And That’s Reason Enough to Smile
Al Fin was never fond of Trump, until the election. But watching Hillary Clinton and her band of ugly malcontents lose the election somehow created — not a soft spot, but — a spot that wasn’t as hard in my heart for Trump. Then observing many of his appointments for cabinet positions and judicial positions, I began to give the man some grudging respect.
Still, the most positive achievement of the Trump presidency to this point is the prevention of the massive disaster — a Clinton presidency — by its very existence. Any positive accomplishments by Trump beyond that, are just icing on the cake.
Take illegal border crossings, as an example. Since the Trump inauguration — and the return to enforcing border laws — illegal crossings have dropped some 60% to 70%. No wall? No problem. Apparently just talking tough and actually enforcing the laws already on the books are having a measurable impact already.
And what about federal judges? “As of August 1, 2017, the United States Senate has confirmed 5 Article III judges nominated by Trump, including 1 Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, 3 judges for the United States Courts of Appeals, 1 judge for the United States district courts…” Source And he’s just getting started.
At the 100 day mark of his presidency, Trump had already helped pass more legislation into law than any President since Truman. Source Despite being surrounded by turmoil from within and without, Trump seems to thrive on the atmosphere of controversy.
As neurosurgeon and US HUD Secretary puts it: “I’m glad that Trump is drawing all the fire so I can get stuff done.” Washington Examiner More But as we have seen, Trump is not only distracting the riff-raff so that competent underlings can get things done — he is getting a lot of things done himself, behind the scenes.
A recent interesting plot twist in the ongoing “Trump Saga,” is the new sheriff in town, former Marine General John Kelly — now Chief of Staff at the White House. Perhaps Trump finally has someone nearby whom he respects — which might help to smooth some rough spots and help with a more efficient application of force to the problems which the administration faces.
Peter Zeihan Knocked off His Stride
Fresh from a summer backpacking vacation in Wyoming, Peter Zeihan attempted to take in all the domestic US political news of July, 2017, in one sitting. It was almost too much for the geopolitical analyst. But don’t feel bad, Peter. Trying to assimilate that much mainstream media vitriol at one time would be almost fatally toxic to almost anyone — especially when compared to a few weeks of the pristine air and sky of the Tetons!
The media may be unaware of how much credibility it is losing, in the eyes of intelligent people who choose not to succumb to groupthink. And those are the only people who matter in the long run, at least to those who think Dangerously.
Flawed, yes. But I like him too!
Can US politics be made to serve the interests of people who still value the US Constitution? After the seemingly interminable years of Obama, Bush, Clinton, and Bush, that is a difficult question to answer. But here is one perspective on what a president might do.
Most of the US Presidents since Eisenhower may or may not have had a good inkling of how governments work. But for the most part they had no idea how the world works or how prosperous economies work. Which may explain the huge black hole of entitlement spending, unfunded mandates, and other ruinous irrational policies of government which Trump has inherited from his predecessors.
Trump has only been in office about 6 months. He has yet to reach his stride. Trump is the only US President since Reagan to have accomplished anything of any significance outside of government politics, before reaching the White House. There are many important things about government that Trump does not know — yet. But if he is surrounded by knowledgeable and rational men whom he respects — who also have the best interest of the country at heart — he is more than capable of learning what he will need to know.
As for Media Hysteria, Keep it Coming!
The swirling maelstrom of media hysteria keeps the rubes and the dupes well occupied, so that the deeper business of reform can be mapped out and executed. The media is losing respect and making enemies with every day that passes.
Violent Bernie Sanders supporters have been killing people in Portland and Alexandria, and mobbing and assaulting people in numerous other locations. But socialism has always brought out the darker side of human nature, and it may be better for such violent miscreants to come out in the open where they can be dealt with.
As for Trump, don’t get me wrong. I only trust Trump to be Trump, nothing more. He is not particularly enlightened or wise — outside of his areas of expertise. But he is at least not so malevolently destructive as Obama and the Clintons, and not as much in the pocket of the country club good old boys as the two Bush presidents. If he gets it right only 50% of the time, that is still 100% better than most of what his predecessors did.
And as for keeping Hillary out of the White House? PRICELESS!!!
More:
http://thefederalistpapers.org/us/economy-adds-209000-jobs-unemployment-drops-16-year-low
Trump does not hate the police like Obama and Clinton did. The same for other law enforcement groups, as well as the military. Those who serve appreciate the difference.
al fin next level 
Nice! Very nice!
Hey Al,
What about the witch hunt being run by special counsel Robert Mueller and his band of Democrat lawyers? Yesterday news of a Grand Jury impanelled by Mueller came out. Sounds like a Coupe has begun, no. Also, Trump has accepted Congress’ taking away from the executive the Russian Sanctions policy.
Dan Kurt
Keep in mind that Trump has become an unexpected roadblock to the steamroller of corruption that had just about crushed the US opportunity society flat. The grand order of supreme power underlying the deep state and within the deep state will not simply lay down and admit defeat.
G. Soros and associates held a 3 day meeting at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in DC, the week after the 2016 elections. During that meeting, various preliminary battle plans were drawn up in the war to disrupt and neutralise the perceived Trump threat. Working groups were organised, assets were confirmed and recruited, and short – medium – long term strategies and tactics were mapped out.
What you see on the surface is nothing compared to what is actually happening out of sight.
The media’s obsession with destroying Trump is extraordinarily pathological. I don’t know what the long term effect on public opinion will be but it’s possible that it has become so silly that people will just tune it out.
Unfortunately that will mean Trump and his people may not have the benefit of constructive criticism.
“Unfortunately that will mean Trump and his people may not have the benefit of constructive criticism.”
Oh, I wouldn’t worry about that too much, Jim. 😉
I am not a big fan of Hillary. In fact, I wish she would just go gently into that good night. Sadly, I don’t think she gets it that she is done. Go. Away. Bitch.
Now, on to Trump:
>Trump is the only US President since Reagan to have accomplished
>anything of any significance outside of government politics, before
> reaching the White House.
What would that be? Buying, selling and developing real estate? Or filing bankruptcy 6 times? Or screwing over his vendors that were to small to fight back. All this crap is on the Internet just search for it. Needless to say, this guy is the exact opposite of a Christian. Although he is a lot like most of the hypocrites that call themselves Christians.
Christian? At the first mention of what a Christian is or what he should do, I start reaching for my sidearm. I suspect that many of my readers do the same.
No doubt Christ would do the same. Em, not.
[Admin: You seem to presume to know what Christ and Christians should and would do. Those are the sort of irrational claims best left to religious clerics and other charlatans. ]
I was raised Catholic (alter boy and everything) … then I got better. I can still remember the lessons. I took the philosophy to heart and threw out the mystical mumbo jumbo. But Christ was about helping the less fortunate and downtrodden.
I am a big fan of Pope Francis. He gets it. Politically, “religious conservatives” are aligned to exactly the wrong party. What the Christian hypocrites want is someone to denounce … to feed their righteous anger. What a load of bull crap. Jesus should bitch slap the lot of you if he ever decides to return.
[Admin: These are your opinions, unsupported by real world evidence. You are as likely to be bitch-slapped as anyone whether or not you are insightful enough to understand it.]
Improbus,
My experience is that Christians, or at least those claiming to be Christians, are a lot like the Left in that they believe they have the one perfect solution for all humans.
Do you not see the parallel here?
Perhaps some of us have different dreams and aspirations, that we seek different things, and that any form of religion is no more suited to us than any variant of liberal-leftism.
Perhaps you are unable to grasp this.
Bernie Sanders supporters are not strong on logic and insight. That is why they are Bernie Sanders supporters.
I suspect that “improbus” simply did not like something within the content of the original post and wished to use the “christian” canard in an attempt to change the subject. This is a common tactic on internet forums. Even if a commenter is not primarily a “troll,” when he uses such topics to take a comment thread far off topic, he is functioning as one.
I was about to email you the link to the Atlantic article. But you’ve already found it.
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