I was so tempted to begin this piece by saying no one is happier than I that Donald Trump has blinked first in the standoff that is the government shutdown that began 35 days ago.
But that would be wildly inaccurate.
There are 800,000 federal employees who were, prior to Friday last, not receiving paychecks from us, their employers, who are happier. There are their families, who are happier. There are the approximately 3.7 million collateral workers whose incomes depend on an operational federal workforce, who are also happier. The Democrats, and some enlightened Republicans, of the House and Senate, are happier, too.
I guess I’d come in next after all those other people on the happiness scale. Right along with most of the rest of a grateful nation.
It can be said that there are a whole lot of happy people in America today, because the president has been forced to undo what he so foolishly did.
I’m also happy to be secure in the knowledge that closing the government likely will never again be used as a political stunt by any branch of government. The stakes are much too high for the victims of this kind of hostage-taking. The ultimate cost to the president has yet to be calculated, but I don’t think it bodes well for his re-election chances in 2020.
I have read that this arrogant posturing by the president has, at long last, resulted in some of his base of supporters wavering in their blind allegiance to him. And I view that as a very good thing. Because I have never understood how anyone who has truly opened his or her eyes to the true nature of Trump’s character can continue to accept him as the messiah of change they want in America. I have tried hard to listen to Trump supporters talk about the issues they feel have been ignored for too long by Washington politicians. Though I disagree with most of them, I can accept their displeasure.
What I can’t understand is why they accept the likes of Donald Trump to lead them when addressing those issues, rather than another Republican who is of better moral fiber and emotional temperament. Another man or woman who is better educated, who has actual experience in the realms of foreign policy and diplomacy, and who values the counsel of others whose own experiences may contribute to better decision making. A man or woman whose past is not nefarious, whose selected counselors have not been put under investigation, or arrested, or indicted, or plead guilty to serious crimes. A man or woman who can retain cabinet officials and close staffers. A person who doesn’t isolate himself from all voices except for those inside his very troubled head.
Any person who strives to lead what, at least for the time being, is the most powerful country on earth, ought to have certain basic qualifications for that office. Our current president lacks most of them.
There was a time when Americans wanted a president who was more intelligent than they were, who had the benefit of a higher education than they had. Someone who could communicate very well with a large vocabulary that suited the nuances of communicating in a global economy with diverse peoples. A man or woman whose lives were void of scandal or unsavory behavior.
[Nelson A. Rockefeller, who had a positive record as a public servant and philanthropist, didn’t run for president back in the ’60s because he had been divorced. Though we now live in more enlightened times, that was considered an automatic disqualification for a president. Gary Hart disqualified himself by virtue of a dalliance with another woman. John Edwards did the same by having an affair and fathering a child with a mistress while his wife was dying of cancer.]
But we have been on a slippery slope for a while now, being willing to elect men who weren’t of higher intellectual leaning or educational achievement than us. Being willing to overlook questionable attitudes with regard to military service. Being willing to condone behavior that is amoral, if not immoral.
And it has resulted in a new low with Donald Trump as the candidate of choice.
It seems as if what “the people” wanted was just another “guy” who was like them. Not particularly bright, just average IQ, who was a C student at best, not too much of an egghead. Who talked tough, without concern for tact or decorum. Who used coarse language and didn’t trouble himself with any form of correctness, whatsoever. Whose interpersonal relationships weren’t sterling where marital faithfulness was concerned, or in the company he kept. Who didn’t bother himself about injustices toward any minority group, but went along with the status quo. In other words, people wanted an Everyman, rife with human foibles and shortcomings.
And that is the real shame of Donald Trump as President of the United States.
To paraphrase The Donald’s own infamous words, he is not our best. It is likely that he is a criminal of one sort or another. It is likely that his sexual proclivities are suspect. It is more than likely that he is not a very good person.
I can’t speak for anyone else, but my complaint about Donald Trump is that he is simply not fit to stand in as the person I want to represent and defend the Constitution of this nation. I do not want his to be the face of a republic that values democracy and capitalism, that champions basic human rights in America and around the world, and stands up for responsible stewardship of the only planet we have on which to live.
I don’t demand perfection in a president. We’ve never had a perfect president that I can tell, regardless of party. But we’ve sure had better than what we have now. By a very long shot.
Let our government be filled to the brim with intelligent and thoughtful men and women with a wide divergence of ideas and opinions. Let them be civil in their decorum so that they can be truly open-minded to any and all concepts and visions that will uplift America to the highest of ideals and achievements. Let them put the needs of others before the needs of their own egos, so that justice and fairness are the premiere goals in every decision they make.
It is not the differences of ideas and opinions that plagues us in 2019. It is the lack of strong, moral, selfless, intelligent leadership that is carrying our handbasket to hell.
We need to hold ourselves to a higher standard so that we may hold our leaders to the highest standards of all. We should not be willing to accept less.
Once in McDuffs, I heard a fellow say he’s voting for George W. Bush, because he’s the kind of guy I could have a beer with. When Obama had a beer with a policeman and a professor who had clashed, A voice in McDuffs criticized the lack of decorum. Wanting a president like themselves is real but hard to assess.
Ms Mandaville
I must agree to the present there has not been a perfect President, but than again has there ever been a perfect human in the last 200 years?
Yes, President Trump said and still says things we the less intelligent are afraid to say due to political correctness.
Those of us not fitting the mold of those highly intelligent group you spoke of. We seem to know if we are really a Male or Female….we are not confused.
We seem to understand a beating heart represents life, a non beating heart is death. Hence abortion is killing/stopping a beating heart, which to we with inadequate education call murder.
Some of us have a hard time understanding how the government can have 800,000 nonessential employees. We who come home with soiled hands and clothing from physical work. know we are essential to whomever we work for.
Is it possible a large portion of America is had enough of the smooth talking , highly intelligent, Presidents that really have not accomplished much.
Sure they have poured billions into other countries, so why is it these monies are not used for a better education system in this Country??
Why, have so many died since Vietnam and we have not won any war or conflict since WW II. ??
We may not be the most intelligent, but we do know thousands of illegal immigrants can’t enter this Country without damaging the economy.health care system. education system. etc.
Most of we of meager education believe in religion, we believe without physical proof there is a God….sorry to say many
well educated have no use for religion.
Again it is hard for one lacking in years of academic study to understand those professing morals, selfishness, and intelligent leadership. When those hoping to become President in 2020 want abortion ( to the day before birth if they could get it ) , if they really believed in selfishness every citizen would have the same healthcare our leaders in government have , when it comes to intelligent leadership I doubt if those declaring running for President so far come close to the standards mentioned.
We may not all prove of the roderic, morals, the Wall, etc.
But if the economy grows, jobs increase, immigration is controlled, a decent healthcare program, improved education system, and no war to kill off our young.
Than he may not be the best man….but if he does all the above…he just might get reelected.
Of course. this is just an opinion from a semi educated, man of questionable intelligence.
Mr. Smit, well said and I think encapsulates all the reasons a “doer: was elected instead a talker know-nothing.- someone who never did an honest day’s work in her life and rode the coattails of her hillbilly, rapist husband.
We didn’t vote for Trump because of all the things Ms. Mandeville deems so important, the swamp creatures never getting anything done. We voted for a deal-maker builder who knows the ins and outs in dealing with scum sucking politicians.
We got exactly what we voted for and the change is mostly positive.
Build the damn wall! Get on with it already.
This is a strong piece of writing, and raises important considerations. There are good and capable republicans, but Trump won the primary. More Americans that voted in the 2016 election voted for his opponent, but the Electoral College put Don in, and that’s the system we have. On the bright side, many repubs are are abandoning the Trump ship, his approval is down, and Meuller is working on draining the swamp (funny we don’t hear so much about that).
Mr. Basura,
President Trump was a Democrat, then the party left him like many former Democrats, since they are now for anyone except American citizens. Socialism on the March, and if you don’t believe it, look at the looks lined up to be the Democrat wannabe’s.
Trump is Trump, an American for America, not a swamp dweller like Democrats and Remocrats. He wants what is best for the country.
The FBI and Justice Department is filled at the top with die-hard Democrat Hillary supporters and they can’t stand the idea of Trump as president and will do everything possible to smear Trump and his supporters. Keep your powder dry, as the political war has just begun. And don’t be surprised if Trump is re-elected.
Hillary has no one to blame but her illegal destroying of evidence by Bleachbit, hammers destroying cell phones, and surrounding herself with sycophants to do her bidding.
Thank God the Founding Fathers has the intelligence and foresight to put the electoral college into the presidential elections, otherwise those states with the most population would dominate the elections. Hillary’s downfall was her laziness on the campaign trail and believing her pollsters.
Trump outworked her and won the states he needed to win – every one. Get over it and enjoy the ride..
Sad truth is the current President has a habit what former President Carter politely said was being “careless with the truth”. President Trump denied paying off two paramours until his lawyers filed papers saying he did. President Trump denied knowledge of what his son Donald Jr included in a letter to the US Senate Intelligence Committee explaining his part in meeting with Russian representatives at Trump until we found out the President dictated the letter for his son. Mexico was going to pay for The Wall until they weren’t.
Those are major lies. Then we have minor lies like President Obama was golfing “all the time” and if elected President, Trump “would be working so hard he wouldn’t have time for golf”. Now we know that after 105 weeks in office President Trump has played 160 rounds of golf compared to 60 rounds played by President Obama. The genius of Trump is he plays (and stays) exclusively at the golf clubs he owns. So The Trump Organization bills the Secret Service for cart rentals, food and lodging and greens fees for those playing rounds of golf with the President. Article 1, Section 9, paragraph 8 of the US Constitution also known as the Emoluments Clause doesn’t apply to the current President
It appears we have moved on from “old white man” victimhood to golly gee, we’re not too smart but those eloquent, well educated people who lived in The White House haven’t accomplished much but President Trump is getting things done. He’s a businessman who knows how to drive a bargain.
As of January 28, 2019 the only substantive legislation President Trump has signed into law was The Tax Cut and Jobs Act of 2017. So far its required the US Treasury to borrow $1 Trillion dollars for 2018 and according to Treasury Secretary Mnuchin will require our Federal government to borrow another $1 Trillion in 2019. That’s $2 Trillion dollars to finance interest payments because the tax cuts created deficits in Federal revenue that weren’t offset by the promised economic growth. I thought Republicans and “conservatives” were deficit hawks. Guess I was wrong.
But the second part, the Jobs part of the 2017 law was going to create jobs. So far cutting the corporate income tax from 35% to 21% has allowed multiple corporations to use their newly found 14% tax break to finance stock buybacks and in cases like Harley- Davidson, GM and others close factories cutting jobs. So far it’s another failure of Arthur Laffer’s Trickle Down theory.
But unemployment is at a 50 year low. A lot of $10-$12 part time jobs being created and many full time jobs are requiring experience. Those jobs are often paying wages that are lower than were paid for the same job two decades ago even before one adjusts for inflation. People are working more for less.
Is it too much to ask if the amateur essayist please quote sources of which Pro-Choice politicians who are promoting legal abortions 1 day prior to term. That certainly sounds like line stuck in to inflame the masses. Its ironic that in May of 2018, Ireland with its 78% Roman Catholic population approved a measure to allow abortion in the first 12 weeks by a 64% – 36% margin. In the US there are those who want to turn back the clock on Roe v Wade. Opponents want to use the courts because they know if put to a vote many states would vote to keep the status quo. That darned female suburban vote again.
The Wall. Does anyone really think this really addresses illegal immigration? I’m all for more border security. More border control personnel. More cell towers. More CATV cameras installed. More heat sensing equipment to identify people as they approach the border. We also need to fix the barriers that already exist. All those ideas aren’t mine. They are those of Will Hurd, a native Texan, a Texas A&M grad with a computer science degree who worked for the CIA in Afghanistan and India along with working undercover in Pakistan who is also a GOP Congressman whose district has the longest border with Mexico. What does he know about what his district needs for border security when he’s got armchair experts 1400 miles away who know President Trump is correct although the President said San Antonio was on the US border. (Its not)
Its not too much to expect to have a POTUS who doesn’t lie on a regular basis. Who doesn’t overrule US Security personal to give his son-in-law the highest level security clearance after the son-in-law was rejected by the same personnel who approved the Chief of Staff. Who doesn’t approve lifting sanctions on Russian oligarchs to skirt The Magnitsky Act. Who doesn’t call a free press/media an enemy of the people when they report facts that don’t put him in a flattering light and uses 800,000 Federal employees financial lives under duress by having them miss two pay periods for a campaign promise that wasn’t kept.
And so it goes
Sir
If you research the Women’s Protective Health Care Act that New York barely passed, the provision of the original act to allow abortion up to birth was removed to get the act to pass.
So you are willing to believe a candidate like Elizabeth Warren, who is a staunch supporter of pro-choice (or any other candidate) would not support what Nee York tried to do.
Sir, where we differ has nothing to do with religious beliefs, how educated or not we are. It comes down to this… if one believes a beating heart represents a living thing and a non-beating heart a dead thing, then abortion, which is stopping or killing a living entity, is murder.
You see in my case, a person with my limited educational experience has a hard time understanding how a person can condemn murder/death by violent means, yet accept the death by taking the life of the unborn.
To say that jobs coming back are paying less than before is bad again this escapes me. Seems it might be more prudent to have people working and providing minimal assistance, than having them unemployed.
I find it ironic that few are willing to do what the migrant workers do. Some will not do jobs they feel are below their educational or social status.
Yes, it is true there are many employment opportunities where the wage is not a living wage. But that should be what the assistance programs are for. I fail to believe welfare/assistance was never intended to be a source from which one should make a living.
Do I have the answer to the working wage problem… No, and to this point no one else does either.
The huge question is if you could replace our President today who would you choose any why?
Donald Trump once said, “I’m very, very pro-choice.” What did he mean by that?
He was a programmed Democrat. The party of death.
He realized how wrong he was, killing the the most innocent among us. Anyone saying abortion is an alternative is subhuman. It is never right, no matter what Democrats scream.
Really, Tread. is that it? He was a pre-programmed dem ; that is why Trump was “very, very pro-choice”. I thought maybe Trump had a personal stake in the issue. I don’t know, but people are talking. There’s a lot of people saying stuff. It really needs looking into. Hush money payments with non-disclosure agreements. There’s a lot of people talking about this. . .
Notice that two fans of President Trump and “The Wall” want to switch the topic to center on the highly charged abortion topic rather than address President Trump’s “carelessness with the truth.”
The amateur essayist couldn’t name a current presidential hopeful who said they favor abortion up to the last day of term. I was confident he couldn’t. He was repeating what he’s read from what appears to be a more than 40 years old report. Not a timely statement.
Mr. Smit, I know I’ll never change your mind and you’ll never convince me you and others of your ilk have moral authority over women. Not going to sidetrack the main subject of the columnist.
Why you readily claimed victimhood as a white male and now want to highlight your “limited education” is a mystery. As a white male over 50, you’ve had ample opportunity to improve your education toward attaining a college degree or becoming a skilled tradesman, if that was your goal. If you didn’t take the opportunities you had, that’s unfortunate given your description.
Currently we have multiple people seeking the Democratic Convention’s nomination. I am hopeful that in 14 to 16 months there will be at least two or three who emerge from the pack and all will have a propensity to tell the truth as compared to our current President, who plays fast and loose with facts.
I would like to see Democratic nominee who doesn’t see the media as an enemy of the people. A nominee who will treat our longtime allies as friendly nations with common interests. I’d like to see nominee who uses ideas from GOP Congressman Hurd for border security. A nominee who treats our allies like Canada, Mexico and NATO members with the respect President Trump has for President Putin and President Xi. A nominee who will treat Russia and China like countries whose leadership don’t have have policies that are in our national interests.
And so it goes.
Couch man
Thank you for describing the qualities in the nominee you would like to see as a Democrat run for President .
Currently, I do not believe such a person exists in either Party.
I also can not argue that I am not a “fan ” of President Trump .
I’m only guessing, but you are most likely a fan of some sports team or some athlete.
As a fan/ supporter we understand stand because we are all human no one is perfect. We.tend to overlook many things others find objectionable , we concentrate on the final achievement this team or person makes. Be it win a divisional championship or in my case. The President building the Wall.
Did I and others buy in a bad deal, only time will tell. Will we ever have a President that will tell the truth??? The larger question is are the citizens of the United States able to handle the truth??
I sincerely hope someone with the qualities you listed shows on the 2020 ballot. They surely would get a majority of votes