In my lifetime (b.1947) there are perhaps six "great men" who have immensely influenced our world, for good or bad, changing the direction of history: Stalin, Mao, Churchill, Gandhi (including his influence on ML King), Ronald Reagan and John Paul II. Clearly, the first two were for the bad; the last four the good.
Donald Trump is well on his way to joining this elite group. He has singlehandedly reconfigured the political culture of our nation; and is now working upon the globe. But for the good or the bad? He is larger than life; a superhero/villain out of Marvel comics. Amazingly polarizing! About 40% of us see him as a pure evil; about 40% dismiss his flaws and see him as our salvific hero. A smaller number of us enjoy some clarity and sobriety in seeing both sides.
Ten Best Things
1. From the perspective of the unborn, he is the liberational champion of the ages. Specifically in his court appointments. Liberals disparage his sincerity and intentions. It is best not to judge the heart of another. But we can and must judge actions and policies: on this he is both great and good!
2. Singlehandedly, he has stopped (at least for now) the "march through the institutions" by the progressive cultural revolutionaries. When DEI, LGBTQ and the woke axis had near total control of all the higher institutions of society, he rallied moral conservatives and disgruntled populists to stop the crusade. This is truly breathtaking and encouraging!
3. Religious liberty. Traditional Christians, Catholic and Evangelical/Pentecostal, have in him a genuine champion as he protects our freedom from the quiet, insidious totalitarianism of the cultural left.
4. Populist: He voices the dissatisfaction of the lower classes in a society that increasingly privileges the already wealthy and educated. He has not proposed a viable agenda to correct things. But he does voice their grief in his defiance of the liberal hegemony.
5. Globally, he already sensed the changing dynamics of our world: the emergence of a hostile China; the necessity for Europe to take responsibility for NATO; the toxicity of Iran; the limits of American power in a multi-polar world.
6. The Abrahamic Accords, in aligning Israel with the Sunni states against Iran, is especially prescient and promising.
7. He closed our southern border.
8. He is in many (but not all) ways a strong, courageous, energetic, virile man. His fist pump, after being shot, blood running down his cheeks, became an unforgettable icon of virility and drew many young men, across races and ethnicities, to him. His level of energy since taking office, contrast to Biden, is extraordinary. He represents in some degree a cultural resurgence (albeit crude) of masculinity.
9. Shamelessly transparent in his many ugly dimensions, he is refreshingly free of any self-righteous, hypocritical, moralistic facades. He is wildly interesting and entertaining: a true celebrity. Politics for him is largely performance, histrionics and camp. He is very good at this.
10. I can only think of 9. But I have 11 negatives for an even 20 total.
Ten Worst Things
1. In his bottomless narcissism, he is entirely indifferent to Truth and disconnected in major ways from reality.
2. The contempt he shows for others...opponents, foreigners, women...is morally despicable. In ordinary times, this alone would disqualify him for boy scout leader, much less president. As a role model (which is a huge part of his job) he is a catastrophe!
3. His personal vindictiveness and resentment are unmanly, cowardly and toxic for politics and culture.
4. So voracious is his expansive Ego that he has no respect for institutions. These he uses for his own enrichment as he is the epitome of the Narcissistic Personality of our times.
5. More specifically, he has little regard for constitutional order, the rule of law, or protocols of ordinary decency as he expands the executive office without restraint.
6. In policy he is impulsive, irrational and lacking in any clarity and coherence. This includes tariffs, diplomacy, and every aspect. This makes for uncertainty, instability and anxiety. Very dangerous diplomatically. (Even as this very unpredictability may deter bad actors.)
7. He appeals to base populist instincts, anxiety and resentment, inflaming them without directing them in a positive directions.
8. In his contempt for his political adversaries, he polarizes the society and heightens anxiety, anger, distrust and sadness.
9. His MAGA agenda is xenophobic, jingoistic, and alienating of our allies in a multi-polar world where alliances will be crucial to prevail against the various axes of evil.
10. His idolization of and infatuation with Putin is idiotic, insane and extremely dangerous.
11. He shows little empathy for the poor and suffering. Specifically, his tax plans emphasize tax cuts for the investor class, arguing the "trickle down theory" that an expansive economy favors all, even as he increases the national debt with inflationary consequences. On another front, the abrupt curtailing of USAID funds for the poor overseas was breathlessly coldhearted.
How do we weigh these 11 negatives against the 9 positives? This is a subjective, prudential decision; almost a Rorschach test. Even two or three of the negatives should disqualify him. But, the deeper weakness and depravity of the alternative party serve to highlight his strengths and diminish his weaknesses. That (more than the price of eggs or an alleged "white racism") is why he was elected.
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