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It has unfortunately become obvious that the majority of Conservatives
and Republicans have sold their souls to the devil by blindly supporting Donald J. Trump during
and after his ascendency to the office of the president of the United State of America. Too many
Conservatives and Republicans have decided to hold their noses against the stench drifting out
of the oval office in order to have some long-standing items on their agenda enacted.
Far too many Republicans have lost their way. Instead of standing up
for conservative and Republican principles, they have sheepishly surrendered to the man in the
White House and turned a blind eye to all his misdeeds, missteps, stupidities, falsehoods, and
boorish behavior. They no longer provide a viable alternative to the socialistic and ultraliberal
left that is offered by Democrats like Bernie Sanders and Elisabeth Warren. There has been the
occasional voice in the wilderness, such as Senator Mike Lee (R-Utah). He has led a group of
conservatives in launching the Article 1 Project (or A1P) — an initiative urging members of
Congress to reassert their powers under Article 1 of the Constitution. “Congress has delegated
too much of its legislative authority to the executive branch ... {T}aking up a new position
as backseat drivers of the republic, Lee and then-Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-Tex.) wrote at the
time, ‘we have moved from a nation governed by rule of law to one governed by the rule of
rulers.’ Item No. 1 on A1P’s agenda? ‘Reclaiming Congress’s power of the purse’ “,
(Ref. 1) there has been no follow-up and no support by
the vast majority of Republican politicians.
Trump’s threat to declare a National Emergency to circumvent
Congress and fund his border wall should have caused a major revolt among Conservatives and
Republicans alike. “One would think that constitutional conservatives would be leading the
fight in the Senate to reverse the president’s extraordinary emergency declaration and reclaim
Congress’s power of the purse. So far, that’s not happening. Instead, we’re seeing plenty
of excuses, with Republicans arguing that what the president is doing is technically legal,
even if he should not have that kind of power.
“Sorry, that’s a cop-out. Even if one thinks the emergency declaration
is technically legal — and that is a point of debate among legal scholars — the law also
provides Congress a mechanism to terminate an emergency declaration that it deems inappropriate.
Why would any Republican not vote to use the express authority Congress granted itself under
the law to do so?
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“. . . Some object that a vote on {the House} resolution of
disapproval is little more than a ‘show vote’ because the president will veto it and it
lets Democrats pretend that they care about separation of powers without doing anything
real to address the problem. But it is within the GOP’s power to make sure the resolution
passes with a veto-proof majority . . .” (Ref. 1)
Republicans might feel a political imperative to support their
president, but Donald Trump has repeatedly demonstrated that he deserves no such support.
In fact, Republicans should feel a non-political imperative to do the right thing and make
Trump powerless until he can be voted out of office in 2020 or removed from office sooner
than that, if necessary. Republicans need to demonstrate that they will stand up and serve
the American people, rather than meekly keep their mouths shut about Trump's decidedly
non-presidential outrageous and bullying behavior.
Too many Republicans have rationalized their support for Trump by
pointing to tax cuts, rollbacks in regulation and Trump’s appointments of conservative judges.
But Donald Trump’s overall atrocious behavior as president should have long ago made them
unwilling to surrender their Republican and Conservative values. Unfortunately, too many
Republicans and Conservatives have confused Trump’s bluster and swagger with actual strength
and rational leadership. They have refused to accept the fact that Donald Trump has proven
himself to be nothing more than an egotistical schoolyard bully. Sadly, Republicans and
Conservatives have reacted to Trump’s outrages by wringing their hands, while marching in
lock step behind him.
Donald Trump has deftly exploited many of the grievances and
attitudes that have festered for decades on the right. Trump has shown that he has more
in common with populist demagogues like the “Know Nothings”, Father Charles Coughlin, and
George Wallace than with true conservatives like Ronald Reagan. Until the last election,
Conservatives had the good taste, sound judgment and wisdom to reject and even marginalize
those uglier voices on the right. That ended with Donald Trump in the last
election.[2]
While several of Donald Trumps’ presidential actions have been
those which have been advocated for many years by Conservatives and Republicans alike, the
dark side of Trump and his irrational actions and pronouncements far outweigh the positive
aspects of his successes. His dictatorial behavior, by nature, violates the core principles
of all Americans – Conservatives and Republicans included. There should be no argument that
Donald Trump is authoritarian and dictatorial in the most negative sense. While that does
not mean we shouldn’t give him some credit where it is due, it also means that Republicans
and Conservatives should not give him a “free pass” simply because many of his “positive”
actions are in concert with Conservative and Republican principles. His reducing regulations
and government power was a significantly good action. A handful of good things however is
not “winning” and does not excuse his boorish and bullying behavior. The positive things that
Trump has accomplished simply do not justify Conservatives and Republicans selling their
souls to the devil by ignoring Trumps’ overwhelmingly bad behavior.
In many cases, the love affair between Donald Trump and
ultra-Conservatives has become increasingly embarrassing as each fawns over the other.
While Donald Trump may not be your typical Heritage Foundation Republican, that hasn’t
stopped Trump or the Heritage Foundation from cozying up to each other. Trump has shown
great willingness to accept the conservative group’s suggestions. Early on, Trump took
Heritage’s list of eight suggested Supreme Court justices and put five of them on his
list of 11 potential replacements.[3]
In mid-2018, The Heritage Foundation gleefully announced that:
“With unprecedented speed, the Trump administration has already implemented nearly two-thirds
of the 334 agenda items called for by the Heritage Foundation, a pace faster than former
President Reagan who embraced the conservative think tank’s legendary ‘Mandate for Leadership’
blueprint.
“{The} director of congressional and executive branch relations
at Heritage, said that Trump has implemented 64 percent of the ‘unique policy recommendations’
from the group.
“Heritage has been a partner with Trump and his administration
since the transition from the Obama administration.
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“Their ‘Mandate for Leadership’ was first produced for Reagan
in 1981. Reagan handed out a copy of the single book to every cabinet member. For Trump,
Heritage produced five books and the president has embraced them.
“{The director of congressional and executive branch relations
said that Trump} ‘has been very, very active . . . He is moving the ball in the
conservative direction.’ ” (Ref. 4) At no time has the
Heritage Foundation taken umbrage at Trump's all-too-frequent lies, blunders, boasts,
bullying, and other ill-conceived actions. Like all-too-many Conservatives, they have put
on their blinders and have chosen to ignore the bad odor coming from the White House.
Honest Conservatives and Republicans should not support a habitual
liar. Donald Trump’s tweets are full of lies, misinformation, and insults to many including
international allies and other respectable, powerful people. Unless you are one of Trump's
billionaire buddies, there is no rational reason to support him. He is proving to be one
of the worst presidents in history. Trump’s support is based on emotion and Trump's cult
of personality.[5] This should not constitute
a rationale for support by those in his Republican party or those with conservative
values.
That Donald Trump lies is indisputable. According to The Toronto
Star, “President Trump has made 2,369 false statements as president as of August 2018.” The
Chicago Tribune in May of 2018 reported that, “In the 466 days since he took the oath of
office, President Donald Trump has made 3,001 false or misleading claims.” The Washington
post claimed that, “In 558 days, President Trump has made 4,229 false or misleading claims.”
Besides being untruthful, Trump has a proclivity to repeat, over and over, many of his false
or misleading statements. Unfortunately, Trump’s egotism and thin skin make the truth an
irrelevant issue in the words coming out of the president’s mouth.
[6] “The Fact Checker had never used the word ‘lie’ to describe a
statement from a politician. But there’s a first time for everything, and we’re breaking
the emergency glass for President Trump.
“There’s no question Trump lied — repeatedly, intentionally, over
more than a year, enlisting top aides and advisers to further the deception — to cover up
the hush money he arranged during the 2016 campaign for porn star Stormy Daniels and Playboy
model Karen McDougal, who say they had separate affairs with Trump.
“The president had made a staggering 4,229 false or misleading
claims since taking office to the end of July {2018}, according to our database. In many of
those cases, it’s not possible to tell whether Trump was intentionally fibbing or simply
careless or wrong.
“But Michael Cohen’s guilty plea in Manhattan federal court this
week provides indisputable evidence that Trump lied when the story about his payoffs broke
in November 2016, that he lied in April 2018 when reporters asked him about the Daniels
payment, that he tweeted a lie in May about having reimbursed Cohen through a monthly
retainer (he was actually repaid through falsely documented payments from the Trump
Organization), and that he was still not telling the truth in a Fox News interview in
which he reacted to the guilty plea. . . . " (Ref. 7)
It has become increasingly obvious, that too many Republican
politicians have indeed sold their souls to the devil and are blindly goose-stepping after
their president. Paraphrasing one source: There is no Republican party, it’s Trump’s
authoritarian populist party now![8]
A longtime conservative columnist has argued that GOP members
of Congress “have become the president’s poodles.
“{The columnist} lamented ‘Republican misrule,’ and criticized
lawmakers for ‘hav[ing] no higher ambition than to placate the president.’
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“Forget policy. Forget ideology. Forget hating Hillary Clinton
or Barack Obama or Nancy Pelosi. From Indiana to Arizona to Ohio, the name of the game
for Republican{s} . . . has been to flaunt their Trump love. And woe unto anyone deemed
insufficiently smitten.
“. . . President Trump has transformed the Republican
Party from a political organization into a cult of personality. . .”
(Ref. 8)
There is some evidence that a few Republicans are finally showing
enough intestinal fortitude to stand up to Donald Trump. “A dozen Senate Republicans joined
Democrats on Thursday {14 March 2019} to vote against President Trump’s border emergency
declaration, a stinging rebuke of the White House’s decision to circumvent Congress to
deliver on the president’s campaign pledge to build a wall.
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“. . . it was . . . an embarrassing congressional defeat, coming
after a lengthy effort by Republican senators to persuade the White House to withdraw the
declaration and search for another way to construct the border wall.
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“It marked the second time this week that the Senate voted against
the administration’s position.
“On Wednesday, seven Republicans bucked their party to vote with
Democrats to end the United States’ role in the war in Yemen. The vote was viewed as a
condemnation of Trump’s defense of Saudi Arabia for the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
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Ultimately {and unfortunately}, most Republicans {held their noses,
discarded their principles} and sided with the president.” (Ref. 9)
As a Conservative with a Republican leaning bent, I welcome many of
the Conservative policies and initiatives implemented by President Trump
[6], but as an American citizen, I strongly disapprove of the
man currently in that office and the person who represents that office, America, and me.
Simply stated, those who support Donald Trump in order to get their way – politically, financially,
socially, and economically – have sold their souls to devil. Republicans and fellow
Conservatives: Stand up and fight for what you believe in, but don’t sell your souls to
the devil!
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References:
- Trump is undermining Congress’s power of the purse. Republicans must vote to stop it.,
Marc A. Thiessen,
The Washington Post, 7 March 2019.
- As a conservative, I despair at Republicans' support for Trump. His vision is not
conservatism, Charles J Sykes,
The Guardian, 22 July 2018.
- Donald Trump And The Heritage Foundation: Friends With Benefits,
Matt Fuller, huffingtonpost.com,
10 August 2016.
- Heritage Foundation: 64% of Trump's agenda already done, faster than Reagan,
Paul Bedard,
Washington Examiner, 27 February 2019.
- TRUMP'S CULT OF PERSONALITY, Charles J Sykes, Crime, Law and Justice,
24 August 2018.
- Donald Trump – Jekyll and Hyde, David Burton, Son of Eliyahu:
Article 333, 31 August 2018.
- TRUMP DOESN'T CARE ABOUT TRUTH--HE'S A FAKE NEWS PROBLEM, Charles J Sykes,
Crime, Law and Justice, 24 August 2018.
- THERE IS NO REUBLICAN PARTY, IT'S TRUMP'S AUTHORITARIAN POPULIST PARTY NOW,
Charles J Sykes, Crime, Law and Justice, 28 July 2018.
- GOP-controlled Senate rebukes Trump with vote to rescind border emergency
declaration, Jennifer Haberkorn,
Los Angeles Times,
14 March 2019.
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