Spellbound? Leading anti-war progressives have begun speaking favorably of Trump

Signs of the times ^ | 20 June 2016 | John V. Walsh

[nightlight7]

Until recently the progressive mind has been resolutely closed and stubbornly frozen in place against all things Trump. But cracks are appearing in the ice. With increasing frequency over the last few months some of the most thoughtful left and progressive figures have begun to speak favorably of aspects of Trump's foreign policy. Let us hear from these heretics, among them William Greider, Glen Ford, John Pilger,Jean Bricmont, Stephen F. Cohen and William Blum. Their words are not to be construed as "endorsements," but rather an acknowledgement of Trump's anti-interventionist views, the impact those views are having and the alternative he poses to Hillary Clinton in the current electoral contest.

[nightlight7]

Progressive thinkers switching to Trump.

[Ann Archy]

Saw a VERY disturbing expensive sports car today in Sarasota....left side of the bumper was a BERNIE sign!!! and the right side of the bumper said TRUMP!!!!! Now THAT is disturbing.

[HiTech RedNeck]

That is a droll sight (not a troll sight).

[ClearCase_guy]

I would maintain that Progressive thinkers don’t actually think very much. They have emotions. They don’t like their current situation and they want things to change. That’s about as much thinking as they’ve done.

Trump has ideas. About taxes. About security. About jobs. About foreign policy. I think his ideas are good ideas. But as far as Progressives are concerned, none of this really matters. I’m not sure those people actually notice that Trump has solid ideas.

But here’s the point: Trump is talking the language of change. Hillary isn’t. On the contrary, Hillary is as Establishment as anyone can be. But Trump will shake things up.

The Bernie Sanders supporters are looking for change of some kind. They aren’t picky. They don’t have ideas. But they know that Trump will change things.

Easy pick up.

[exDemMom]

I’ve seen a few articles like this.

If you are a logical thinker, you realize that beefing up the military is not, in itself, an action that is likely to lead to war. On the contrary, a strong military is a deterrent to attack, which decreases the likelihood of war. Especially if our enemies know that we are slow to attack, but deadly and effective when we do—they will not risk attacking us.

The Democrat way, which is to weaken the military so that it cannot act effectively, while finding all kinds of excuses for military action, is exactly the recipe for war. It is that kind of misuse of the military that emboldens enemies and encourages them to become increasingly aggressive and belligerent. This is why the Middle East is so unstable, and we have so many attacks and attempted attacks in the US. They don’t think we’re strong enough to stop them.

Perhaps some of the “pacifists” are beginning to understand the real meaning of “Speak softly and carry a big stick.”

[null and void]

His and hers bumper stickers...

[taildragger]

Saw a VERY disturbing expensive sports car today in Sarasota....left side of the bumper was a BERNIE sign!!! and the right side of the bumper said TRUMP!!!!! Now THAT is disturbing.

No, because probably their teen and 20 something kids like someone else that wasn't on the bumper.

That is Rand Paul.

FWIW, this is who I think Trump's VP will be...

Senator Rand Paul

Follow me on this...

* Trump needs to get things through the House and Senate.
* With Newt as Chief of Staff, he can work Bills through the House with him.
* And with Paul as Presiding over the Senate he has got a contact with the Senate to maneuver through that mind field.
* More So...
* IMHO Mitch McConnell owes Rand.....
* Say what you will about Matt Bevin as a Senate Candidate, he is the Gov. now, and is not to be taken lightly IMHO. Without Rand endorsing McConnell it might have been Senator Bevin.
* As a Fellow Freeper noted they have seen Sanders and Paul bumper stickers on cars in College / Liberal areas.
* FWIW, the Bernsters are not going to pull the lever for Kim Jong Shrill.
* As someone who is around kids I have noted the Millennial interest in Rand and I think he could swing a number of disaffected Bernie Voters to Trump, they like him he has got that Uncandidate Hipster thing going on and they dig it.

Three other things....

* Rand bowed out early with grace. and gave an unequivocal 100% Endorsement of Donald Trump
* Rand is also deemed as an outsider, he is an "insurance policy" that the ticket will not cave to the establishment
* And he was the only one to talk about cutting government and the debt, something that Trump around the edges has noted.

Sounds like a winner to me

FWIW, this is who I think Trump's VP will be...

[ez]

I like the Rand Paul idea. He had the best campaign positions of any of the candidates, imho.

[ClearCase_guy]

Interesting.

I am not a Rand Paul fan, but I see the logic of what you say. It could happen.

[taildragger]

thanks!

[Voluntaryist]

OMG me too!! I don’t know why no one is talking about him as a possibility tbh.

[taildragger]

The smoke screen from all the Trump insiders is to keep us of the trail of who it truly is, pay no attention to the man behind the curtain. What is important is supposed to go down on the down low.. I just pulled the curtain back...

[Voluntaryist]

I think you summed it up perfectly in this post, along with the original one and could not agree more.

PS - I’m not really in love with Paul, but I don’t dislike him either. I just want Trump to win in November and this will obviously only help make that happen.

[Tailback]

I could see Rand Paul being the VP, but, what is his position on immigration? Is he an open borders style libertarian or a national sovereignty style libertarian.

If Rand Paul is the VP pick, it’s gonna be a landslide. All the angry Bernie voters will flock to the Trump/Paul ticket.

[taildragger]

"If Rand Paul is the VP pick, it’s gonna be a landslide."

A blowout so big Tailback it may even dwarf what I thought the numbers might be.

Trump is picking up increased numbers ( I am sure you have seen the numbers ) with the following:

* Working class Blacks inner city especially, the get the Obama / Clinton follow on economy has done them no good.
* Hispanics, they get this guy creates jobs or will get a team in Washington to do so.
* The LGBT community after Orlando, they now get the 2nd Amendment is important.
* Women.. They get the Alpha male will wipe out ISIS and they won't pull the lever for she with the VajayJay because She is Nasty "Queen Bee" and women can pick out these Beeotch's that they don't want to work for.

Add the College aged millennials to this mix and how high above 60% are we?

[Ben Ficklin]

Anti-war democrats and isolationist republicans have always been natural allies on foreign policy.

Likewise, Neocon republicans and liberal interventionist democrats(like Hillary) have always been natural allies. Which is why most NeoCons prefer Hillary to Trump.

And it is not just NeoCons. The two prominent republican foreign policy Realists, Richard Armitage and Brent Scowcroft, have come out in support of Hillary.

[Tailback]

You didn’t answer my question on Rand Paul’s immigration stance?

You forgot to include trade unions members in your list of people that aren’t traditionally republicans but will probably vote Trump.

[little jeremiah]

Rand Paul changes with the wind. He is not solid or trustworthy, he is self serving. Not good vp material. Too libertarian regarding borders etc.

[little jeremiah]

He also catered to #BLM crap with “too many black men in prison” etc.

[Talisker]

Well argued.

Also intriguing.