It has been three years since I have dedicated a post to the subject of Donald Trump and with the election fast approaching, it is time I discussed the man again.
The news of late is that both he and his lovely wife have contracted a cold and had a speedy recovery that angered his detractors who no doubt hoped for his death. This was not long after the first debate against both his opponent, Joe Biden and the moderator, Chris Wallace.
I fully admit that I have been at times a concerned passenger on the Trump train, especially when it seemed about to derail. I wrote indeed about the missile strike in Syria which got the neocons worked up into a bloodlust but thankfully seemed to have been nothing more than a political stunt. As many have pointed out, recently, Donald Trump has been scaling down US deployments and he certainly hasn’t started any new wars as Hilary Clinton would have and his opponents this year likely will too.
The Wall and immigration remain issues and though some work has been done on the former, the latter is still a big problem and has been often absent from public discourse. This is partially because 2020 has thus far been a crazy one and I can’t recall the last time I wrote about it here.
There have been other developments too. Notably Trump reaching out to Catholics and vice versa. This has been especially the result of his unexpectedly energetic efforts on the sanctity of life which was a sticking point for some on the Right in 2016. Trump proved himself in short order to be better than any of his predecessors. Especially George W. Bush who I still remember people believing was planning to turn the United States into a Theocracy. Many of those same people now consider him a respectable elder statesman when compared to Trump.
I believe that I along with many people were simply naive about what Trump could do upon coming in. The last four years have shown us more clearly than ever how deeply entrenched operators within the US and many other nations are able to thwart even the most well-meaning politicians. If QAnon is to be believed (and media denunciations make it believable), Trump has been working to root out many of these operators at all levels and in all branches of government. Given how many Republicans have openly and publicly turned on him, one can easily believe this entrenchment is deep indeed.
The sheer ferocity of the opposition is also demonstrated in the way both the media and corporations this year have openly abandoned any hint of being apolitical and openly embraced terrorist organisations such as Antifa and BLM. We are also learning that these “grassroots” groups are well-funded, well-organised and directed by professional agitators. Some of these seem to be within the government.
So while there are reasons to be disappointed with Trump’s presidency thus far, he has on the whole, done a lot more than any supposedly “conservative” President has for most of recent history. He at the very least preferable to the alternative.
But I wouldn’t sell him so short. I see no reason to doubt his sincerity as with most politicians. Given his age, wealth and the success he had before the presidency. There’s no reason to believe that this is simply about power or ego. I am sure the latter is still a factor as he has never been known for his humility but I do believe he has the nations best interests in mind. I think of Americans as cousins and through this an affinity for Trump. He still remains the only politician I’ve ever directly donated to and four years later, I’m not sorry I did.