Addendum To Cutting Trump Loose
It’s necessary to draw lines. In Trump’s case, it’s a question of drawing a line between his personal life and his political life. I voted for Trump twice, knowing his flaws as a human being—those were well known. However, I calculated on two things. The first was that at his age his worst failings were behind him. Secondly, I calculated that if he won the election he would have gone too far out on a limb, would owe so much to actual conservatives, that he wouldn’t be able to betray his base. I presume that many other people made the same calculations, and we were right. He kept faith with us.
The easy example of the above was Trump’s pro-life stance. I never thought that he was a principled opponent of abortion. Yes, he came up with a somewhat plausible narrative, but the likelihood was that that was a means to an end—winning the election. However, that position was so key to his victory that he needed to follow through, or at least not flip. Without the continued support of the base that gave him his victory he would have been out of office in weeks.
Now, however, he has flipped on a key part of his base. And it isn’t a matter of his personal failings. It’s a matter of a policy position that strikes at the very core of America’s well being. That doesn’t mean that conservatives shouldn’t vote for the lesser of evils. But it does mean that, just as Trump revealed the reality of the Deep State, so too he has revealed where he is willing to go in policy matters—presumably for monetary and PR support. We all need to assess what we now know. Trump has drawn a line, and maybe it’s time for conservatives to draw some lines. This time it’s not about personal flaws.
Don Surber's comment re the Politico article about Trump's Gay-la event at MAL:
"Biden did Biden did not legalize gay marriage. He banned religious objections to them."
Don Surber gets it. But Don Trump says that's "our movement." And that's what some commenters here have said.
Thanks to all for a well rounded and thoughtful discourse regarding this topic. Like all on this site, I have been struggling with my conclusion regarding support for DJT. But in the end I recognize that we are trying to find an individual who will embody all of our values, beliefs and ideals in the current political world. Let me suggest that any individual playing in the political arena will fall short. Simply because politics is a nasty and dirty field. No one can compete in politics without assuming some level of associated tarnish. Part of my disappointment is the almost unbelievable level of corruption which has been exposed over the last 6 years. From Russiagate to COVID to election integrity. The scope has been almost mind blowing.
So what now. A few observations. The establishment does not want Trump. Similar to an iceberg, Trump is the 10% of the MAGA movement that can be seen. We are the 90% that is the force behind MAGA. The 90% is where the real power is centered. The corrupt establishment needs to separate us from him to kill the movement. If you cling to We The People as I do, I cannot accept the concept that the establishment gets to pick who represents us and what the agenda moving forward will be. Our power rests in the fact that we do not buy into the track the Country is on. We need a disrupter to continue to break the administrative State which has taken over the governance of the Country. We need to get back control over how our lives are managed at the Fed level. We should not allow MAGA to be defeated like the Tea Party movement.
I am disappointed in myself more than I am of Trump. I actually believed that the system was honest. I must come to grips with that before I can make my own choice on what is next, I need to forgive myself first for being asleep. The next step is complicated because I need to look at myself in a mirror and make hard decisions now. If not me than who. There is no white knight on the horizon to let me evade my own responsibility at this point. I believe we all are in the same space at this point. I am looking for guidance from a source which is wiser and kinder than us mere mortals.