Donald Trump fills a void left by the abject refusal of the GOP Washington DC elite to oppose not just Obama, but Progressivism.
The Progressive movement finally led to Obama largely because it was left intellectually unchallenged by a non-opposing "opposition" party whose leaders care more about their own power and control - even the nation's survival. Because the current leaders of the GOP are also Progressives - not conservatives - who they disdain.
Conservatives of all stripes, including Tea Party members, Evangelical Christians and libertarians know they have been sold out and abandoned by those who no longer even bother to hide their contempt for them.
They are frustrated and yes, angry, at what they see happening to the nation they all love, in spite of their own personal disagreements over policy, because this is what unites them - a love of country and a desire for a return to what America used to be: a better place. A better place to start a family. A better place to pursue your dreams.
A better place to live.
And so, the discord, division, frustration, ferment and anger that has been intentionally nourished by Obama and the Progressives so as to create a visible Enemy around which to rally the Democrat Grand Army of the Dependent, has now on the eve of the next national campaign led to the rise of...
Trump.
Really? Honestly?
Well, he's bold. He's unafraid of what people will say about him. He's not a professional politician.
Those are three positives, right there - I'll grant you that.
But what does he truly believe in? Do you know?
What is his vision for the proper role of government in our society? Does he support a return to Constitutional limits to executive and judicial power? What would he do to restore America's defensive military power? How would he deal with a revanchist Russia and an expansionist China? How would he work to oppose the rise of the new Islamic caliphate?
How would he free Americans and their small businesses from the weight of government regulation? How would he reform our tax code and how would he deal with our unsupportable national debt? Would he be willing to lead a fight to stop forced taxpayer funding of abortion, or get the Federal government out of the business of defining who can marry, and leave it up to the states?
I do not know, and from his public pronouncements to date, I cannot really tell, except that he really seems to believe in.... Donald Trump.
Donald Trump has appealed to many because unlike other GOP hopefuls, he seems to understand that America has a serious, realistically dangerous border security problem. That's good, and I applaud him for addressing the issue.
But he seems also to have no serious answers to the problem, pretending that we can simply round up and deport everyone who is already here - rather than prioritizing border security first and the identification and apprehension of dangerous illegals second, and then beginning a discussion of how to make Americans - true Americans - of those who are already here, and want to be here, legally, third.
If he wishes to do so, and be taken seriously, then he'd better begin doing so. Otherwise, he's just a wealthy guy with a big mouth who gets all the media attention for just those two reasons, and also - because he distracts from some other, more experienced, more thoughtful, and better candidates who are not just in it for themselves, but for the America that we once knew, and perhaps can be again.
