Stlkofta said:
aggrad02 said:
I totally agree Obama was horrible too.
I understand what you are saying here. There is a downside to Trump policy-wise that can't be ignored. There is a faith in both government and those in the government that failed him time and time again.
He never quite got the Reagan/Goldwater/Friedman understanding of government (similar to that of the Founding Fathers) being a necessary evil requiring limitation on multiple fronts.
Thing is I got more from him as a conservative than I got from both Bushes combined. Bush 41 destroyed the Reagan legacy. Bush 43 handed the Democrats a means to control the domestic population and an excuse to engage in spending like total meth-heads.
Has he learned his lessons regarding government and its use from his first term?
Can a JFK Democrat change an article of faith that easily? Took Reagan years to move from FDR liberal to GOP conservative.
To change Trump would need different principles and his principles will not change.
Here is my honest take on Trump, why I don't support him:
He is a person that takes his value out of the way the world reflects his image back at him. This is both negative and a positive quality. Negative because there is no bedrock principle, positive because to have a positive image he must "succeed" and "win" which can be a strong driving force.
You can see these qualities in his they way he has acted throughout his life. From his successful businesses and they way he ran those businesses, to the way he had built the Trump brand, to his interactions with his mother, to his multiple wives.
As a politician this is also positive and negative. He will do his damndest to have America "win" because this is Trump winning. But it also means that he will not protect our democracy and will do what ever he can to "win". If tearing up the constitution means Trump wins, then he will. If lowering taxes means winning fine, if raising taxes means winning, fine. The principle is Trump success.
The problem with this is that it is short sighted. It "wins" in the short term and devastates in the long-term.
Trump mean tweets: "Excites rabid social conservatives" (even though Trump has rarely exhibited socially conservative values in his life), wins in short term -long term loses the Presidency after 4 years. (After Obama, R's should have had a lock on the presidency for at least 12 years).
Trump tax cuts without spending cuts: short term economic boost- long term deficits leading to inflation.
Trump 2020 Covid spending: tries to save 2020 election (win) by paying people off, long-term 9% inflation.
Trump false election claims: in the short term keeps Trump relevant, in the long terms harms our democracy.
Even Jan 6 was short sighted. He didn't plan it, but he embraced it because it Fed his ego, then it got out of control and now is hung around his neck long term.
He may not exist outside of Rand but we need principled conservatives.
Regan was principled, even Bush W was principled (though a principled expansionist neocon).