In the article, below, astute writer Mychal Massie makes the point that Donald Trump is not a “conservative,” but rather a “pragmatist.” I agree with nearly every point he makes in the article except its fundamental premise that Donald Trump is not conservative.
I agree with Massie that The Donald is a pragmatist. No doubt! As pragmatic as they come. We have not had such a pragmatist in the Oval Office since Ronald Reagan. Like The Ronald, The Donald possesses a keen ability to see the big picture, considering “America First” in all policy decisions.
I have called Donald Trump “The Second Coming of Ronald Reagan.” He may very well prove to be “Reagan on Steroids,” as he matches the communications skills of The Gipper, though from a completely different angle. While Reagan was a jolly and avuncular character who spoke eloquently and powerfully from speeches written by professional speechwriters, Trump is off-the-cuff, serious, and while he is starting to speak more from prepared speeches, I prefer the Donald we knew in the early part of the primary season, who approached the podium with a small slip of paper that appeared to be a business envelope, upon which he had written the bullet points of his “talk.” He would study the points for just a few seconds, place the slip of paper in the inside breast pocket of his jacket, and commence talking, non-stop, for an hour or more. I respect, admire, and relish that honesty. Where Reagan communicated from a pedestal, Donald Trump communicates across the kitchen table. Equally effective speaking styles, but very different.
Reagan and Trump were and are both fearless, smash-mouth foreign policy leaders. “America First” always! Their campaign slogans were also nearly identical. Reagan’s slogan was “Let’s Make America Great Again.” Trump’s slogan? “Make America Great Again.”
There are many, many other similarities between The Ronald and The Donald, but that’s an article for another day. I am working on it now.
Where Trump stands head and shoulders above the man with whom he was a friendly acquaintance is in his life experience. Reagan’s life experience was molded by a solid Midwestern morality and work ethic. Trump’s life experience was on the competitive and tough streets of New York City. Paraphrasing Sinatra, ‘if you can make it there, you can make it anywhere.’ Donald Trump is foremost an experienced, world class prosperity builder, a quality sorely needed in a national leader now and always. Combine that with his clear “America First” patriotism and tough Reaganesque foreign policy position, and I think you can see how The Donald could become “The Ronald on Steroids.”
Pardon my shameless digression. Back to Mr. Massie’s point that “Trump Is Not a Conservative, …………….He’s a Pragmatist!”
I believe Donald Trump is both a conservative and a pragmatist. The terms are not incongruous, nor are they mutually exclusive. Trump is a “pragmatic conservative.”
The term “conservative” has been hijacked by several single-issue groups, in my opinion. Evangelicals believe that what they are is the definition of “conservative.” Tea Partiers believe that what they are is the definition of “conservative.” Livewise, Second Amendment activists, Pro-lifers, foreign policy hawks, etc, etc, ad nauseam.
“Conservative” means different things to different people these days. It is a highly coveted label, so many rigid, single issue groups are claiming the label as their own.
I believe the term “conservative” generally includes all of those groups, but isn’t it possible to be a secular conservative, or even a conservative atheist? Yes, in my opinion! Certainly evangelicals will disagree with that because they are claiming the label of “conservative” for themselves.
Here’s a doozy! There are even gay conservatives. Wrap your head around that oxymoron. Why not? Who says sexual orientation has a thing to do with political preference? My point is that labels are often misinterpreted. “If you are a conservative, you have to believe THIS way!” I don’t understand that and I reject it.
Massie is right that Donald Trump is a pragmatist, although he eschews, even repels, labels altogether. But we have to call him something, right? Some lamebrains have even called Trump a liberal. Those people are clearly out of touch and out to lunch!
For those who are claiming that Trump is not a conservative, including Mychal Massie, I invite them to study The Donald’s platform and tell me which of those planks is not conservative. Go ahead, I have all week.
If Donald Trump is not a conservative, then neither are these issue positions….
- Border security, to the tune of a border wall that Mexico will certainly pay for
- A stronger, globally superior military
- Immigration reform, deporting illegals, allowing them to apply to return through legal channels as “legal,” documented immigrants
- Crushing ISIS
- Lowering taxes, both individual and corporate, to restart our once-purring economic engine
- Trade reform, making America first for a change, leveling the playing field, permitting domestic manufacturers to be competitive with foreign manufacturers (this is where Trump’s prosperity building experience will truly make America great again)
- Uncompromising defense of the Second Amendment
- Repealing Obamacare
- Veterans Affairs reform, taking care of our vets instead of the current system of waste, abuse, and inferior healthcare (I was told yesterday by a Disabled American Veterans official that he knew of a case where a veteran waited 25 years for a disability claim, which was finally approved. The vet died two weeks later)
- Halting Muslim immigration altogether until the issue is thought through thoroughly and a plan is implemented to prohibit the ingress of unvetted immigrants who may have ties to terrorism
No doubt, Donald Trump is both a conservative, by any definition, just according to his platform, and a pragmatist, to which his track record attests and which we desperately need in the White House.
Donald Trump is a Pragmatic Conservative!
Here’s an example of just how pragmatic a conservative Donald Trump is on ISIS’ campaign of rape, murder, and plunder across the Middle East…. Trump’s plan for ISIS
From Mychal Massie, The Daily Rant
We recently enjoyed a belated holiday dinner with friends at the home of other friends. The dinner conversation was jocund, ranging from discussions about antique glass and china to theology and politics. At one point reference was made to Donald Trump being a conservative, to which I responded that Trump is not a conservative.
I said that I neither view, nor do I believe Trump views himself as a conservative. I stated it was my opinion that Trump is a pragmatist. He sees a problem and understands it must be fixed. He doesn’t see the problem as liberal or conservative; he sees it only as a problem. That is a quality that should be admired and applauded, not condemned.
But I get ahead of myself.
Viewing problems from a liberal perspective has resulted in the creation of more problems, more entitlement programs, more victims, more government, more political correctness, and more attacks on the working class in all economic strata.
Viewing things according to the so-called Republican conservative perspective has brought continued spending, globalism to the detriment of American interests and well being, denial of what the real problems are, weak, ineffective, milquetoast, leadership that amounts to Barney Fife Deputy Sheriff – appeasement oriented and afraid of its own shadow. In brief, it has brought liberal ideology with a Pachyderm as a mascot juxtaposed to the Ass of the Democrat Party.
Immigration isn’t a Republican problem – it isn’t a liberal problem – it is a problem that threatens the very fabric and infrastructure of America. It demands a pragmatic approach………….. not an approach that is intended to appease one group or another.
The impending collapse of the economy isn’t a liberal or conservative problem………….. it is an American problem. That said, until it is viewed as a problem that demands a common sense approach to resolution, it will never be fixed because the Democrats and Republicans know only one way to fix things and the longevity of their impracticality has proven to have no lasting
effect. Successful businessmen like Donald Trump find ways to make things work, they do not promise to accommodate.
Trump uniquely understands that China’s manipulation of currency is not a Republican problem or a Democrat problem. It is a problem that threatens our financial stability and he understands
the proper balance needed to fix it. Here again successful businessmen, like Trump, who have weathered the changing tides of economic reality understand what is necessary to make business work and they, unlike both sides of the political aisle, know that if something doesn’t work, you don’t continue trying to make it work, hoping that at some point it will.
As a pragmatist, Donald Trump hasn’t made wild pie-in-the-sky promises of a cell phone in every pocket, free college tuition, and a $15 hour minimum wage for working the drive-through a Carl’s Hamburgers.
I argue that America needs pragmatists, because pragmatists see a problem and find ways to fix them. They do not see a problem and compound it by creating more problems.
You may not like Donald Trump but I suspect that the reason people do not like him is because:
1) he is antithetical to the “good old boy” method of brokering backroom deals that fatten the coffers of politicians;
2) they are unaccustomed to hearing a candidate speak who is unencumbered by the financial shackles of those who own them vis-à-vis donations;
3) he is someone who is free of idiomatic political ideology; and
4) he is someone who understands that it takes more than hollow promises and political correctness to make America great again.
Listening to Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders talk about fixing America is like listening to two lunatics trying to “out crazy” one another. Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio are owned lock, stock, and barrel by the bankers, corporations, and big dollar donors funding their campaigns. Bush can deny it, but common sense tells anyone willing to face facts that people don’t give tens of millions without expecting something in return.
We have had Democrats and Republican ideologues and what has it brought us? Are we better off today or worst off? Has it happened overnight, or has it been a steady decline……………… brought on by both parties?
I submit that a pragmatist might be just what America needs right now. And as I said earlier, a pragmatist sees a problem and understands that the solution to fix same is not about a party, but a willingness and boldness to get it done.
People are quick to confuse, and despise confidence as arrogance, but that is common amongst those who have never accomplished anything in their lives, and who have always played it safe ………………not willing to risk failure.
