Birdblog

A conservative news and views blog.

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Location: St. Louis, Missouri, United States

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

The Last Trump

Dana Mathewson

Katz's, about Trump, and the Thomas Sowell article he quotes in it: http://www.urgentagenda.com/PERMALINKS%20VI/APRIL%202011/26.TRUMP.HTML

End

A NOTE FROM TIM

He's right; Trump is popular because he's willing to do more than sit on his brains. Trump is also dangerous because he will wipe out more viable - and principled - candidates on his way to the comedy club.

We are always looking for the next Ronald Reagan, and are eternally disappointed. In fact, many in the GOP bemoan our "fixation" with Reagan as if he had some sort of pox we might catch. The "fixation" with Reagan comes from Reagan's status as the political titan of the GOP (and, indeed, American politics). But why was Reagan such a titan?

Reagan should have shown us the way; what he did was eminently repeatable.

The magic secret of Reagan was anything but. Pundits and media types have broken their neurons trying to decifer the supernatural svengali-like abilities of Reagan to no avail; liberals simply cannot conceive of Reagan's appeal because they would have to admit an unpalatable truth. Reagan had no trick; it was not some personal magnetism or superior marketing ability. It was his message, which was rooted in traditional American virtues. It really was that simple. Reagan was not mean or nasty, but he believed in America, defended America, and took it to those who did not. He was pleasant about it, but in the end he held their feet to the fire. Reagan did not apologize for being who he was, believing in America. He articulated what many Americans thought, and reminded many of what they once believed. Conservativism is not some novel idea; it is about restoration of those things that made our country great. We are Americans, and our ways work best for us, not some European social democratic theory, not some Ivy-league blathering theory. Our forefathers set up a truly wonderful system, and we have strayed from that system to follow the will-o-the-wisp of leftist social engineering, and it has been an abyssmal failure. By the time Jimmy Carter was in office America's elites had dismissed the American experiment as a failure, and were implementing their quasi-fascist system of government by the elites, built upon a bedrock of liberal theory. Ronald Reagan was the first politician in a long, long time to reject the Progressive agenda and demand a return to our roots - and he won the support of the People. There was a great thirst for the Truth - as there always is when lies are put in place to alter the truth - and Reagan was willing to speak it. That is all; he was an honest man in an Ocean of lies. That is the secret to the great mystery of the Reagan legacy. No smoke and mirrors, no diabolical plotting in back rooms, no strategy save the truth. The Truth shall set you free, and it did. Reagan was a political titan.

Of course, this illustrated the bankruptcy of liberal thinking. The American People were not Progressive, were not willing to allow a bunch of elite social engineers to "make fundamental change" and "do the work of remaking America"; the People were happy with America. They weren't happy with the chaos that decades of social engineering had wrought, weren't happy with the results of Progressive experimentation. They just didn't have a hook to hang their hat on; something was wrong, but they couldn't say exactly what. Reagan was willing to call that naked guy walking in the parade a nude emperor.

This explains the success of Rush Limbaugh on the radio as well. Limbaugh revitalized a.m. radio, and he did it by simply speaking the truth. Plain talk and straight dealing. Yes, Limbaugh is funny. Yes, Limbaugh is smart. But the key is that he simply looks at what is happening and tells it like it is. Innumerable liberals have sought to be the liberal Limbaugh, with no success. Why? Because in the end their viewpoint defies common sense and American values. It's that simple.

And Donald Trump is finding success for the same reason. Everyone knows about the Birth Certificate issue, but the establishment Republicans agreed to not discuss it for fear of being labeled kooks by the media. They simply don't understand that they will be labeled kooks regardless. It's often forgotten that Reagan was labeled a kook, too, but now he's given respect out of necessity. So none of these wizards of smart, these brightest and best, will touch the birth certificate issue, or go after Obama, who is dangling out there like a 15 mph fastball right over the plate for Mark McGuire.

It was said that the Muslims had to wait 70 years to retake Jerusalem from the Crusaders because the Crusader army had been so lucky that the generation of Muslims thought them invincible, and that generation had to pass away before they could find the courage to oppose the Latin kingdoms. The same holds true for Obama; the media created him, and the GOP politicians had bought into this malarky about moving to the center and courting moderates. Bush, a centrist right politician, saw his power base and popularity erode year after year as he tried vainly to govern from the middle, and McCain was clobbered by this upstart Obama. Of course, Obama ran as a moderate and has governed from the Left, and that is why he is so unpopular now; it was a bait-and-switch. People thought the change he was talking about meant straight talk and a move away from the partisan politics that had dominated during the Bush era, partisan politics caused by Bush's unwillingness to take the fight to the Democrats. His passivity invited their attack, and their attack worked. There is a reason why a defiant, proud move to the Left by Pelosi and Reid saw the milquetoast GOP lose control of first the Senate then the House; they acted ashamed of conservatism and the heart of America. (I suppose one can't blame them too much; they spend too much time in the artificial world of Washington where the media and culture are decidedly liberal and where they come to believe that America is represented by the cocktail party circuit and the lobbiests.) People wanted bold colors and were given washed out pastels. The Democrats were bold colors, and many of the disengaged hoped that they would at least get some red meat.

But Obama actually implemented their program, to the horror of the American People, and America is horrified by the hideous face behind his mask of reasonableness. America needs a leader, someone to rally around to remove this plotting alien president.

And so Donald Trump walks in, speaking plainly, going after the Anointed. Suddenly he's hugely popular, because he's willing to call a naked guy precisely that. It's the same magic that served Ronald Reagan, only Trump is no Reagan because Trump holds no strong core principles. He'll burn out because he doesn't, and people will eventually see that. But he may do untold damage until he does, just as Ross Perot handed Bill Clinton the Presidency before he burned out in the next election cycle. Trump is talking a third party run if the GOP doesn't give him the nod.

Reagan could have done that in 1976, but he didn't do it because he knew what it meant. It meant that anyway, but at least it wasn't his fault. The key to Reagan was that he had an immovable core, and his principles stood above his political nature. That is what is wrong with the current field of Republicans; no core. In the end, these guys are in politics, well, to be in politics, and their power is paramount. Reagan didn't give a damn about his power or career; he was in it for love of country, and everyone knew it.

Trump has shown the way, and the future for the GOP lies in her past. Be strong, be bold, be decisive, be principled, and you will win. Speak the truth, for the truth shall set you free. Remind the People that Americans have always been optimistic for a reason, that God is there watching over us, that ours is more than a position paper by a think tank but a way of life built on the Gospels and lived for a higher purpose. That is why Americans were always optimistic, and it is why we should be now. No amount of damage done by an Obama or the whole cadre of journo-academics can overcome a people rooted in Faith in Yahweh, in Jesus, in the holy Word of God. Ours is a system rooted in this, executed via natural law and the Constitution. As long as we stand firm, we will win.

And standing firm is a lesson our political leaders have yet to learn. Donald Trump is showing them the way. They better learn from him before it's too late.

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