@roamer_1
Alright...one last post in the thread and THEN I'm out.
As it turns out, my last reply to
@sneakypete applies directly to your comments here too @Mesaclone
Pragmatism (populism) has wrought this. When you gather around princes rather than principles, this condition is what you get.
Your premise is wrong. Had it been President Desantis or President Cruz...or President Hawley or President Cotton. They, like Trump, would have had only one viable political avenue for change open to them...Executive Order. In the past....say the 80's and 90's...maybe it WAS possible to push conservative legislation through with some Dem support. In TODAY's political environment, this was not an option for President Trump...nor would it have been for anyone else in his shoes. President Trump pushed...beyond...the limits of what was politically achievable. WAY beyond...I honestly can't think of any other conservative who could have achieved as much for conservatism in the White House. And yes, much of it was via EO and can be reversed...but an EO was the ONLY POSSIBLE OPTION in nearly every case in which he used it. It wasn't EO or legislation...it was EO or nothing. No wall construction etcetera unless the EO was used and that principle applies to a host of other issues from 2017-2021. Period.
No, my premise is damn well right.
To begin, the buck stops at the top. The fault of the last four years inevitably must be laid at Tump's door. He donned the mantle. It is his responsibility to lead - And inherent in leading is being able to build coalitions and getting people to follow. Any businessman will tell you that 'my way or the highway' is a nuclear option. That is not how it is done day to day. To lead, people must be convinced to follow. One way or another, Tumpy did not get that done.
BUT, and this is a big hairy but, all y'all didn't give him a single chance in hell of getting that done, because all y'all have been pulling for the 'Big Rhinestone R', and in essence, any old 'R' will do, so long as it's not a Democrat. You have filled the state houses and Congress with RINOs that have an agenda opposed to Conservatism. In that, I recognize your primary argument that 'poor little Tumpy can't help it' - In effect, that is true. And that is your fault in the greater context, but he gets to take the blame for not being able to work with the damn little you gave him, as he said he could... All of the above already predicted by me, and other hard core Conservatives many, many times, in reams of the record here.
Can you hear me now?
Dammit, the answer is Conservative orthodoxy, not chasing after princes. Not populism. Congress matters more than the presidency, and state houses matter more than congress. You need bottom-up country wide, every conservative organization, outlet, and device, preaching Conservatism. Not partisanship, and certainly not princes.
It does not matter a single whit what the Democrats are doing if you cannot stop them. And it matters not a single whit how much you love your prince if he cannot govern. All of the above requires NOT the 'army you have', but rather, the army you build, one that is every bit in lockstep as the Democrats are. Ad the only answer to liberalism uncontained, is pure, raw, unwatered Conservatism, straight out of the ground, and in strength at every level of government. That is what the TEA party was doing. and that is what needs to be done.
You don't need a Tump orthodoxy (which is where you are going now), you need a Conservative orthodoxy. You don't need compromise to get democrat votes. You need orthodoxy to build Conservative votes.
This dyed in the wool die hard Conservative was in the TEA up to my neck. Why won't I give y'all the time of day? Because what you are doing will fail. By the numbers. You can't wag the dog. It already HAS FAILED.
Ironically, he could have gotten more legislation passed had he been more willing to go full compromise with Dem Left and give them much of what they wanted...but then you'd have called him a traitor to conservatism and a Big city liberal (which you do anyway so I guess no loss for him on your account).
He already did that anyway. Every one of those megaporkulus bills were chock full of greasy liberal left wing treats. Go read em. Written as LAW, not EOs. They stay, and the EOs are mostly gone. That is exactly what your (y'all) strategy has wrought. And that is why, alongside his EO candy, his administration was aligned with big city liberals in LAW. What we get to keep went LEFT, man. And there is no way you can deny it.
So governing by EO, as predicted, is utterly useless - Worthless but for populist appeal. A fantasy full of unicorn reams... The reality is the stuff we get to keep. And that changed leftward, not to the right.
And you know what, I'd have agreed with you. But that's not what happened. So, given that President Trump had no power to get MORE conservative legislation...and that you absolutely would have opposed him doing a great "compromise" with the Left to get legislation...what the hell other course was open to him as President other than EO's.
That's the point. He could not do what he said he could. It was impossible from the get-go as Conservative stalwarts here saw plainly. That's the problem with putting all your chips on a prince. and that's where y'all need a change in direction... What you are doing is exactly what is wrong.
Our next GOP President, be it Trump or Desantis or Hawley or Cotton...will face the same dilemma. Folks like you, roamer, will be breathing down his neck to move the conservative agenda forward NOW....and yet President's have no power to do so in THIS political climate without a 60 vote majority in the Senate. So this next President will have a choice of; Use EO's to achieve what can be achieved knowing that's an impermanent solution, Compromise with Left to get legislation that will be anything but genuinely conservative, or go full dictator. That's it. The days of "Reagan charming and bullying his way to get conservative legislation" passed are gone...that is not achievable in this environment.
Precisely so. WHY? Because them damn dirty Conservatives won't compromise their filthy principles(tm) so we can get things done, right?
When actually, it is the other way around. Y'all have to STOP compromising. Stop chasing after princes and trying to make Conservatism fit your cause. That ain't how it works. Raise the Conservative standard, not the Tumpian one. Make the Liberty Caucus a power to be reckoned with at the very least, and you need WAY more than what, maybe five real Conservative senators. Howabout twenty if you can't get fifty? That's the direction you need to be going in,
You don't get there kissing the ring. You get there raising the standard (in both meanings of the word)
My point is this. You've set a standard for President Trump that no other Republican could ever meet...no one short of Jesus Christ could get done what you want done. I'm all for getting conservative issues addressed and legislated....but damn...President's are not magicians. They can only do what CAN be done. What you seem to want is the old Roman trick of electing a dictator for one year who simply reforms and shapes all legislation to conservative perfection (see Cincinnatus)...and then peacefully steps down. That's not a reasonable or even rational standard in today's political environment.
No... Sadly, in effect, Cincinnatus is what you are doing. Or expecting, in assuming the only thing you can do is relying on your prince to exercise dictatorial powers by EO for his short season... While the band plays on. Pardon friend, but you are projecting.
I have not put such a standard on the president. That IS the standard of the Presidency. And you'll note the very same demand for excellence throughout, not just on the president. We need statesmen, not politicians. True believers, not compromises.
What army can beat a liberal orthodox army moving in lockstep? Only one thing: A Conservative orthodox army moving in lockstep...