After 28 continuous years of BushClintonObama, we look to be in for Something Completely Different, and there could be hell to pay. Trump could say something completely moronic, showing a fundamental ignorance of the world — like “Islam is a religion of peace.” He could say something stupid that would undermine our credibility, by, say, drawing line in the sand, and, when it’s crossed, pretending nothing happened.
What I don’t think he’ll do is get us in a European land war, or a war with China. We’ve got a thousand troops in Poland to act as a tripwire, making them American hostages in case of war with Russia. I think he’d pull them out. He might pull troops from South Korea, and Japan, and Germany. Those are three pretty successful countries. They should be able to stand on their own. They’re our allies, and we will assist them if they are attacked. We just won’t ask American soldiers to die defending someone else’s freedom again. That’s off the table.
Looking back at those 28 years of BushClintonObama, I don’t find a lot to cheer about, in foreign or domestic policy. Boondoggles abroad, and economic stagnation at home. What great foreign policy successes have we had since winning the Cold War? What tangible progress has been made against deficit spending and debt? We haven’t controlled our borders during that entire 28 years. The Leviathan of the Federal Government grows and grows, the administrative state makes a mockery of the Constitution, Roe v. Wade is in place, and the corruption in Washington reaches historic proportions. What’s not to like?
Since Gary Johnson seems to be playing Where’s Waldo?, I’m afraid I’ve begun the five stages of grief. I’ve been in the first stage, denial, for a year. The second stage, anger, is just about over, so I’m entering the third phase, bargaining.
Trump has incredible political skills. His crack about the Russians dumping Clinton’s emails was brilliant. You combine his skills with her lack of them, and he’ll run her over in the debates. And if the moderator tries to get in the way he’ll run them over as well. If Romney had done that he’d be President.
Trump is an unknown on trade, and he might screw things up. But he’s probably not dumb enough to do lasting serious damage. Everything else he’d do on the economy will be bullish. Deregulation, the Transfer of Public Lands, and some other common sense reforms cold unleash an economic boom. It’s as though there’s a lot of restrained energy out in the country that’s ready to be released. We could get that 4% growth we need, and quickly. And then there’s judicial appointments. I fear Christie’s influence here, and I hope Jared Kushner can take him out. We could wind up with another Anthony Kennedy if we’re not careful.
I feel like a whipped dog, that’s been beaten into submission. But none of this should be personal. It’s just business. It’s like hiring a lawyer. You don’t want a nice guy, and you may not care for the lawyer yourself, personally, but you don’t care. You just want somebody to kick some ass for you. Well, Trump’s an ass kicker if he’s nothing else.
And he could be an extremely effective President. Nobody thought Truman was up to the job, and there was no reason to think he would be. But he stood tall, and was a fine President. Anything can happen, because nobody knows anything.
Which gets me back to Article V. Trump needs to be educated on it. That bears some thinking. Maybe there’s a way to get an Article V question into one of the debates. Maybe they’ll do an online suggestion box, and we can stuff the ballots with an Article V question. But the best way is through Pence. But first, they’ve got an election to win. Trump won’t campaign on Article V. It’s too complicated. But if he wins, Pence will get a chance to make the sale on Article V. I think Pence is good enough to sell it. Donald Trump can take ownership of the Article V movement. If it succeeded, it would be mentioned in every history book of the 21st century. With his name attached.
We’ll call them the Trump Amendments.
reaganproject.com 