The moral origins of Donald Trump’s rise to power Part One
http://thehill.com/blogs/pundits-blog/presidential-campaign/292350-the-moral-origins-of-donald-trumps-rise-to-powerAugust 23, 2016, 02:16 pm
Armstrong Williams
Literally seven out of every ten political stories published in the mainstream media this year have centered upon the improbable campaign of Donald Trump for president. The media has pretty much covered the gamut — from Trump’s shocking rhetoric, to his unorthodox campaign finance strategies, to Trump’s strong appeal among certain cross-section of the electorate. By almost all accounts, Trump’s rise has defied the odds and is leaving the political prognosticators and prediction markets increasingly irrelevant.
But few have really discussed the rise of Donald Trump from a moral perspective. What is it about the state of the spirit of the American people that gives rise to a political anomaly like Trump?
There are a host of factors, but among them are concern about America’s decline, economic despair from a decade of recession, and the rise of Islamic fundamentalism as a credible challenge to Western hegemony.
The origins of this moral dilemma facing Americans actually goes back to President George W. Bush. He outlined a vision for American foreign policy oriented in opposition to what he termed an ‘axis of evil.’ The term — which Bush coined during his State of The Union Address in in 2002, was to describe nations that supported terrorism seeking to obtain weapons of mass destruction (or were threatening to use them).
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