Politicians can't manage. All they can do is talk. Donald Trump
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Posted on 02/08/2016 6:47:05 AM PST by bigtoona
Why American cannot abide another ideologue as president
We recently enjoyed a belated holiday dinner at the home of 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 neither does Trump view 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 then sets about fixing it. 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 and 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.
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 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 Democratic 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 cellphone in every pocket, free college tuition and a $15-an-hour minimum wage for working the drive-through a Carl’s Jr.
I argue that America needs pragmatists because pragmatists see problems 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. 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 him 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.
Ideology alone doesn’t feed the bulldog. Trump’s view of conservatism is that of the founders of conservative thought such as Edmund Burke, Wiliam F. Buckley, and Russel Kirk, one of whose 10 priniciples of conservatism is the linkage between freedom and property, which is the foundation upon which all great civilizations are built. If you need the conservative philosophy translated to a short list of talking points that can be robotically repeated over and over, Hannity comes on the radio in a few house.
Trump does not talk like someone who’s an insider to politics. He use words like pro-choice and universal health care fairly loosely - he treat those labels in isolation without a definition recognized by most left or right.
When he talk about being pro-choice, he actually believe in choice as opposed to most leftists who are actually pro-abortion and not pro-choice.
When he talk about universal health care, he talks removing state barriers for competition and savings account. This is closer to Singapore Health Care system, as oppose to European/Canada horrible health care system
Pragmatism never works out the way pragmatists think it will.
RINO.
That word is so watered down that it means nothing. Every person on Earth who is a Republican has worn that tag at one time or another. It means nothing getting called a RINO today. 4 years ago that tag might have scared a candidate getting that tag, but it has been overused.
I liked the article. And I agree with what was said.
As a VP maybe. Doesn’t take a constitutionalist to roll back 19 trillion in debt or stop all the businesses leaving the country.
We need a business man. That’s what got Michigan out of debt.
Din . Ding. Ding. We have the winner.
Perhaps those who believe pragmatism is the solution will give out some examples from history pointing how well that philosophy (which is what it is) has worked out when applied to governance.
And that works too. In the worst case scenario he doesn’t follow through, but then it was still a great ride watching the polite establishment moaning and groaning over his popularity.
RINO - Like “Republican In Name Only” is a bad thing these days? We got enough Republicans that don’t do ____. We need someone who’s had a record of getting things done.
Just be ready for disappointment when pragmatism brings President Trump down on the side of pro gun control, amnesty, leftist Supreme Court nominees, and other issues that need to thwart the Constitution to be “solved.”
Ping!
Pragmatism without principle can be dangerous.
John Boehner considered himself a pragmatist. So he cooperated with the Democracts in order to “get things done” when the better solution for us was to block things and stop them from getting done. Obamacare is a case in point. No bill was needed at all. But getting a bill done was assumed as needed from the beginning.
You must view pragmatism as a piece of the puzzle. Make it the only criteria at your own peril.
Politicians can't manage. All they can do is talk. Donald Trump
click the pic
What many ideologues of the party line don't realize is that most people are a mix of political views. For example, just because somebody favors low taxes and market deregulation doesn't mean that they're on the same page as evangelicals on social issues, and conversely, you have people who are strong social conservatives who benefit from and support aspects of the welfare state like social security and medicare.
Most people are less concerned about ideological purity than whether their own issues of most concern are addressed, and so are willing to forgive "heresy" on issues they may have opinions on but put on the back burner. For instance, I'm willing to let not only social issues but market deregulation slide if we get a candidate who is strong on the national question, because if the US is transformed into a Latin American outpost there won't be much of an economy left to deregulate.
The best, fastest way to reduce government & government spending is to reduce it to its Constitutionally mandated role.
Totally agree. Pragmatic politics with a pro-American position is what we need right now.
The Establishment is filled with pragmatists. The term “pragmatist” has essentially become synonymous with liberal in the US.
The Law of Unintended Consequences haunts us all, but some more than others... (one would think that Liberals would grow weary of ALL of their feel-good plans leading to opposite results.)
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