OP-ED I was wrong about Trump

Buick Electra

Buick Electra

TB2K Girls with Guns
www.americanthinker.com

I was wrong about Trump

I recently wrote a column about why I believed Trump should not run in 2024. I was wrong. I allowed my distaste for Trump’s personality to override his virtues, which are considerable. Some people want Trump without his vices. I was a...
www.americanthinker.com www.americanthinker.com

I was wrong about Trump

I recently wrote a column about why I believed Trump should not run in 2024. I was wrong. I allowed my distaste for Trump’s personality to override his virtues, which are considerable. Some people want Trump without his vices. I was among them -- until yesterday, when I watched and listened to Tom Klingenstein’s speech titled “Trump’s virtues.” It was masterful and shamed me that I did not make the distinction between Trump's character and his virtues, the former being deeply flawed, the latter being almost perfect. I need to man up in my defense of the former President's virtues. The speech was among the most pointed I have heard and deserves some exposure. Klingenstein says:

Other Republicans say some version of “I like Trump policies but I don’t like the rest of him.” This gets it almost backwards. Although Trump advanced many important policies, it is the 'rest of him' that contains the virtue that inspires the movement… Trump was born for the current crisis, a life and death struggle against a totalitarian enemy I call woke communism... that control all the cultural and economic powers in America…
[Trump] revealed, not caused, the divide in this country. In war, you must make a stand… Trump is a manly man... traditional manhood, even when flawed, is absolutely essential… Trump plays to win... There are no clean hands in a fistfight…Trump is unreservedly, unquestionably pro-America… Trump is a refreshing break from the guilt and self-loathing that marks our age…
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It is anti-Americanism that makes so many of us very angry: The Left have trashed America's Founding and her history to the point where some believe it virtuous to hate America. Rather than advocating forgiveness for sins, the Left are advocating hair shirts, self-flagellation, and perpetual guilt. It is un-American and certainly un-Christian.

Trump thinks we can vanquish all comers if we just put our minds to it, and he's right… Courage never demands perfection… Trump over and over said exactly what political correctness prohibits one from saying... Trump said Haiti is a shithole and that representative Maxine Waters has a low IQ. These were not racist lies. They were uncouth, politically incorrect observations that most of us would agree with but would not dare say.
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In 2016, we loved Trump for his outspokenness. But many seem to have changed their minds without cause; Trump is the same today as he was before he was elected. The very things we disdain today are the things that made him the man for our time.

From morning to night, we were told that Trump is a racist. But endless repetition does not make it true. It isn’t. Trump’s contempt for political correctness showed patriotic Americans that its ever-tightening grip could be loosened... It is difficult to overestimate the significance of Trump’s fight against political correctness, a fight which most Republicans are reluctant to engage… Trump treated the woke media with the same contempt he treated political correctness, provoking their outrage and revealing their utter corruption... it must be defeated.
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I take back my unwillingness to engage Trump on his own terms. It is the Left, not we, who are politically correct. They are the ones restricting speech, cancelling and censoring, not we on the Right.

Unlike most politicians, when Trump sees a problem, he goes out and fixes it. He fixed our porous borders. He moved our Israeli embassy to Jerusalem after decades of inaction. He eliminated hate-America critical race theory in his administrative agency. He developed a vaccine in record time. He achieved energy independence and much, much more.
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His accomplishments far outweigh his personality quirks. No other president did so much in so little time.

Trump smoked rats out of hiding places. Because of Trump we know our intelligence agencies are corrupt. We know also that the mainstream media is not just biased, that it is the propaganda arm of the Democratic party.
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Had it not been for the vehement and irrational hatred of Trump, we never would have discovered that our own security and intelligence structures are compromised. I blame #NeverTrumpers for corrupting these Agencies. This unprecedented breach of the very security of this nation is unprecedented and deeply dangerous, leaving us open to the espionage of courtesans who prey on politicians who think with their private parts.

A large part of Trump’s appeal was that he was a bona fide outsider. He distrusted the experts who believe they knew better than the average American how to run the country. This distrust was appealing to Trump’s base who believed, and with good reason, that is the experts who created the despotic mess in which we find ourselves.
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We always knew but never had anyone champion that we, not the Swamp, knew better how to manage our money, our time, our personal lives, our resources and our families. In their authoritarian mindsets, the Left wanted to take over all these very personal, uniquely American functions and replace it with governmental overreach. They nearly got their wish, had it not been for COVID's home zoom classes where we found out that very young children are being sexualized, perverted, deliberately alienated from their parents and taught to hate America and white people.

…They know that Republicans will lose all further elections until they get to the bottom of the last one.
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This most sensitive area of politics is a disaster. I believe the election was stolen and millions of others do. We now have evidence from many quarters that this is so. It cannot be permitted a repeat or there will be severe repercussions that will dwarf the current ones.

Some will say that Trump is a bad man and that disqualifies him. I do not think Trump is a bad man, but for those who do I remind them that a bad man in some circumstances can be a good president. If you’re dying of thirst and there is only one person offering you water, you accept the water gratefully without much concern for the character of your rescuer.
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We wanted Trump not only to fix things; we wanted him to be perfect while doing it. That is unrealistic in the average family, the average relationship, the average business and the average political or cultural milieu. Yet some of us wanted Trump to be perfect enough to invite to tea. He is not that man. But he is the man for our tumultuous times.

This enumeration of Trump’s virtues does not fully capture his uncommon courage and firmness of purpose. Trump is the most towering political figure in living memory… Trump inspired a movement. If properly deployed this movement might challenge the woke-comms, and God willing, save the country.
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These very things are what the Left hate, yet it is not their favor we need to care about. They will not embrace anyone on the Republican ticket and certainly not one they cannot bully. We need to stop worrying about acceptance of our candidates by the Left or they will have won.

Republicans, however, should not forget that it is his support and the spirit they embrace that have become the life force of the Republican party. Among the talked-about alternatives to Trump I have not yet seen anyone who possesses or even understands Trump’s virtues. Nor have I seen anyone with his backbone and fortitude. One does not appreciate the strength of relentless gale-force winds until one is in the eye of the storm.
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…which is exactly where Trump and we are at this moment. We have to prepare for the gale-force winds we will encounter. To not do this is to ignore the lessons of the recent past and it will be forever to our sorrow to ignore them.

His virtue must be the standard by which we judge other candidates.
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Amen and amen. We don't have to like his personality but his virtues far outweigh it. I humbly stand corrected and offer my mea culpa. [END]

Couple comments....


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kyrsyan

kyrsyan

Has No Life - Lives on TB
Take a look at some of the "greatest" men in history. You will find that most of them had deep flaws. Those flaws did not change that they were what their countries needed in the time that their countries needed them. And likely, that applies as much to females.
No one is perfect. Absolutely no one.
Whether I will vote for him again or not is dependent on what occurs as time marches on. But I can say that he did a lot more than people realized in the 4 years he had. And I would not be surprised if the opposition pulled out every trick they can in order to prevent him from entering that office again. Because this time he will know things that he didn't know the first time around and I'd be very surprised if he doesn't clean house even more effectively from day one.
 
M

Mixin

Veteran Member
It's kind of a strange atmosphere at my apartment complex. No one saying anything political, not even complaining about prices. I figured everyone must be for Biden and ashamed to talk about those things OR they are so seething inside that they feel it best to keep their mouths shut.

Yesterday, someone said they were ready for Trump's return. I almost jumped for joy and said 'Finally, another Trump supporter.' She said almost everyone here is a Trump supporter. So I'm pretty happy to know I'm among like-minded people.

As in 2016, 2020 and hopefully 2024, there can be only Trump. He'll know this will be the last chance and I think he'll be on fire.
 
day late

day late

money? whats that?
I've said for a long time that while I believe Pres. Trump was, and could be again, a great thing for America, I was not in agreement with everything he said and did. I've had a number of people climb all over me for that. But guess what. The exact same thing can be said about every political figure since George Washington. And talk about being caught in the middle. Mrs. late is STILL convinced that Pres. Trump would have never been elected the first time if it wasn't for Russia. Politics aren't discussed a great deal around here. I've had to pull down dl jr. a peg or two once in a while on the subject as well. That's the problem with most liberals. Everything is about feelz and talking points that they like but never actually check out.

At the same time, I've had to say Pres. Trump was wrong in a blanket banning of all muslims. My wife is the youngest remaining child of her family and is 68. She, her brother (in his mid 70's and a political exile in Sweden), and her remaining sister (early 80's and has had to have both knees replaced), are certainly no threat to this nation. What is the point in banning them from visiting each other? But building a wall on the southern border, I'm all in favor of that. I have no problem with LEGAL immigration. That's how Mrs. late got here. Student visa. But the flood of people coming north has to stop.

I like Pres. Trump and, if he runs again about the only reason I wouldn't vote for him is Ron DeSantis. That would be a tough choice.
 
Dennis Olson

Dennis Olson

Chief Curmudgeon
_______________
Buick Electra said:
Anyone who doesn’t appreciate what President Trump has done for our country is either stupid, a communist at heart, or a voter who relies upon emotion rather than an objective evaluation of the bottom line.

(And there I go again, getting to the point. :lol: )
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This applies to MANY right here on TB. Fake-ass conservatives too stubborn or myopic to see that Trump is the only one who has America’s back.

NO OTHER REPUBLICAN CANDIDATE CAN POSSIBLY WIN.

You heard it here first, 2 1/2 years before the election.
 
Doc1

Doc1

Has No Life - Lives on TB
day late said:
I've said for a long time that while I believe Pres. Trump was, and could be again, a great thing for America, I was not in agreement with everything he said and did. I've had a number of people climb all over me for that. But guess what. The exact same thing can be said about every political figure since George Washington. And talk about being caught in the middle. Mrs. late is STILL convinced that Pres. Trump would have never been elected the first time if it wasn't for Russia. Politics aren't discussed a great deal around here. I've had to pull down dl jr. a peg or two once in a while on the subject as well. That's the problem with most liberals. Everything is about feelz and talking points that they like but never actually check out.

At the same time, I've had to say Pres. Trump was wrong in a blanket banning of all muslims. My wife is the youngest remaining child of her family and is 68. She, her brother (in his mid 70's and a political exile in Sweden), and her remaining sister (early 80's and has had to have both knees replaced), are certainly no threat to this nation. What is the point in banning them from visiting each other? But building a wall on the southern border, I'm all in favor of that. I have no problem with LEGAL immigration. That's how Mrs. late got here. Student visa. But the flood of people coming north has to stop.

I like Pres. Trump and, if he runs again about the only reason I wouldn't vote for him is Ron DeSantis. That would be a tough choice.
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President Trump never placed any sort of blanket ban on all Muslims. That's a leftist canard which obviously gained traction even amongst some ostensibly conservative folks.

Best
Doc
 
Satanta

Satanta

Stone Cold Crazy
_______________
Buick Electra said:
Not just Trump, but I've noticed a lot of people who speak their mind or get to the point/truth right away aren't warmed to very much.
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Yeah. no shit.

Why I do not have a lot of Friends. Everyone wants to be Coddled and Agreed with even tho what they are saying is absolute B.S. and does not Work-been dealing with that last couple of days. Told this, that, the other when I already know it does not work so I finally let them screw themselves then return to me to Resolve it.
 
Doc1

Doc1

Has No Life - Lives on TB
I will certainly vote for President Trump if he runs again, but to be honest, not with the same enthusiasm I did in 2016. My reservations are that President Trump was outplayed by the Left during his presidency and was either not smart enough or not adept enough to block their plans. His choice of administration members was also suspect in that he obviously placed too many Deep State players into key positions of power.

I'm very sympathetic to President Trump. I understand that he was a political neophyte wading into the vipers pit of DC, but the presidency is the highest stakes game in the world. I think he underestimated the power of the Deep State. The office of the president has no place for sympathy and anyone expecting a fair game is delusional.

The other problem is the stolen election. Virtually no one - and certainly no one of any consequence - has been tried and convicted of what was the greatest political heist of the past hundred years. As they so obviously got away with it in 2020, there's no reason they won't try the same things in the midterms and later, in the next presidential election. It seems as if all of their pawns and technology are still in place for repeat performances.

Then what happens if and when they steal the next election(s)? What will happen is that we'll all sit around in impotent rage, exactly like we did last time. Believe me that I take no pleasure in pointing these things out, but that's how I currently see it.

Best
Doc
 
Dennis Olson

Dennis Olson

Chief Curmudgeon
_______________
Doc1 said:
I will certainly vote for President Trump if he runs again, but to be honest, not with the same enthusiasm I did in 2016. My reservations are that President Trump was outplayed by the Left during his presidency and was either not smart enough or not adept enough to block their plans. His choice of administration members was also suspect in that he obviously placed too many Deep State players into key positions of power
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Below answers your “unease”:
223shootersc said:
Trump was a neophyte in politics and believed that all of the Republicans were conservative, God fearing, patriots and not RINOs. He will know better and who to trust if given another chance!!
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I am amazed at how many times we can say that Trump isn’t a professional politician, and relied on swamp creatures out of political naïveté. Yet, many of you WILL NOT LISTEN. As I said: stubborn TO A FAULT. You people would have issues if CHRIST HIMSELF were running.
 
ssbn642blue

ssbn642blue

Veteran Member
blueinterceptor said:
modern politicians are not for the country as a whole. They are for their pockets. And to keep the party in power and thus keep their pockets full. Political correctness is a slow move towards communism and permanent change
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Damn, really. We're talking about Trump here. Not some newbie from Ohio. Sorry Ohio...
 
K

KFhunter

Veteran Member
Doc1 said:
I will certainly vote for President Trump if he runs again, but to be honest, not with the same enthusiasm I did in 2016. My reservations are that President Trump was outplayed by the Left during his presidency and was either not smart enough or not adept enough to block their plans. His choice of administration members was also suspect in that he obviously placed too many Deep State players into key positions of power.

I'm very sympathetic to President Trump. I understand that he was a political neophyte wading into the vipers pit of DC, but the presidency is the highest stakes game in the world. I think he underestimated the power of the Deep State. The office of the president has no place for sympathy and anyone expecting a fair game is delusional.

The other problem is the stolen election. Virtually no one - and certainly no one of any consequence - has been tried and convicted of what was the greatest political heist of the past hundred years. As they so obviously got away with it in 2020, there's no reason they won't try the same things in the midterms and later, in the next presidential election. It seems as if all of their pawns and technology are still in place for repeat performances.

Then what happens if and when they steal the next election(s)? What will happen is that we'll all sit around in impotent rage, exactly like we did last time. Believe me that I take no pleasure in pointing these things out, but that's how I currently see it.

Best
Doc
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Trump isn't a messiah, he's merely a David in a modern David vs Goliath tale.

He wasn't merely up against "the left", that's a gross understatement.
 
D

Dozdoats

On TB every waking moment
Bullshit.

I am a retired low level federal employee. I saw shortcomings early on in DJT'S tenure and called them out. Any good GS-05 secretary in DC would know that stuff- and more.

No, Trump was not a politician. He also had no idea how national level government works. That is not a good thing. He governed by EO. And it took mere days for four years of his 'accomplishments' to get tossed in the trash.

Research was my life work. For the last half of my working life, it was research and analysis. Emotion was not and is not a part of that. I got used to telling people with eagles and stars on their shoulders where my analysis led me, and not flinching. I seem not to have gotten over that, even after almost 20 years.

If I don't know something, I will say so. But I will tell the truth as I know it if it harelips the Pope. My professional obligation is to truth, and calling them as I see them. Am I always right? Of course not. No human is.

But DJT is a flawed human too, and a lot of Murkins would happily make him America's man on a white horse. Well, I read that book too.

America's Man on Horseback: A Fable?: Odom, Guy R.: 9780825305016: Amazon.com: Books

America's Man on Horseback: A Fable? [Odom, Guy R.] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. America's Man on Horseback: A Fable?
www.amazon.com
 
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