Trump After Three Years
I was not a big fan of Donald Trump when he first came down
that escalator in June of 2015. I had
worked in Manhattan while he was becoming rich and famous and was spreading the
TRUMP name all over the city.
I did not particularly like his braggadociousness and ostentation. I never watched his “Apprentice”, or other TV
programs. One thing that I learned about
him, is that he did not take anything on that he couldn’t win at, so I
predicted early on, that he would win the republican nomination, and most
likely, the presidency.
Having voted republican most of the time, I voted for Trump
in 2016 as the lesser of two evils. I could
not conceive Hillary Clinton perpetuating and expanding the Obama
administration’s weak-kneed and lax foreign policy, and politically correct, domestic
identity politics for another four years.
Trump may be a bragging, narcissistic a-hole, but he was our a-hole.
After a while, I began to realize, that in spite of his
foibles and ill-advised tweets and off-the-cuff remarks, Trump was not your
normal politician, who promises everything under the sun, and delivers very
little. Trump was fundamentally a businessman
forged in the crucible of knock-down-drag-out New York City real estate finance
and construction. And he was doing as
president what he promised to do during the campaign. What breath of fresh air into that stagnant Washington
swamp!
In response to Trump’s unanticipated win over Hillary, and
his successes as president, the leftist opposition to Trump has swelled beyond
anything ever observed against a sitting president, other than perhaps southern
reaction to Lincoln in the 1860’s. This “Trump
derangement syndrome” borders on a religious hatred of Trump by his political
opposition, supported by the mainstream media for beating the favored Hillary
in 2016. The democrat party and the
anti-Trump leftists have become bereft of any sense of fairness and loyal
opposition. It is impossible to have a
rational, intellectual political discussion with most of the polarized left.
Essentially, Trump is a pragmatist that fixes things, or
tries to, whether it’s a two trillion-dollar trade deal with China, or a slow
running toilet or shower. Just listen to
him at the numerous rallies he presides over all around the country. He brags, he rants and raves, he is uncouth, he
makes fun of his political and press enemies and he has a sense of comedic
timing that rivals our best comics. He
is eminently entertaining to some, and absolutely infuriating to those who hate
him.
Trump mis-speaks and mis-tweets, frequently, and his mal-mots
are seized upon by his political enemies to paint him as a buffoon, or worse, a
racist or misogynist or homophobe. While
Trump is not particularly “woke”, and sometimes tramples on the niceties of
identity politics and political correctness, what he has done for all
Americans, including those designated by the left as privileged identity groups
belies the fact that Trump is a racist or misogynist or homophobe. His economy is like a tide that lifts all
boats, and Trump has done more for the left’s coveted identity groups than the
left’s “all talk and no action”.
One amazing thing about President Trump is how he thrives
and prevails in spite of what is thrown at him.
Because it certainly has not been just slanderous words and a bad
press. His enemies vowed to remove him
from office even before he was elected. The first impeachment try was during
his initial week in office. Then there
were attempts to remove Trump using the
Logan Act or the emoluments clause of the Constitution. Then the idea of declaring Trump
unhinged subject to removal by invoking the 25th Amendment. Then special counsel Robert Mueller's
22-month, $35 million investigation, which failed to find Trump guilty of
collusion with Russia in the 2016 election and failed to find actionable
obstruction of justice pertaining to the non-crime of collusion. Then there was the Stormy Daniels, Michael Avanti,
Michael Cohen attempt to prove campaign finance abuse. Also the constant
endeavors to subpoena Trump's tax returns and to investigate his family,
lawyers and friends. And finally, frustrated house Democrats have impeached
Trump and sent two of the weakest articles of impeachment produced in a biased,
unfair, hearsay ridden farcical democrat house procedure.
This article by Professor Victor Davis Hanson discusses the
various shots at Trump.
The projection after three years of Trump as president is that
he will weather this impeachment farce, continue to do well for the country,
and win another term in November, 2020.
Under normal circumstances, one would think that the democrats have
really impaled themselves on their hatred of Trump, on the one hand, and on
their move toward socialism/communism on the other hand, and will lose big in
the election, leading to republican majorities in both house of congress. We do have to remember, however, that there
are some very large and unscrupulous billionaires, like Soros, Bloomberg and
Steyer backing the democrats. Also, the
mainstream media can almost be designated as a democrat propaganda tool,
undoubtedly affecting some public opinion.
Ray Gruszecki
January 19, 2020
