal-maker. "I'll make great deals." And he says he can deal with Pelosi and Reid.

Same old, same old.

[TBP]

he is someone who understands that it takes more than hollow promises and political correctness to make America great again.

Are you kidding? Hollow phrases are all we get from him. "Make America great again." "We're going to win all the time." And so forth. That's his whole campaign.

[TBP]

The “pragmatists” are the ones who have made this mess.

[Durbin]

He’s a pragmatist. If he sees a particular issue from the left, big govt will solve it. If he sees a particular issue from the right, big govt will solve it. Don’t worry, whatever it is, as long as Trump is in charge the Feds will make things great again.

[Trumpinator]

Deal making is how the constitution came about. There is a difference with backroom brokering and deal making. You want an ideologically pure system that avoids deal making then scrap the constitution first.

[20yearsofinternet]

I liked Rich Lowry’s “acceptance phase of denial” description of him in his last article in Politico.

“The Destroyer Cometh”

He is here to tear down the GOPe and RNC globalists. He has flushed hundreds of millions of their dollars down the toilet. He has shown them to be the vapid, ineffectual failures that they have been for the past 20 years. They will fade, and real conservatism will coalesce and rise in their place. Whether Trump leads the way or is overtaken is irrelevant in the end: he is the catalyst that will bring about the changing of the guard.

[heights]

“Pragmatism doesn’t work.” Look how well ‘Conservatism” has.

[Boogieman]

One problem with a pragmatist is that they may turn on you as soon as it is pragmatic for them to do so.

[TBP]

Trump and his deals have nothing to do with the Constitution. Cruz is the most consistently constitutionalist candidate in the field.

Donald’s disregard for the Constitution almost matches 0bama’s. Proof of that is that while The Don says he’ll scarp all of 0bama’s executive orders (another promise he stole from Cruz), he then says “I’ll do good ones.” IOW, he’ll continue and extend the government by pen and phone that we all oppose, which shows he doesn’t understand the constitutional structure.

[ScottinVA]

He may be a pragmatist, all right... but what are the objectives toward which those pragmatic approaches will be applied? Therein lies the question.

[FewsOrange]

Trumpcare - “I am going to take care of everybody”

[TBP]

We really haven’t had a chance to implement conservative ideas and policies over any long period of time.

[Grampa Dave]

How an Obscure Adviser to Pat Buchanan Predicted the Wild Trump Campaign in 1996

The Week dot com ^ | Michael Brendan Dougherty
Posted on 1/20/2016, 2:17:11 AM by WayneLusvardi

Imagine giving this advice to a Republican presidential candidate: What if you stopped calling yourself a conservative and instead just promised to make America great again?

What if you dropped all this leftover 19th-century piety about the free market and promised to fight the elites who were selling out American jobs?

What if you just stopped talking about reforming Medicare and Social Security and instead said that the elites were failing to deliver better healthcare at a reasonable price?

What if, instead of vainly talking about restoring the place of religion in society something that appeals only to a narrow slice of Middle America. You simply promised to restore the Middle American core, the economic and cultural losers of globalization to their rightful place in America?

What if you said you would re store them as the chief clients of the American state under your watch, being mindful of their interests when regulating the economy or negotiating trade deals?

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/3385923/posts

[TBP]

“and the government is going to pay for it.”

[ScottinVA]

Donald’s disregard for the Constitution almost matches 0bama’s.

There will be similarities. Trump won't like dealing with Congress or the people either. He will use authoritarian measures to achieve his goals... whatever they are.

[Sasparilla]

..I’ll make great deals.”...

As a CEO, Trump does not make deals unless he wins.
He has stated, that as CEO of the USA, be will use the same skills to win.