Why Donald Trump?

Yes indeed, why?

I am not a fan and could give you a list my arm long of reasons why, but that being said I find it both amusing and alarming at the shear quantity of negative attacks and outright hate directed his way.

This is amusing because most of the attacks come from the liberal/progressive/socialist factions in our country who seem unaware that Trump, except for being a capitalist, has always been and probably still is one of them. I've not heard anything from Trump that indicates that he has a constitutional, philosophical or spiritual foundation which would constantly lead him to support conservative values.

Trump is a populist. He understands the frustrations of a large portion of our population who believe that under the current administration our country has been headed in the wrong direction on a multiple of fronts. He is aware that there is outright anger over the fact that Republican leadership has refused to draw a line in the sand and challenge the administration on these issues. He also senses that there is actual fear in the air, fear that extends far beyond the conservative base.

For example, while unfettered and illegal immigration has always been viewed by conservatives as a plot by liberals to expand the voting base for the Democratic party with the ultimate intention of growing the size and necessity of government, recent events have created the worry that we are not making it too difficult for those that want to bring havoc to our shores to do so.

Add this to the fact that a third of our population believes that our president is probably really a Muslim. This view is reinforced with his retreats from the Middle East, his insane deal with Iran and his inability to believe and thus verbalize that although most Muslims may be peaceful there actually are at least a couple of hundred million who would like to see the West including America converted (submitted) to Islam or destroyed.

This opens up an avenue for someone like Trump who is able to channel that anger and voice those fears in the broadest and I would say coarsest manner.

And this is alarming because the liberal/progressive/socialist playbook has not changed one iota - distort, shout down, make fun of, marginalize and try to silence any voice that speaks of conservative principles. If Trump happened to be a conservative Christian the Left's intolerant din would be, if possible, much much worse.

But this time the tables are being turned on the Left and the media which represents them and does much of their dirty work. They are doing their best trying to destroy the man but seeing that only makes Trump's supporters more angry. Plus, when they make fun of Trump they are making fun of the very fears that these people have. They don't like that.

If you distort what Trump says his followers know it and double down on their support. For example, Trump in his bombast says to "temporally" halt all immigration and visits to our country by Muslims until things, i.e.,the threat of bringing in more terrorists, gets sorted out. In truth some portion of that is both legal, reasonable and has precedence. Immediately his statement gets portrayed as - Trump is racist and wants to expel all Muslims, Trump is worse than Hitler, Trump wants to put all Muslims in internment camps like we did to the Japanese during WWII, Trump hates all immigrants, Trump supporters should be shot so they can't go to the polls.

As usual there is no desire for having an exchange of ideas or attempts to be fair and balanced. There is no respect for opposing opinions. And lastly, freedom of speech does not apply if it runs contrary to political correctness. It seems that the Left in their heart of hearts actually believe that not only are they smarter than those on the Right but more compassionate and moral as well. Oddly this extends to the belief that the more conservative one is, and especially the more Christian conservative one is, the stupider and more hateful one gets.

Conservatives believe that the Left does not understand that the founders, even those that were not Christian but deist, understood that our rights and our freedoms come from God, not from government, and that because all men are by nature corrupt and greedy, government and those that are in power must have limits. With freedom and rights come responsibility, both economic and social. As government expands and becomes more powerful we begin to lose some of our freedoms and the responsibility of the individual lessons.

Take for instance the Conservative view of the right to bear arms. Liberals always use the argument that the Second Amendment was only for the ability in Colonial times, before the creation of a national armed force, for states to raise militias to defend themselves. And besides, guns were much less lethal then. Conservatives believe the right to own guns is a necessary God given freedom and that the price for that freedom might sometimes be dear. Debate can and should be had regarding what kind or arms are reasonable and what persons should be denied that right although in that regard the Right believes that the Left's ultimate intention is to take away all private gun ownership, one step at a time.

So let's apply that to the response in our country to the Islamic terrorists attacks in Paris and California. The President does not connect the California shootings to the possibility of a greater increase of Islamic jihad coming to our shores, articulating a logical plan to deal with existing and future Islamic terror cells. He does not present a plan to investigate whether there are some mosques in our country that are helping radicalize and support these individuals (since the Paris attacks France has found a massive amount of heavy arms and has already closed several mosques with perhaps a 100 more coming)

(for a better understanding of radical Islam and their desires, see my post from a year ago: The Meaning Of Isis )

Instead the President uses the shooting to again make his plea for greater gun control. And for a large part the media goes along with what ever the President wants and calls racists any fears that there may exist radical mosques or individuals here.

Funny, this does not ease the fears of the greater population who has responded by buying guns at a record pace.

The President and the Left rightly do not want to see an increase in prejudice toward those who are Muslim. But by denying what is obvious and failing to see or understand radical Islam for what it is and what it desires they do a great disservice for the majority of the Muslim population who want to obey our laws, adopt our values and live peacefully with full freedom to worship as they choose.

Trumps supporters and other Conservatives have been willing to overlook his egotistic, boarish and simplistic rhetoric and his lack of Conservative credentials partly because he is not politically correct. They believe the media's infatuation with him has actually given voice to some of their concerns, especially national security and the President's disregard for law on the immigration issue. They think it's fun to watch him give the press fits knowing that the press can't wait for him to fail so they can headline; Trump, YOU'RE FIRED! But the guy just won't go away. And a good part of the blame I would lay on the Left, who just won't ignore the bugger.

Will Trump do anything to further Conservative social values such as defending the right to life of the unborn? Will he be inclined to reduce in any way the growth and size of government, to pay back any of the 20 trillion in debt, to plan for how to take care of the 200 trillion in unfunded liabilities promised in our social programs? Would he even try to balance the budget? I don't think so. Does he actually believe in building a wall or is this like everything else just bluster, a politician's promise in order to get elected?

Perhaps it will be enough to have someone that will be a friend to Israel. That looks genuine. Perhaps he will have a foreign policy that understands the world wide conflicts between the radical elements of Sunni and Shia Islam and knows enough world history to perceive what the real national desires of Russia and China are. From his comments so far, I doubt it. He might be willing to listen to those that do. Let's pray so if he does get elected.

The next president, if he or she is not far to the Left, should be able to bring back into the country trillions of dollars that have been waiting the last 8 years for a more promising economic climate. If he has a willing congress Trump should be able to do that better than most. And as we all know, if the economy is good the majority of the people in this land are willing to overlook a lot of things.

Not me, just saying.