I imagine Trump thinks of himself as in the great tent of the Sultan, full of activity, where important decisions are constantly being made. The elite media are camels, who would wreak havoc inside, and seek entry by shoving their noses under the tent’s edges. Armed with a club, Trump immediately interrupts whatever he’s doing when he sees a nose, runs over and whacks it. Either that, or he’s playing whack-a-mole. And the more time and energy he puts into whacking moles the less he has for business.
It’s who he is, and how he got where he is, and we all better get used to it. I have a hunch Press secretary Sean Spicer won’t pay any price for what the media portray as a PR disaster. I think he did what Trump wanted him to do, which was dis the press. Who doubts that the elite media despise Trump, and conspire against him? The only thing they debate among themselves is means and methods, and how far they’ll go. They mean to take Trump down, like they took Nixon down, and they won’t quit. They’ll be trying to destroy his Presidency next month, next year, as long as he’s in office. It’s the only way to redeem themselves, and put themselves and their friends in the Democratic Party back in power.
They didn’t do this to Reagan. After he was shot, he was a national hero, and they left him alone. But to these people, with Trump, it’s personal. And he knows it. They’re never going to cut him any slack, so why shouldn’t he give as good as he gets?
Trump can do this, unlike any other politician of my long lifetime. It’s a marvel. It takes guts, and brains, and you wonder how long he can pull it off. I remember thinking back during the primary, almost a year ago now, that he was on a political tightrope. He kept ginning up controversies, and getting away with it, and you had to believe he was going to push it too far. But he never fell off the wire, so you have to believe he knows what he’s doing.
I ran across a video of Trump at a town hall in Reno, in October of 2015. He’s asked about marijuana and he says it’s an issue for the States. He favors medicinal marijuana, but other than that it’s up to the States. AG Jeff Sessions understands this, as shown at his confirmation hearing. This is big news where I live.
I’m just south of Frog City, U.S.A., as Angel’s Camp, Calaveras County styles itself. When Babbie was a teenager she and her girl friends entered a frog in the annual frog jumping contest there. Calaveras County is emerging as a power in marijuana cultivation. Our climate allows at least two crops a year, and planting conditions are ideal. These farmers operate strictly in compliance with State law and County Ordinance, and have a good relationship with local law enforcement. I know these guys, and they’re good people. Yeoman farmers in the Jeffersonian tradition, as Calaveras County Supervisor Jack Garamendi calls them. There was a cloud over their operations under Obama. They expected a total hands off policy from Obama, but that’s not what they got at all. They will be much better off under Trump. Federalism is in the bones of all the Republicans around him, and they’re not going to mess around with States rights over marijuana.
I’ll be seeing these guys Super Bowl weekend. We’ll be raising a glass to Trump, the federalist.
reaganproject.com 