Tag: donald trump

Reagan Biographer Paul Kengor on Donald Trump v. Ronald Reagan

From Donald Trump's Twitter page.
From Donald Trump’s Twitter page.

Recently, I asked my friend, colleague and Ronald Reagan biographer Paul Kengor to participate in a Q&A comparing Donald Trump with Ronald Reagan. It is my feeling that Reagan would not be welcome in today’s GOP and that he would be especially troubled by the emergence of Trump.  Kengor agrees and will respond to questions early next week. However, in the mean time, Paul sent along a link to an article he penned for the American Spectator. I think it well-written and brings some valuable observation about Trump in light of Paul’s knowledge of Reagan.

The whole thing is depressing. Consider, Rubio and Cruz, the two genuine conservative front-runners, are the hardworking sons of extraordinary immigrants from Cuba. They are quintessential American success stories. They are both solid Christian family men. And into the race comes a sudden self-proclaimed born-again conservative who laughs at them and eviscerates them, and is rewarded for it. It’s hard to watch.
All of which brings me back to Trump’s mastery of an altogether new campaign tactic of non-stop rapacious ridicule of opponents within one’s own party. The New Jersey casino founder brashly accused Ted Cruz of everything from being a closet Canadian citizen to cheating when the Donald lost Iowa. Schoolboy-like, Trump threatened lawsuits. Of late, he jumps in the sandbox and taunts Marco Rubio: “choker, choker!”
Can you imagine Ronald Reagan doing this? Reagan’s “11th commandment” was never to speak ill of another Republican. Donald Trump’s commandment is to speak ill of every Republican.
Do Republicans want this as the party’s new face and standard-bearer? Apparently those on the Trump side do. Many of them even assume the insult-king’s persona, dealing with dissenters with similar levels of obnoxiousness, blow-torching Republicans in the way of their Donald.

Go read the rest at the Spectator.

Donald Trump's Campaign Gave Press Privileges to a White Segregationist; Trump, Jr. to Appear on Political Cesspool

You would think that Donald Trump would have learned something from his KKK-David Duke snafu over the weekend.
Trump gave press privileges to James Edwards, host of “paleo-Conservative” radio show Political Cesspool on February 27. Despite Edwards protests to the contrary, his guests and show topics place him in the white segregationist “we [whites] need space too” category.
Furthermore, Donald Trump, Jr. is slated to appear on the program with Edwards this weekend on March 5 (the interview has already been taped).
As I understand it, this story was broken first by the blog Little Green Footballs. A tweet about Edwards reminded of an appearance on his show by Michael Hill, League of the South president.
Edwards regularly has Hill as a guest. During one such appearance, Hill defined Southerners as whites with Edwards chiming in whole heartedly. The entire appearance can be heard here.
During the broadcast, ads for Confederate sympathizers and the Council of Conservative Citizens (advocates “racial integrity” for “European Americans”) are featured. Edwards and Hill both describe immigration as genocide for white people.  At 26:30 in the broadcast, Edwards asks Hill to give a description of the basic mission of the League of the South (the audio of that segment is below). In response, Hill said:

We are for the survival, well-being, and independence of the Southern people. And when we say ‘the Southern people,’ we mean white Southerners. We are an ethno-nationalist movement and we want a free and independent South for our people, as our homeland and that’s pretty much what we are fighting for.

Then why get into immigration protests?

Now we’re doing the demographic displacement demonstrations to help with that first thing I said, the very survival of our people because if we don’t control the land, the soil with our blood, then we don’t have a place to live, we don’t have a place to work, we don’t have a place to worship, and raise our children. So the survival of our people on our land is the first thing that we’re concerned about. And that’s why we’re having these rallies against our demographic displacement. But in the end, we want a free and independent South. We’re Southern nationalists; and as I said, we want an ethno, we’re ethno-nationalists, and we want an ethnic state for Southerners here.

Edwards then chimes in and calls Hill’s position reasonable and adds:

It’s is just as legitimate folks that white, Christian Southerners have an organization that seeks to advance their unique group interests. They’ve got the radio show, they’ve got this organization and it’s completely legit and above board because I’m telling you what Dr. Hill is doing is very serious work on very serious issues and causes. Everybody ought to have the right to live and thrive and have a home and a land of their own and I do mean everybody, including white Southerners.

Listen to that segment here:

Edwards protests that he is not a white supremacist. He certainly is a white segregationist since he is referring to a land for white people without individuals of other races.
Following the section on the League’s mission, Edwards laments the desecration of prominent KKK supporter Nathan Bedford Forest.  Edwards rants that such desecration will continue as long as their aren’t strong white advocacy organizations. It is very clear from his write up of the Trump experience that he liked what he saw. Edwards wrote:

I must admit that this rally lived up to my expectations. I’ve been saying for years on the radio that the majority of Americans fundamentally agree with us on the issues and that the neocons were generals of a phantom army. I am being proven right. Our people just needed a viable candidate and they’ve identified Trump as that man. There is no doubt that Trump’s populism and nationalism is galvanizing our nation and may change the course of American history for the better right before our very eyes.

Edwards also says his press credentials should not be construed as an endorsement by Trump. To me, that doesn’t fly. If Edwards tried to get press privileges with any other campaign, I cannot believe he would be allowed in.

Donald Trump: Unintended Consequence of Fear Mongering

Like a extra piece of chocolate cake, politics is a tempting distraction for me. I vote and I have worked as a local volunteer in a few campaigns over the years but I mainly watch. Like many, I have lots of opinions and I think I am right. I also indulge in a fair amount of Monday morning quarterbacking but know full well that I am frequently wrong.
I felt that way reading this New York Times article on the GOP’s desperate attempt to stop Donald Trump. The article read a little like the beginning of the end of the GOP I’ve known it.  Donald Trump’s nomination would fracture the party, or at least accentuate all the existing fractures. Trump certainly has the angry vote but I don’t think that is enough to win in November, at least I hope it isn’t.
As I have watched this primary season, I have been developing the feeling that Trump is the unintended consequence of seven years of fear mongering fueled by the religious right and social conservatives. Perhaps I think that because I pay more attention to those groups than I do to other groups. However, I think there might be something to what I am thinking since Donald Trump is leading among evangelicals. Ted Cruz’s efforts to get evangelicals by holding all the right Christian positions isn’t resonating with enough evangelicals to win that group. Trump’s angry promises to fix everything that is broken is winning with social conservatives who are fed up politicians who constantly tell us what is wrong with the democrats but never seem to do anything about it.
Evangelical leaders have been angrily attacking everything Obama does for seven years. For instance, David Barton tells his faithful that Obama hasn’t prosecuted any pornography cases when clearly that claim is false. Far right pundits like Glenn Beck have spent many hours telling religious audiences that we are on the precipice, and that the Constitution is “hanging by a thread.” Ministers tell their flocks that the end times are coming because the nation is on the brink of bringing God’s wrath. Here are a very few examples of the thousands I could give:

In all of the fervor to oppose Barack Obama and the left, I believe evangelical leaders have whipped their audiences into a frenzy of fear and anger. Since many of these evangelical leaders seem enamored with political power, they view the government as the source of the problems. Consistently, they also view a political change as the source of our salvation. The political sphere replaces religion and the simple Gospel as the way and mission of the church. However, since the religious right often blames politicians for the evil, the people aren’t looking for a politician, no matter how well that politician checks off the right stances on social issues. They are mad as hell at politicians and want some other messiah.
Enter Donald Trump.
Trump also plays to the fears of people, religious and non-religious, who have been scared to death by the presence of illegal immigrants. Evangelicals are divided over this with many wanting a path to legal status while others want a mass deportation, as do Trump and Cruz. Those evangelicals who are afraid of immigration are flocking to Trump since he brings the total package of fear mongering to the table.
There is, of course, no way Donald Trump can do most of what he promises. He isn’t going to build a wall, or deport 11 million illegal immigrants, or fix healthcare by simply “removing the lines” around state borders, or bring back companies from overseas or force employees to say Merry Christmas. He isn’t going to make Christianity stronger or save us.
If Trump get the GOP nomination, I suspect millions of Republicans will stay home or vote third party. The Democrat president with continue similar policies as we have now and if the Congress stays about the same, a familiar gridlock will continue. I hope that evangelicals will somehow find some religious leaders who can learn to be in the world but not of it. To me, that means pursuing the mission that only the church can do and on temporal matters seek to work cordially with those leaders we say we pray for on Sunday but demonize the rest of the week.
 

For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. 2 Timothy 1:7
To say that it is, is a contradiction to the Christian Religion itself, for every page of it disavows a dependence on the powers of this world: it is a contradiction to fact; for it is known that this Religion both existed and flourished, not only without the support of human laws, but in spite of every opposition from them, and not only during the period of miraculous aid, but long after it had been left to its own evidence and the ordinary care of Providence. Nay, it is a contradiction in terms; for a Religion not invented by human policy, must have pre-existed and been supported, before it was established by human policy. It is moreover to weaken in those who profess this Religion a pious confidence in its innate excellence and the patronage of its Author; and to foster in those who still reject it, a suspicion that its friends are too conscious of its fallacies to trust it to its own merits. James Madison, 1785

 
 

New Iowa Attack Ad Highlights Ted Cruz's Meager Charitable Giving

Ted Cruz’s evangelical strategy may not be working as well as he hoped.
New polls show a dramatic drop in evangelical support among evangelicals for Cruz and he is facing renewed criticism over his meager charitable giving in this new attack ad:
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O0gWmYQxbYU[/youtube]
Mormon Glenn Beck and activist David Barton may feel Cruz is the one but increasingly evangelicals may be moving toward The Donald.
 

Jerry Falwell, Jr Endorses Donald Trump for President; Trump Still Leads in Evangelical Support

Shrewd move Jerry Jr.
Many will scratch their heads. Some will complaint and maybe stage a protest. Some donors will stop giving to Liberty but The Donald will no doubt make that up going forward.
In a CNN poll dropped today, Donald Trump leads all others among evangelicals with 39% favoring him. I think I understand this now.
Trump is rich and famous. These are two values celebrated among modern evangelical pastors. Trump is the perfect candidate for those who equate wealth and fame with God’s favor. Millions of people have been conditioned to admire wealth and fame as measures of success in the church. A big ministry must mean big blessing. Trump seems made for evangelical prime time.
On one hand, I am glad that a majority evangelicals are so far resisting the dominionist calls of Ted “Anointed” Cruz, but on the other, they are moving toward the new values of the church: wealth and fame. Instead of moving toward an ideologically less pure but experienced candidate like John Kasich, the church is distracted by the promises and pretty lights of Trump Towers.