Trump puts principle over politics

One of the reasons why the liberal media and the political pros have a hard time understanding President Donald Trump is that, unlike others, he puts his promises and principles above all.

Trump is not a career politician. He, unlike most career politicians, isn’t devoted to governing by poll numbers in order to burnish a political resume for personal gain. The trade dispute with China illustrates Trump’s “principles over politics” approach perfectly.

President Bill Clinton backed China’s entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO). When that happened in 2001, the political class, liberals, media and big business were ecstatic. They believed that China would follow the rules and the trade deficit with the U.S. would diminish.

They ignorantly believed that Americans would gain jobs and China would “liberalize” economically — meaning be open to world trade and commerce — while supporting the rule of law and affording its people basic freedoms. All these assumptions have been proven disastrously wrong for hard-working Americans as we lost millions of jobs, suffered wage stagnation and watched the manufacturing base destroyed, while our intellectual property was stolen.

No president, Republican or Democrat, since China joined the WTO has attempted what Trump is doing. Others posed for pictures, took Chinese leaders at their word and assured our country’s workers that all would be fine; yet in the end, despite promises, agreements and signatures, the Chinese changed nothing.

So far so good. Trump has held on immigration, but he’ll again be pulled on it. And the toddlers in the White House, no doubt, are pulling Trump on gun control.

If he can hold out on both issues, basically keep his word to his voters, he’ll even surpass Reagan in my book, given Reagan’s disastrous 1986 Amnesty, which was certainly not why he got elected.

"President Bill Clinton backed China’s entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO). When that happened in 2001, the political class, liberals, media and big business were ecstatic. They believed that China would follow the rules and the trade deficit with the U.S. would diminish."

"They ignorantly believed that Americans would gain jobs and China would “liberalize” economically — meaning be open to world trade and commerce — while supporting the rule of law and affording its people basic freedoms. All these assumptions have been proven disastrously wrong for hard-working Americans as we lost millions of jobs, suffered wage stagnation and watched the manufacturing base destroyed, while our intellectual property was stolen."

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Great thread. I learned a lot. Thanks for posting.

America is schizophrenic. We have this article praising President Trump as a man of high moral standards, on the one hand, and the entire Democrat party insisting that he is a mad dog with little principle and no mental ability. WTH? Does this point to a deeper cognitive break in the American psyche? You betcha.
We have 2 sides in a political struggle each claiming the other side is certifiably insane. Is there a deeper division that this conflict represents? Yep again.
The division in our culture has as its fault line belief in God. Democrats are the party of atheism. Republicans are the party of Judeo Christianity. Never the twain shall meet.
Démocrats boo the mention of God at their national convention. Republicans cheer when God is invoked. The division goes to our understanding of the nature of reality.
Democrats claim to be committed to a scientific view of nature, as though God and science are polar opposites. Republicans, on the other hand, are content to grant God absolute dominion over nature and, by extension, the scientific method.
The real conflict lies in the source of truth for each side.
Truth, for the anti-Trumper derives from the searcher. It is not so much that the scientist discovers truth as that he determines what is true by virtue of his keen ability to espouse his position. “It is true because I say it is true,” is the mantra of the leftist. Truth, for the atheist, grows out of the political struggle. Ultimately this is the view of the CCP, the USSR, the Third Reich, and all other dictatorial governments.
The struggle is real. President Trump is either a man of high moral character or he is a dunce with malevolent agenda. Each of us must choose which is true. Jesus demands we choose. Which way will you go? The path is narrow and difficult that leads to salvation, but the slide is deep and easy that leads to damnation. There is no other Truth. I know this because God has said it and His authority over the very nature of Truth is absolute. I stake my soul on that proposition.

They believed that China would follow the rules and the trade deficit with the U.S. would diminish."

They did not believe this. This is what they told the public. They expected exactly the result that occurred. In order to achieve globalization, the nations have to "level out," the US must "lose," in a sense.

This has been PoliSci 101 for decades.

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