Submitted by Mike Krieger via Liberty Blitzkrieg blog [7],
The most accurate and incisive critique of Donald Trump I’ve seen to-date was a piece written by Jeffrey Tucker last month, and highlighted here in the post: Donald Trump the Demagogue [8]. It’s very important to call out people like Trump for the man he is, so we don’t simply fawn and fall for a narcissist, strongman-type as a way to deal with our societal pain and frustration.
Rand Paul has done a great service by coming out with his own Op-Ed on “the Donald” published at IJReview [9]. Here are a few excerpts:
I ran for office because I was tired of being misled by Republicans who promised conservative government and gave us bank bailouts and more debt. The Wall Street bankers got richer and the American taxpayer got poorer.
The Tea Party erupted over dissatisfaction with false conservatives. It amazes me that anyone in the Tea Party movement could possibly consider Clinton/Reid/Pelosi supporter Donald Trump for President.
I honestly have no idea what Mr. Trump’s real philosophy is. He was liberal before he was conservative, and has openly professed for decades that his views are those of a Democrat.
In 1990, he said if he ever ran for office, he’d do better as a Democrat. He became an independent briefly in 1999 before he switched back to registering as a Democrat. In 2004, he identified more of his beliefs as those of a Democrat, especially on economic policy, stating on CNN that“it just seems that the economy does better under the Democrats than the Republicans.” He only registered as a Republican in 2009 before dropping the party again in 2011, only to re-register in 2012.
This is a guy who said in 1999 that he was a strong supporter of the United Nations. He was for partial birth abortion before he was against it. He lavished praise on the bank bailouts. He was for Obamacare before he was against it and has said he’s “liberal on health care.”
Donald Trump is showing he isn’t suited to lead the country, and I think we all need to discuss why.
Frankly, it sounds too much like he is someone used to bullying to get his way. What do you do to a bully? You stand up to him. That’s what I did on the debate stage, and I was the only one.
We don’t need a bully, and we don’t need another President who thinks he is King. We certainly don’t need someone who has driven his companies into bankruptcy four times yet smugly tells us he uses our nation’s Chapter 11 laws to his own personal advantage. All well and good for him – but what of the creditors and vendors he defaulted on?
Voters are hungry for a plain-spoken critique of Washington. But I’m unsure how credible that voice is when it comes from the consummate insider, a man who buys and sells politicians like he does Lamborghinis.
Trump has paid over 1.5 million dollars to politicians from both sides of the aisle, from Harry Reid to Rahm Emanuel to Jeb Bush. The majority of his donations were to Democrats until a few years ago when he began thinking more seriously of making a play for the Republican nomination.
He has, however, put a significant down payment on Hillary Clinton—at least a $100,000 investment in the Clinton “Foundation” in addition to repeated donations to her campaigns—and acknowledges he spoke to Bill Clinton before he decided to pursue the Republican nomination. What kind of access was he purchasing?
It makes me sad to think that Tea Party awakening could be hijacked or hoodwinked by a guy who supported the bank bailouts, supported Obamacare, and continues to support the Clintons.
I was there at the first Tea Party in 2007 and I’ll be damned if I’m going to stand passively by and watch the movement destroyed by a fake conservative.
We owe the American people substantive answers like that, not bluster and bombast. I plan to stand up to anyone who doesn’t have the temperament or ideas to be President. Maybe it’s time for the GOP voters to tell Mr. Trump he’s fired so we can find a serious candidate who will bring real change.
Donald Trump doesn’t actually stand for anything except for himself and his own ambition. He merely wants to be President, and is manipulating people by saying things that push the right buttons. The saddest part is that people can’t see it, despite it being so obvious.
