Posted on 02/21/2016 3:21:29 PM PST by NavVet
I'm trying to understand FR's embrace of the Donald, but I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around this one. I too had a favorable first reaction when I heard him talking about building the wall in absolute terms, and his rejection of the concept of amnesty for illegal aliens. I also admired that he was the first politician in a long time that would fight back against the media and left-wing attacks, instead of trying to appease the left. However, that admiration quickly wore off when I researched Trump and found clip after clip of the man, in his own words embracing every liberal talking point in the book. Planned Parenthood, gay marriage, abortion, government health care, protectionist trade policies, increasing taxes on businesses and the most productive. Of course, the man has taken the opposite positions on most of these two. Sometimes he will take both sides of an issue in the same discussion. Also, his "I'm awesome at___________" is wearing a bit thin. I want to hear what you plan to do, not how great you are. Then there is his child like temper, calling anyone he doesn't agree with , Liar, Pu@@Y or worse. Just seems kind of juvenile. The personality quirks I could live with, but a man who praises Nancy Pelosi, John Kerry and Hillary Clinton is another thing. And perhaps most important of all, he has said that his uber liberal sister would be a great Supreme Court Justice. Other than being a recent convert on Immigration this man has no conservative bona fides and yet have of FR acts like you would expect this board to react if Ronald Regan had returned. I just don't get it. If Bernie Sanders starts lobbying for the fair tax and runs for President on the GOP ticket would the Trumpets start feeling the Bern.
Not really, Churchill spoke in complete sentences.
One of the things that did happen to me is that during Clinton admin I was the one that was tagged to give the Mandatory annual “Don’t ask don’t tell” Lecture.
Feedback was
#1 It was entertaining, enlightening and it was given with passion.
#2 They really enjoyed the Oathkeepers Video that I played afterwards, after hours, that I am proud to say that 90+% stuck around for ... even though they had been dismissed for the day.
The Command assigned me the Duty as punishment for non-compliance (for the Anti-Clinton Sticker) also knowing I was very much against it. I stuffed it right back down their throat.
Military Politics is not my strong suite and it cost me dearly.
You're talking about a period of time when Donald Trump was in the private sector, as well as very wealthy.
There's no doubt that, in such circumstances, Trump would schmooze with leaders from both political parties.
Some things have clearly changed now for Trump. He's identifying as a Republican and is clearly promoting policies (immigration, terrorism, taxes, etc.) that are staunchly conservative, for the most part.
As for abortion, in truth, what Donald Trump, or, for that matter, any potential President, thinks about abortion is not going to change the legal situation on the ground in any significant way. That is for Congress, state legislatures, and the courts.
Donald Trump has many flaws. But I believe that he loves his country very much, ad will pour every ounce of his energy into being a good President, and one with conservative policies in several very important areas.
Is Trump ideologically pure or some kind of Constitutional guru? No.
But he is a good and true American whose heart is in exactly the right place, and who will at least try to get some very important things done.
If somebody like Ted Cruz wants to usurp Trump's dominant position, he's going to have to do it by making a better case, as opposed to just trying to tear Trump down and say how bad he is.
That's going to be a tall order, and, demographically, I believe that Trump has a much easier path to winning the general election. Cruz's appeal appears to be rather narrow, and, as good a debater as he obviously is, his charisma is no match for Trump's. And we all know that that matters when picking a President.
My conclusion is that most Trump's supporters have chosen to disregard his flaws, and instead they are judging him as a whole human being, and as an American.
My personal, gut feeling at this point is that Donald Trump would make a great President, and could probably build a much larger coalition amongst the People than Ted Cruz.
I certainly no longer subscribe to the dismissive notion that Trump is just some charlatan who is merely on an ego trip. Indeed, I believe that Donald Trump really does want to work his heart out to make America Great Again. And I believe that he'll try to do it without resorting to class warfare, Marxism, and the like. He'll be conservative enough for most on this forum, IMHO.
A Donald Trump victory would clearly be a devastating blow to the political status quo. Both entrenched party establishments, who have betrayed us all repeatedly, would be shaken to their cores, and that might be the most positive, important outcome for the American People in a century.
Donald Trump is the only one who can accomplish such a worthy goal, IMHO.
I'd be happy with either Ted Cruz or Donald Trump as President, for different reasons. Anybody else, not so much.
But Trump is not going to lose his front-runner position by default. Somebody like Ted Cruz will have to seize it from him by better capturing the passion of the voting public.
Trump seems to be the master of that skill at the moment.
But Freepers (many reluctantly) supported Mitt Romney back in 2008, right?
Romney was a better alternative than 0bama.
Similarly, Trump is a better alternative than Hillary or the GOPe, and with the ability to make demographic inroads that Ted Cruz can only fantasize about.
Trump will win the general election if he garners the GOP nomination...
White Supremacists are ignorant fools, and trying to associate Trump with them is nothing but a dirty smear...
Bull. Trump has clearly stated his intent to shrink government, and talks frequently about the ridiculous annual deficits and national debt.
To assert that Trump has no problem with big government is the height of disingenuous spin.
(Rubio certainly didn't.)
All I’ve heard Trump do is defend big government. He loves ethanol subsidies when in Iowa, even pandered that he would expand them. He supports federal ownership of state’s lands. He supports socialized medicine. He loves eminent domain. He supports bailouts, and supported TARP (even went as far as suggesting nationalizing the banks)’ and supported the Obama/Reid/Pelosi “stimulus”. He supports federal finding for Planned Parenthood. What government does Trump plan of shrink? What spending does he plan to cut?
That's true. However, was he actually in Congress joining some Gang of 8 or actively working with Democrats on legislation that would hurt the American people?
I don't have a problem with these donations, as for the most part they were more about helping NYC and NY state than they were about advancing liberalism.
Couldn’t just comment on one of the other “I don’t like/get Donald Trump†Vanities? Had to create your own?
Donald Trump has railed against the federal deficit and national debt, and has already talked about cutting the Department Of Education, the EPA, and the IRS.
And not only would these cuts save money, but they would also take power away from government agencies which are highly destructive to business, the middle class, and our children.
How's that for starters?
So your assertion is demonstrably false.
But, by all means, keep trying to spin Donald Trump as someone who wouldn't cut runaway government spending...
Yes Texas, I have a very tiny brain.
FWIW, I really appreciate the fact that you at least acknowledge the uncertainty about what you’re getting. Most Trump fans dismiss such questions as “bashing” when it is based on his history.
Funny, for all of that talk you say he has done, there is nothing on his campaign web site about cutting spending. So obviously it is not anything he feels that strongly about...
Trump's big business projects come in ahead of schedule and under budget. When was the last time a career politician did that?
Good post.
Every conservative applauds the wrecking ball that Trump has been to the GOPe and the MSM. It’s great, but does it erase his past liberalism? It does not prove a change in views either, if you believe as I do, that he used that wrecking ball to brilliant tactical advantage: he drove a wedge (you might say stake) into the heart of the the GOPe, practically destroying its control of the primary process and he gained 10’s, if not 100’s of millions of dollars worth of free airtime. I see it as a tactical choice, not a change in ideology.
The fact that Trump has focused his huge spotlight on immigration, Islam and trade is also great, but does it signal a real change in philosophy on his part? Given his very diverse and evolving views on many issues, can you really be confident he will follow through on these? These are genuine questions. I would love to believe that Trump would really do what he says on immigration. Even if it was the only issue, that would go a long way to enabling me to pull the lever for him if he is the nominee.
All of that other crap doesn’t really matter to me, he’s promised to defend the nation against hostile invaders like no one else has. In my opinion, our very existence depends on him making good on that promise.
No sequitur.
Amazingly, supplemental information is available on other web sites, wherein Donald Trump has clearly stated some of the government agencies he would cut. So I guess since Trump didn't cut and paste that info onto his own site, you've brilliantly concluded that it's nothing he feels strongly about. Well, Trump sure talks strongly enough about such things, and frequently.
So go ahead and live in denial all you want, and draw all the erroneous conclusions you want. There's no doubt that Donald Trump would take an axe to agencies such as the DOE, EPA, and IRS, just for starters.
That isn’t what Trump did. He specifically brought in illegals from Greece to work on his buildings. This isn’t checking for documents, this isn’t refusing to hire, this is wanting illegals, bringing them here to do the work.
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