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How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love The Donald

  

Category:  News & Politics

Via:  singled-out-3  •  7 years ago  •  18 comments

How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love The Donald

It is an article of faith among many that some of the most patriotic Americans are immigrants. Leaving one's country and culture in search of a better life has a way of clarifying the reasons for making such a consequential choice. The freedoms and opportunities we enjoy as native-born citizens, but can sometimes take for granted, are often even more deeply cherished by new Americans in their adopted homeland. Trading up carries with it a reminder of what one has lived down – and can be all the more meaningful for it.

In a similar way, it may also be true that the most passionate adherents to political ideology, or a candidate embodying such views, are those who have cast off an opposing party or politician they found wanting. Nothing brings into high relief the folly of one's voting choices like deep disillusionment with the elected officials or party in whom one has put one's trust.

Like the immigrant, then, for whom America matters even more when compared to the system they've fled, the lately anointed conservative may feel greater affinity for a core set of newly held beliefs, particularly in contrast to the liberal ideals he deserted. Rejecting something is purposeful. And not having a thing of value only makes the getting of it more valuable.

This is why the Cuban who fled Castro's fascist regime has great clarity – as does the Trump voter who abandoned Obama.

They both know full well what they escaped.

The silent minority of centrist, independent, or disenchanted liberal voters who threw over the Democratic Party in order to help put Trump over the top on election day may have been a crucial factor in Trump's win. For this group of voters, who rejected the hope and change promised by Barack Obama as ultimately hollow and corrupted, Donald Trump represented a chance to sandblast the entrenched bureaucracy of Washington and return power to the people.

Think about it this way: the desire to reject the well heeled vampire the left has become was so great that America was willing to elect a coarse, unrefined reality TV star with zero political experience to run the country just because he seemed to have the courage of his convictionscand wasn't Barack Obama, or some iteration thereof.

Obama voters – or at least the ones who paid attention – witnessed our 44th president's mendacity about the transparency of his administration, the ACA's freedom of choice, the responsibility for the terrorism in Benghazi, the ransom payments to Iran, the deadly overreach of Fast and Furious, and the targeting of conservatives by the IRS, to name but a few. For those not still in thrall to Obama's impressive speech-making and statesman-like bearing, the cynicism of these shell games became corrosive to keeping faith in him.

Voters accurately determined that Obama was a Trojan horse – a figure with a promise of change who went on to undercut his pledges with lies, and who bent the Constitution to his will via imperial fiat masquerading as executive privilege. Obama's deceptions, along with the rightful resentment against the iron maiden that political correctness had become, won Trump the presidency.

Did these political migrants have misgivings about supporting a man like Donald Trump? To a one – more than likely. Trump's blunt candor and his inartful rhetoric are an acquired taste, at best. Without a prepared speech, the president can inspire a kind of reflexive wincing in even his most avid defenders when he speaks. He is boorish, vain, thin-skinned, and vengeful – hardly the boxes anyone checks when filling out the "Adjectives That Describe a President" form.

And yet something real emanates from him – something true. For Americans habituated to the oiled pandering and doubletalk of many career politicians, Trump's flat, syntax-challenged style is a strange balm. He is an antidote to politics as usual – one that goes down with a spoonful of salt rather than sugar.

Whether this long-shot bet will pay off is still in question. The roulette wheel is presently spinning, and sometimes, it threatens to career off the table. But the fact that millions of Americans decided to ignore the odds and bet anyway tells you something about what kind of intuitive desperation about the state of the union occasioned such risk-taking.

The dirty little secret of what was a lurid, divisive election cycle is that Trump won on the issues. People were paying attention.

Seen by daylight, the odds that a handsome, gifted, whip-smart orator with charisma to burn and two terms of the American presidency under his belt would be succeeded by a brazen, awkward, rhetorically challenged vulgarian, a force of nature with an outer-borough attitude and bad hair, are vanishingly slim. But it happened – and, in part, because a clutch of reasonable Americans who crossed their fingers and hoped for the best with Obama, instead saw the entrenched power, bureaucratic sprawl, and deep-seated corruption of government expand beyond reckoning – and the middle and lower classes thrown under the globalist bus. These folks voted with their feet and walked away from the left.

The story is likely apocryphal, or speculative at least, but it resonates either way. It goes something like this: Donald Trump decided to run for president of the United States the night of the 2011 White House Correspondents' Dinner at which he was mocked without mercy by both Seth Meyers and Barack Obama. This smug, elite takedown of Trump was weaponized by the rapier invective of the left's canon of comedy writers, and its message to Trump was simple: you are a classless embarrassment, and your persona justifies any cruelty leveled against you.

It took a few years, but Trump's chickens came home to roost – along the ivory walls of the White House. Lesson learned: don't poke the bear just because it's fun to be cruel, for one day the bear may eat you – or at least make you cry pathetically on air, as Meyers did on election night.

Is there a quiet sea change at play in the heartland – one that involves re-assessing one's self-assumptions about party, ideology, and core beliefs? Just ask former Democrat and liberal talk show host Dave Rubin, who "left the left" because he sees the progressive movement devolving into authoritarianism. Or read the sobering story of gay journalist Chadwick Moore, who was ostracized by his community for the crime of writing neutrally about provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos, then came out again – as a conservative. Or consider that Democratic governor of West Virginia, Jim Justice, who switched to the Republican Party because, as he stated to his constituents at a rally attended by Trump, "I can't help you anymore being a Democrat."

What might these startling horses changing midstream portend about the future of the Democrats? Are these defections a Cassandra's vision of a party in decay?

I could conjecture, but I can really speak with authority only about myself, however anecdotally. I voted for Barack Obama twice. I wasn't happy about it. And then, eyes wide open – I voted for Donald Trump.

I did this in spite of his flaws and his effrontery. I did it because of his vision of America as a place where the state bends the knee to its people, instead of the reverse – a place where silenced Americans get their voices back.

I have no regrets about my decision – only hope. I believe that with any luck, a change in the weather, and the wind at his back, Trump could be the transformational president I thought Obama might be.

Just maybe.

Godspeed, 45.

Read more: http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2017/10/how_i_learned_to_stop_worrying_and_love_the_donald.html#ixzz4vtj3eOre
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XXJefferson51
Senior Guide
1  seeder  XXJefferson51    7 years ago

“They both know full well what they escaped.

The silent minority of centrist, independent, or disenchanted liberal voters who threw over the Democratic Party in order to help put Trump over the top on election day may have been a crucial factor in Trump's win. For this group of voters, who rejected the hope and change promised by Barack Obama as ultimately hollow and corrupted, Donald Trump represented a chance to sandblast the entrenched bureaucracy of Washington and return power to the people.

Think about it this way: the desire to reject the well heeled vampire the left has become was so great that America was willing to elect a coarse, unrefined reality TV star with zero political experience to run the country just because he seemed to have the courage of his convictionscand wasn't Barack Obama, or some iteration thereof.”

 
 
 
XXJefferson51
Senior Guide
2  seeder  XXJefferson51    7 years ago

Donald Trump is doing a good job and is trying to keep his promises.  

 
 
 
Skrekk
Sophomore Participates
3  Skrekk    7 years ago

Trump voters are reckless and unpatriotic - they don't seem to care what happens to the US as a result of the Trump regime.

 
 
 
XXJefferson51
Senior Guide
3.1  seeder  XXJefferson51  replied to  Skrekk @3    7 years ago

Your side lost the election.  Instead of getting over it and moving on they bash the voters of their opponent and call our government a regime.  It’s 😞 so sad.  I didn’t vote for Trump or Hillary but I’m a lot more pleased with what’s going on now than I thought I’d be. It’s s lot better than had Hillary won.  

 
 
 
Texan1211
Professor Principal
3.2  Texan1211  replied to  Skrekk @3    7 years ago

Trump voters are unpatriotic--and yet, enough people voted for Trump to win. Perhaps had the left been "more patriotic", enough would have voted for Abuela to win.

 
 
 
KDinAZ
Freshman Silent
4  KDinAZ    7 years ago

"How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Donald"
It was actually simple enough... All it took was surrendering my logic, dignity, sense of values and honor.

 
 
 
Hal A. Lujah
Professor Guide
4.1  Hal A. Lujah  replied to  KDinAZ @4    7 years ago

All it took was surrendering my logic, dignity, sense of values and honor.

We see it here on a daily basis.

 
 
 
sixpick
Professor Quiet
5  sixpick    7 years ago

I go with my gut feeling plus plenty of evidence, between the two choices we had, Trump was the only viable choice to make unless we wanted to throw up our hands in defeat and sink into the cesspool of Socialism.

 
 
 
Texan1211
Professor Principal
6  Texan1211    7 years ago

It seems like those on the left will never, ever get over Abuela's stunning defeat.

So sad.

 
 
 
sixpick
Professor Quiet
6.1  sixpick  replied to  Texan1211 @6    7 years ago

Just turn on your computer, TV or read the news every single day and for those who are unable to think for themselves and are great candidates for reality TV fans, the Propaganda MSM is in high gear lying to the American public every day.

 
 
 
XXJefferson51
Senior Guide
6.2  seeder  XXJefferson51  replied to  Texan1211 @6    7 years ago

I simply accept that the left has gone irrational over their unexpected loss.  At this point in time it’s best to openly mock their hate, pour salt into their wounds, and laugh 😆 ....

 
 
 
Jonathan P
Sophomore Silent
7  Jonathan P    7 years ago

My voting record does not include every winning President since 1980, when I became old enough to vote. I've been diligent in studying up on candidates, and have followed the travails of Washington my entire adult life. I have voted both sides of the aisle. I have been proud of my choices, and have regretted others.

I did not vote for either candidate this last cycle. I wrote one in, and felt more comfortable with my choice. I am a lifelong Republican, placing myself in the middle of the road. Of all the Presidents in my lifetime, the current one is the most dumbfounding one I've come across. Like most of them before me, I favor some of his policies and dislike others. Like any other person in this world, I find the President to be less than presidential with appalling regularity. I'm not a "hot button" guy, so I really skirt by that as often as possible. There are items that don't need my, or for that matter, anyone's attention. What makes it impossible to skirt by EVERY time is on those occasions that he sabotages those policies that I favor. Legislation is a long arduous process, requiring many weeks and months, and the full attention of those involved in promulgating the policies. These are the policies that the President himself has asked to be enacted, and yet, his actions often sabotage those very desires.

We're almost a year into this President's term. I believe he will serve the full 4 years, barring his untimely death. I do not believe he will cease his un-presidential behavior, and as a result, will fall short in his attempt to enact policies that will benefit our country. Among my daily prayers, there is one that includes one that will dispel my belief.

I do not regret my vote at this point.

 
 
 
Steve Ott
Professor Quiet
8  Steve Ott    7 years ago

Like the immigrant, then, for whom America matters even more when compared to the system they've fled, the lately anointed conservative may feel greater affinity for a core set of newly held beliefs, particularly in contrast to the liberal ideals he deserted. Rejecting something is purposeful. And not having a thing of value only makes the getting of it more valuable.

This is why the Cuban who fled Castro's fascist regime has great clarity – as does the Trump voter who abandoned Obama.

They both know full well what they escaped.

Like the immigrant, then, for whom thought matters even more when compared to the system they've fled, the lately anointed libertarian may feel greater affinity for a core set of newly held beliefs, particularly in contrast to the conservative christian ideals he deserted. Rejecting something is purposeful. And not having a thing of value only makes the getting of it more valuable.

This is why Steve, who fled the Republican party's regime has great clarity – as does the Trump voter who abandoned Obama.

I know full well what I escaped.

How apropo, not just for conservatism, but for any ism.

 
 
 
XXJefferson51
Senior Guide
8.1  seeder  XXJefferson51  replied to  Steve Ott @8    7 years ago

I on the other hand escaped the Democrat Party while still young and the Democrat Party has become progressively more secular and leftist since I left.  

 
 
 
pat wilson
Professor Participates
9  pat wilson    7 years ago

This is why the Cuban who fled Castro's fascist regime has great clarity – as does the Trump voter who abandoned Obama.

I started to read the article until I reached the above comment.

Thank you for the belly laugh though !

 
 

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