I’m writing this in advance of the expected Trump announcement, knowing that things can change rapidly and some of what is said here may be irrelevant after tonight. Whether we are pro-Trump, anti-Trump, wish he would a grip, or think he is the problem in the GOP, we definitely will have to deal with Trump. Someone needs to have a conversation with him. But since I am not a likely candidate, I will take a different tack. We need to have a conversation about Trump. Consider this my humble contribution.
Continue reading “Some Thoughts on the Trump Question”Tag: Donald Trump
That Awkward Republican Posture
If thieves break into your house and steal your valuables while you are away, that’s one thing; if they back up a moving truck in the middle of the day and start loading up your furniture while you are home, that’s quite another. In the first case, you can be excused if they get away with it. In the second, we have to ask Clint Eastwood’s question, “You gonna do something, or just stand there and bleed?”
Some lies are so bald-faced, so audacious, that for a moment, we can’t believe it would be told. It catches us off guard. We think that it must be true because nobody would push such a blatant lie. The Presidential election of 2020 amounts to the Democrats saying, “yeah, we cheated: what are you going to do about it?”
But to make our case, we should consider the options in the aftermath of this election. Assuming Biden won the election, he either won legitimately, or he cheated. If he cheated, he either gets away with it, or he doesn’t. These are our only options.
Let’s dig in a little more. If Biden won legitimately, then his victory should stand up to scrutiny, and he should want it to. He has enough of a lead that a recount will put to bed any accusations of cheating. And since he wants to be the President of all Americans, he should want to set our minds at ease that this election hasn’t been the biggest hoax in history.
Consider something else here: if Biden’s win is legit, that makes him the most popular presidential candidate in history. Let that sink in. He trounced Obama’s popularity. Joe Biden. Gaffer-in-chief. The man who didn’t campaign. Who stayed home. Who couldn’t draw a crowd of flies if he was honey. That Joe Biden. We are being asked to believe that Joe Biden is the most popular presidential candidate in history.
Yeah, I didn’t think so.
If Biden cheated (and I think he did – and not just a little), he either gets away with it or he doesn’t. And this is what we are up against. Because, if Biden gets away with it, then that signals the end of our Republic. We become a third-world country, and no honest candidate ever wins another Presidential election. The Democrats become the ruling party, and the Republicans get the consolation prize in Congress – maybe.
But of course, if Biden doesn’t get away with it, Antifa will burn down our cities, and we will likely have the start of a Civil War. Don’t tell me that hasn’t played a role in the massive leap of the stock market. Wall Street generally prefers the non-rioting option.
Trump has been howling about this sort of cheating since Mitt Romney lost to Obama in 2012. Predictably, the media brands Trump a conspiracy nutjob for his trouble. Which is enough to convince the average American that Trump has been on to something for a while now. In Romney’s case, it was the fact that 59 voting districts in Philadelphia – representing over 19,000 votes in all – voted unanimously for Obama. Not a single vote for any other candidate. When I read PolitiFact’s explanation for this anomaly, I have to smile: “fact-checkers” found only a handful of registered Republicans in those districts, and none of them even knew they were registered as Republicans. Coincident.
Of course, that is possible. Those few didn’t know the difference between “R” and “D,” and they liked the shape of the R – especially that nifty little tale. But far more likely, they knew what would happen to them if they admitted to being a Republican. Saddam Hussein usually received 99% of the vote in Iraq’s “free and fair” elections. And who wouldn’t vote for him, when the other option is a dirt nap? Philadelphians might have had a premonition about the consequences of a vote for anyone else but Barak when they were ushered into the polling location by thugs armed with assault rifles. This isn’t rocket science.
I think the Romney collapse motivated Trump to enter the fray himself. Pennsylvania was a key state in that election, just as it is now. And Romney decided to be the bigger man and concede the election. That has become the Republican way: we get to be the bigger man for a moment while we concede; after that, the Democrats get to be the bigger man for the next four years.
Meanwhile, We have this growing suspicion that the “R” in Republican no longer stands for a core set of principles, but rather for a posture – “Rolled over.” The Republican party has been domesticated for about 30 years now – give or take a couple of months. The elephants are tamed, and now they do tricks. We all smile politely and applaud while they run through their routines.
And so long as this is what we do, the circus will continue. But our Democratic counterparts are deadly serious about this business. They know where the real power lies. Republicans can have the Congress if they want. That can be our consolation prize. Because the President has the power of the bureaucracy. And our country is now run by unelected government agencies.
President Trump made an unforgivable mistake – in my opinion, the biggest of his Presidency. When he became President, he did not adequately clear out the State Department and the Justice Department. Obama did. Democratic Presidents routinely do. Republicans don’t. “R” for “Rolled.”
And on that one, Trump rolled. Too bad. As they say, no good deed goes unpunished. So, here we are with a scandal of all scandals, and very little we can do about it.
If Biden gets away with this, one is left to wonder what can be done in the future. Democrats have been working on this particular election for many years. Don’t think they will quit cheating in the future. Why should they?
This is why I urge you if you care about liberty at all, to stand firm. We don’t have to capitulate. We aren’t required to concede, especially while there is so much suspicion surrounding this election. Our elected representatives draw strength from those who stand behind them. If we collapse now, they will surely collapse. Trump needs to know that you stand with him, that you are willing to absorb the media’s scorn to see this thing through. Please don’t forget that we waited 37 days for the Gore v. Bush election to be settled. Throughout that time, Democrats fought for their man. Now that the shoe is on the other foot, Republicans started begging Trump to capitulate almost from the start.
One meaningful way that we can stand with Trump is by supporting him financially. Whether he needs the money or not, I cannot say. A donation to his defense fund sends a message loud and clear: “keep fighting.”
A Plea to Christians Who Won’t Vote for Trump
Dear Friend,
In the weeks leading up to the Presidential election of 2016, I found myself increasingly troubled with the choice of available candidates. In fact, I railed, fairly regularly, against both candidates. I saw it as a particular judgment of God that we had to choose between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. Honestly, I thought of it as David’s choice between seven years of famine, three months of fleeing before their enemies, and three days of pestilence. Did I want to vote for arsenic or cyanide? I saw Donald Trump as ungodly, uncouth, unscrupulous, unproven, and unreliable.
I held onto a quote from Douglas Wilson in the months leading up to the election, in which he expressed my exact sentiment:
But if Trump is somehow elected, he will let down those who put him there. He has all the sturdiness of a chocolate eclair. He has the core values of a wet napkin on the counter. He has the reliability of a lost carnival balloon. He has the gravitas of Miss Piggy.
Douglas Wilson, Blog and Mablog “Recklessness on the Trumpoline”
One month before the 2016 election, I preached this to my church:
Continue reading “A Plea to Christians Who Won’t Vote for Trump”Trump Didn’t Win the Debate; He Owned It
I wanted to get my hot-take on the debate off my chest while the topic is still hot. I get it that many of my friends are turned off by Trump’s style and bluster, and I see that many think Trump lost the debate. I want to get this out before all the talking heads start breaking things down, and you suspect that I am parroting someone else. This is my immediate opinion of the debate.
From my perspective, those who want to declare a “winner” or a “loser” of the debate miss the point. Trump doesn’t live by the conventions of the modern-day politician. Trump isn’t trying to be the second coming of the Bushes or even the second coming of Ronald Reagan. In 2016, I was a Ted Cruz guy. If Cruz had conducted himself like Trump in a debate, I would agree with you all that the debate was lost. But Trump isn’t trying to live up to our expectations for his conduct or for his debating skills. We want one of the debaters to be declared a “winner,” but I don’t think that is the goal for Trump at all.
I don’t think Trump is interested in winning the debate.
He is interested in owning the debate. And he did precisely that, from wire-to-wire. Chris Wallace might have been the moderator, but Trump controlled the debate. And both Chris Wallace and Joe Biden were forced to play his game. Like it or not, Biden was merely the backdrop for an hour and a half of the Donald Trump Show. Chris Wallace was a prop, much like the media becomes a prop for Trump day after day after day. Why do you think Trump is so combative with the media? He protests – too much, by the way, to be serious – but he loves it.
He loves mixing it up with them because it keeps our attention on him and allows him to get his message out.
That, I think, is the point, and Trump did it again masterfully.
If there was a loser in last night’s debate, it was Chris Wallace. Wallace clearly lost his head. But all of his peppering Trump, playing tag-team with Biden, only served Trump’s purpose. It kept the focus on Trump and allowed Trump to dominate the conversation. At times, Wallace forgot that his job was to ensure equal time for the candidates. In his determination to force Trump’s hand, he gift-wrapped the time advantage for Trump.
At one point in tonight’s debate, Trump talked about his big rallies, and Biden leaned into the mic with a snide remark about them lasting for an hour and a half. It made me snicker. It is yet another example of how Biden, like much of the political establishment, doesn’t get it. Conventional wisdom says, “keep it short, keep it simple.” But at Trump rallies, tens of thousands of people hang on to every word of his ninety-minute harangues. They eat it up and beg for more. I haven’t seen a politician who could captivate an audience for even half an hour. Trump triples that, and people just keep coming back for more.
I have to admit that I haven’t been so entertained by a debate in my lifetime as I am by the Trump debates. When Hillary was the backdrop, it was every bit as entertaining.
In the days of Bush and Dole and Bush and McCain and Romney, I dutifully endured the debates, wishing the moderator would have mercy on us all and cut it off early. “I think we’ve covered the same three points a dozen different ways now, so we can let you all get back to something that interests you.” But watching a Trump debate, I’m sorry to see it end. It makes me laugh out loud. And that is the genius of the thing.
I’ll be candid: I am surprised that after five years of Trump (counting the year of his first campaign), we still want to measure him by political convention. Trump defies convention. That is the whole point and the reason he generates enthusiasm like few men in history.
Last week, my son and I spent some time with a pastor friend in Carson City, Nevada. We had a great time with a young and growing church there on the edge of Lake Tahoe.
One afternoon, my son and I and the pastor’s son drove over to Virginia City. As we drove into town, we were shocked to see motorcycles lining both sides of the road – I would estimate a thousand motorcycles. People were waving Trump flags and Trump signs, and vehicles were slowly driving up and down the street with Trump flags streaming out the windows. Since Trump was holding a rally in Pennsylvania at that same time, I knew he wasn’t planning a visit to Virginia City. Otherwise, I would have been looking for him. The enthusiasm was incredible, and Trump wasn’t anywhere near.
These were not my people, for sure. It was a rough and rowdy crowd. And they love Trump. I’ve seen similar displays in some pretty odd places around the country this year.
Whether Trump wins or not, I think we all have to admit that we aren’t looking at a politician. Trump is more pugilist than politician. And unlike any of his Republican predecessors, the man knows how to land a punch. Love him or hate him, admire him or despise him, agree or disagree, Trump plays for keeps. For Trump, the debate is a stage, and he is the star. And when the analysts break this one down, it will be all about Trump. On those terms, even if he loses, he wins. Because the discussion is all about him.
Ten Reasons I Think Trump Wins in 2020
The men the American people admire most extravagantly are the most daring liars; the men they detest most violently are those who try to tell them the truth.
H.L. Mencken
I’ve never played prognosticator before, so I’ll probably jinx it. But, to parade out my bona fides, I haven’t always been a Trump guy, and my prediction has nothing to do with my support. I called Obama’s win in 2008 and 2012, and Trump’s shocker in 2016. In fact, I thought Trump would win even while I opposed him during the 2016 primaries. It was the rabid enthusiasm of his supporters that convinced me then. Only I didn’t go on record like I am now.
I don’t have special insight into this one. The polls don’t sway me all that much, since I believe the polls themselves are more political than statistical. I’m not reading tea leaves, just observing what is happening in our country. And I didn’t know about this article until I had written mine. So, I’m not scavenging.
If I’m wrong, I won’t eat my head – though some might consider that a feast. I’ll just prepare to be entertained by President Gaffer and his merry band of Micro Men. They’ll be killing us all with the smalls.
But I don’t think I’m wrong, which is why I’m publishing this little piece of anecdotal analysis. Here are my two-cents worth of ten reasons why I think Trump wins – five reasons-a-penny if you’re counting. For fun, I’ll reverse the order. Tell me what you think… or add your own reasons.
10: COVID-19
I understand that this might be one of my more controversial reasons, but that’s on-par for this little booger. Reactions and opinions hit on every point of the compass. While some Americans have grown doubtful of President Trump’s leadership, I think the draconian response to COVID favors Trump.
Everywhere I go, I hear the same thing. Having assessed my view of Trump, perfect strangers whisper out loud, “this COVID thing will end the week after election day.” The majority of Americans recognize a political hijacking when they see one. And I think most know that their jobs and livelihoods have been converted to Molotov cocktails to burn down the economy and overthrow Trump.
The reaction to COVID-19 has been unprecedented, and people are tired of it. Apart from a handful of devotees who confuse CNN reporting with science, the rest of America ain’t buying it. Was it a political ploy from the get-go? Probably not. But once it started, opportunists were swarming. Despite their best efforts, we now know that COVID-19 isn’t the serial-killer we were warned about. People want to move on, and Trump is the train that will pull us out of that station.
9: Jobs Market
Despite the extraordinary effort to crash our economy, the working class knows the difference between the Obama jobs market and the Trump jobs market. They know what tampering looks like. A 2020 victory for Trump is sure to mean a return to the Trump economy, unmolested.
8: Motivated Voters
As I said, most of America is savvy enough to know when someone is running a bluff. And we are being scammed big-time right now. When big cities experience 175% voter turnout, we can expect some big-league ballot-stuffing courtesy of the shiny new mail-in ballot program. Talking-heads condition us to expect a big win for Trump on election night, followed by a dramatic Biden comeback once we count mail-in ballots. But Trump supporters didn’t come to town on the stupid train. We’ve watched the shenanigans for the last four years. We’re ready to vote.
This isn’t rocket science. Trump voters have some big-time motivation. Now that the Supreme Court is back in play, I expect to see lots of MAGA flags parading down Main Street USA over the next month.
7: Media Frenzy
The media overplayed their hand with Trump. We get it – objective reporting died a lonely death a decade ago. Today’s media is one-part tabloid and two-parts political hack. But the liberal media has managed to give us all bombshell fatigue. After the Russia hoax, most Americans know who the real colluders are.
Do I expect an October Surprise? Youbetcha. I foresee thirty-one October Surprises – one-a-day in October. Desperate times call for desperate measures, as the man said, and we all know the signs of desperation. Our media overlords meet and exceed the definition of insanity: They can’t change their minds, and they won’t change the subject.
But besides those under the CNN spell, the media-frenzy has firmed up our resolve to give Trump a second term.
6: Middle America
I’ll admit, this is purely anecdotal: everywhere I go, I see Trump signs and Trump flags, while Biden supporters have gone undercover. Trump regularly draws crowds of 15,000 – 20,000, while Biden gets 6 members of the media, conveniently masked for their own good. Barely any Biden signs huddle safely in small liberal neighborhoods.
I find this especially true in Middle America. Four years ago, I saw this same thing, as Trump signs dominated the Midwestern landscape. Vigo County, Indiana, home of Terre Haute (my hometown), illustrates my point. In 2016, I saw Trump signs everywhere in Terre Haute, with only a tiny handful of Hillary signs. I was just in Terre Haute a few weeks ago, and I purposely looked for Biden signs. He is beating Hillary. But Trump signs still dominate the panorama. Is that delusional? We’ll see.
Vigo County has picked the winner in all but two presidential races since Benjamin Harrison won in 1890. That is a long and storied history. They are the classic swing-voters, and in my experience, swing voters go for leadership and enthusiasm. Hands-down, Trump wins on both counts. Despite the sophisticated howlings against Trump from liberal elites, common-sense America knows what is right for them.
5: Straight Shooter
My initial disgust with Trump had much to do with his tweets, New York City brashness, and his take-no-prisoners approach to nearly everything. But, like so many, I have slowly warmed to his style. Looking back (with that famed 2020 hindsight), I now recognize two things: His all-American Moxy has been key to his survival. America loves a fighter, and Trump is all that.
We like to see a guy punch back when he is being bullied. After four years of Trump, I think most know who the real bullies are. And let’s face it: Trump knows how to land a punch.
What endears Trump to so many voters is his commitment to us. He really does seek the good of we-the-people. His “America First” commitment isn’t some kind of white nationalist supremacy according to the caricature. Most of Good Sense America sees that. He is simply committed to doing what is best for America.
I think Trump summarized it best in his acceptance speech at the RNC. He broke the cardinal rule for politicians: He kept his promises. And that explains the intense loyalty he fosters, nevermind the huffings and puffings of the “elite.”
4: Trade War
I won’t wade into the tall grass on this one. I’m a casual political consumer, not a wonk. But Middle America, chiefly blue-collar America, sees what these trade wars have done for our economy and our jobs markets. Labor unions can endorse who they may. Rank-and-file workers know who stuck it to them for the past 47 years. They also know who turned the tables in the last four. The trade war, a prime example of Trump’s swashbuckling approach, highlights the way politicians on both sides of the aisle have been selling America out in pursuit of a globalist utopia. And the effect on the economy, once the trade deals were done, have been nothing short of spectacular. In my opinion, a whole host of the rank-and-file can’t wait to mail in their ballots, then vote on election day (wink!).
3: Mask Mandates
Joe Biden promised a national mask mandate, “not as a burden, but to protect each other – as a patriotic duty.” That’s about as exciting as carrot juice at the Christmas party. While we’re at it, how about we get the vegan lady in the hemp pants to plan the company picnic!
Thanks, but no thanks, Mamma Joe. We don’t need a Nanny in the White House. Ten-to-one, the people I meet HATE wearing a mask. And that doesn’t include the people at my church. We are sick and tired of it – pun intended. Pollsters claim that the majority of Americans want this. They must do their polling at Whole Foods. Because I’ve only met a handful of condescending liberals who really buy into mask-wearing.
All the COVID nonsense and mask mandates demonstrate that media elites, movie stars, professional athletes, and Democrats have become increasingly out of touch with America. Over the past four years, they haven’t learned a thing. They still believe that their poll numbers are somehow “scientific” and not agenda-driven. They rarely emerge from the hoity-toity bubble and try to understand working-class America.
2: Minority Voters
A week ago, I saw a pickup truck driving down Ogden’s Washington Boulevard with a gigantic Trump flag waving out the back. Lo and behold, a Hispanic man was driving it. This is one of the shockers of this election. Despite media efforts to brand Trump a racist, minority voters are racing to Trump. A growing number recognizes the good of his policies, the poverty of liberal ideals, and the total scam of the Black Lives Movement. The push to defund the police is the last nail in the coffin.
For too long, minority voters have been treated as property by their Democratic overlords. Now the gig is up. Minorities see their chance to leave behind the Democratic ghettoes.
And now: the number one reason I believe Trump wins in November is that his opponent is named…
Joe Biden
Biden is the most inept candidate since … I can’t think of a comparison, really. George McGovern? Walter Mondale? Alf Landon? Charles Pinckney? If elected, Biden would be a weaker president than Jimmy Carter or Warren G. Harding. And that is saying something. Carter might be the weakest president in history. Despite winning by the largest margin of the popular vote in history, Harding was one of our most worthless.
Let’s face it: America wants a president we can be proud of. We don’t want President Bumbles. If Biden is elected, we’ll be rooting for him to stay quarantined in his Wilmington basement. “Please, please, don’t come out and say anything.”
If Biden is elected, we will have President Putin, because Biden couldn’t punch his way out of a wet paper sack if ten men were holding the top open for him. Nobody wants a President as a prop. Even less, we don’t want a President who needs propping.
When I was a teenager, my dad pulled into a gas station during a cross-country trek. He parked right next to a group of teenage boys hanging out (as teens did in that day) at the gas station. My dad bounced out of the car, turned around, and announced to us kids, “if anyone has to go potty, you better do it now!”
I had to go. But I didn’t. I slumped as low as I could in my seat and hoped nobody would look in the car. But not quick enough to miss the smirk on those boy’s faces. If Biden wins, we get to feel the embarrassment of a Biden presidency for four years. Or perhaps, until some mysterious malady forces him out of office around February or March. It all depends on how compliant President Biden will be, whether he will serve out his term.
His running mate isn’t much better. She couldn’t get more than minimal support in one of the sorriest slates ever fielded by a major political party and dropped out of the race months before the Iowa caucus. Let’s don’t kid ourselves: regardless of what anyone feels about Trump, nobody wants the alternative.
Be prepared for a wild and crazy ride, my friend. We may still see America burn before this one’s over. Hold on to your hat, and keep your hands inside the ride at all times. And maybe buy some ammo when you get a chance.
Above all, don’t trust me. Trust the Lord. “He doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou?” The one who removes kings and sets up kings has this one under control. You can make bank with that.
The Village Smithy 