Not a Closet Trump Supporter

by Brent Smith | September 18, 2015 12:03 am

It seems lately I’ve spent an awful lot of time defending the Trumpster, Donald Trump. And frankly, I’ve gotten some feedback that I’m just a closet Trump supporter.
Brent Smith[1]
 
Well, I am, but only on one, maybe two issues. There is his position on illegal immigration, as well as his stance on the military, which is good, as he proclaims that were going to rebuild it – make it powerful again. He also claims he will take care of veterans and that’s great news, depending on how he intends to do it. The rest of his platform, if you can call it that, seems to me to be a lot of ethereal nonsense.
 
What he never says is how or even if he plans to shrink the government. Which departments does he want to shrink – which does he want to get rid of? He doesn’t have town hall type gatherings, so no one can question him about it. Now this may be because he draws such huge crowds, or it may be by design.
Rush Limbaugh   http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/daily/2015/09/15/trump_confounds_obtuse_media[2] had a segment on his show yesterday, where he spoke that the Republican “brain trust” is warning voters that Trump is just an empty suit. Like Obama in 2008, he has simply mesmerized voters. Rush describes the Republicans as warning us that “Donald J Trump has cast a spell over otherwise well-intentioned and good people who are so fed up and so angry and so marginalized and feel so left out that they are willing to support what may end up destroying the country just to get even with what happened to them eight years ago.”
 
Rush is indeed right about the Republicans warning us, but the problem is, that none of the same wizards-of-smart warned us about Obama. They didn’t care in 2008, because they already had their establishment guy in John McCain, and that’s the only reason they are warning us now. Their establishment darling, Bush, is getting trounced.
 
But as much as I don’t wish to, I have to kind of agree with the intelligentsia, to a point.
 
Trump’s supporters cheer him but they don’t appear to be listening as he publicly threatens Ford Motor Company with a huge tariff if they move to Mexico and then try to import their vehicles back to the States. This is not the definition of a competitive free market!
 
What Trump is advocating is just big government threatening and bullying a company into doing what the government wishes. How is that any different from what we complain about today? Recall how we all railed against the NLRB bullying Boeing when they wanted to, not move to another country, but just to another state. We didn’t like it then – why would we cheer for it now?
 
Is this what we want from a “conservative” leader? The role of a conservative leader is to shrink the government to the point where it is not so burdensome for business to operate in this country.
 
His role should be to use the bully pulpit, which he has in spades right now, to tell supporters that he will work to remove the roadblocks of taxes, fees and regulations – so much so that companies will flock to America, not run away. He can exclaim that, due to his policies, there will be a waiting line to get in!
 
Trump is masterful at what he does. He does make a lot of “great deals,” but he can do that because he doesn’t have a Congress to deal with. He’s not bound by the Constitution (not that anyone is anymore), or separation of powers – separate but equal branches.
 
What will happen if he is dead set on making some kind of deal, and the Congress, for whatever reason, says no? Then what? He doesn’t strike me as the kind of guy that will sit down and accept the decision of Congress.
 
I think it’s great that he is awakening the silent majority. I think it’s great that he is scaring the Democrats and causing the Washington elite sleepless nights. It’s wonderful entertainment, but voters need to really listen to what Trump is saying.
 
Most of the time it’s nothing but soundbites strung together and that’s okay – but occasionally he throws in some red meat – some substance. Beyond the border and illegal immigration, it’s this substance, like that above, that I’m concerned with.
 
Thus far, the substance sounds a lot like more big government, which is not what we need. As conservatives, I thought that we are supposed to be fighting to shrink government and get them out of way – out of our lives – not to use its power to do our bidding.
 
I hope I’m wrong about Trump – I really like him. I like his boldness and bravado. I like the fact that he takes no crap from anyone, and I like the fact that he’s forced others to toughen up or get out.
Maybe he’ll surprise us all and grow into a more conservative candidate. That would be a refreshing change of pace in politics these days. I guess time will tell.
Also see,
Scratch One Dr. Ben Carson
Endnotes:
  1. [Image]: https://rightwingnews1.wpenginepowered.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Brent-Smith.jpg
  2. http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/daily/2015/09/15/trump_confounds_obtuse_media: http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/daily/2015/09/15/trump_confounds_obtuse_media

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