We can’t approach reading all the excellent conservative commentary out there but we can help narrow some of it down for our readers who do not have the advantage of our team effort. Clarice Feldman is always someone we check and rarely (has she ever?) disappoints. This analysis of hers walks through some of the secular objections to Trump by people who claim they really really do not want Hillary. It is a great analogy, better appreciated by going to the article and reading her elucidation of each point. We only excerpt some to give you a flavor. Read the entire article for the banquet it provides. We will set forth some articles dealing with religious attitudes towards Trump soon.
Don’t Be like the Man Who Married His Mother-in-Law
There’s a strange story out of India in the Daily Mail about a man who divorced his wife to marry his mother-in-law and now regrets his decision and is trying to undo it.
In a way this reminds me of conservatives whose preferred candidates lost the nomination and now as NeverTrumpers are making the election of Hillary more possible. It’s a variation of the song “You Can’t Always get What You Want”, but instead of the next line being “but you can sometimes get what you need”, it reads, “but you can get what you don’t want or need”. In this case, Hillary Clinton, the most corrupt politician in U.S. history, a decision impossible of reversal or even to hold in check once done.
If you are torn about the Republican voters’ choice of nominee, but still unhappy about the notion of Hillary, America’s nightmare mother-in-law, winning (and certain that the independent candidates are no better and, in any event, without a chance) here are some writers whose views may help you overcome your reluctance to cast the vote for Trump.
1. The Claim That Trump’s Just Not Presidential
(A) He’s More Presidential than Obama or his designated successor Hillary
While Hillary and Obama vacation on Martha’s Vineyard, there’s been a disastrous flood in Louisiana and a large humanitarian crisis as people’s homes and possessions are destroyed and aid difficult to get to those who need it,
When people chided Obama’s non-response, he issued “a 16-page guidance “in which he “warned Louisiana recipients of federal disaster assistance against engaging in “unlawful discrimination on the basis of race, color, or national origin (including limited English proficiency).”
Trump flew down there in his own plane, talked to local leaders, toured the devastation and donated an 18-wheeler truckload of supplies. A resident of the area, Courtney Falker Peters, posted a description on Facebook of what Trump’s visit was like and what it meant to the stricken residents:
Ok since the media will not tell anyone about this I will at least tell my friends and make this public so y’all can share and tell yours as well because I think it needs to be said.
[snip]
Donald Trump visited Louisiana today. He brought with him a truck loaded with food, supplies, and toys that he personally passed out. He also donated money to a flood relief charity. He went and walked flooded houses in a community. He didn’t ask for state police or military security, I imagine he may have had his personal security with him but hey he pays them so not my business. He didn’t ask for any road to be closed to bring him in or an escort to his destination, matter of fact he didn’t inform the government of his visit at all. He didn’t care if the government knew he was coming, he just came and brought needing people needed supplies. And the news covered it about 15 seconds and then used it as a hit piece to plug Obama’s visit that will happen. It was just wrong on many levels. No matter [i]f you agree with Trump political are not what he done today was honorable and good, and he did it without making a big deal of himself. I hope more people of his statu[r]e will do the same in the same way, without all the hype of announcing their visit with intent of a public photo op.
Of course, now that we have a Democratic president who tardily agreed to show up there this Tuesday (after he attends Bill Clinton’s boffo birthday bash on Martha’s Vineyard), the same people, including Hillary and Obama, who criticized Bush for waiting to land his plane in New Orleans when it was struck by Hurricane Katrina because he did not want to overwhelm local authorities with a presidential tour, now criticize Trump for going in and helping without requiring local police and responders to pave the way for his visit.
(B) Attention to Detail
On one hand, we have Hillary (and Obama), “big thinkers” who can’t be bothered with details and have made a hash of everything they touch. On the other hand, we have someone who keeps his eye on things.
Here’s an account in Forbes by a man with first-hand knowledge of this, having engaged in a significant negotiation with him:
The first thing I noticed about Mr. Trump was that he was a stickler for detail. As a politician, he may affect a breezy platform style, but in the office, he was all business. Right off the bat, he corrected my team’s estimates of future financing requirements. He must have phoned an expert minutes before the meeting, because he said that by the latest market information he had, our current interest rates were off by 0.1% [snip] In the end, I can say that Mr. Trump drove a hard bargain. But he was honest, and he was a square dealer. When we were through — in less time than we had expected — we had reached an agreement that was ethical, profitable and fair to all parties concerned. It was also an agreement that meant good jobs for working people and healthy tax revenues for the local government.
If we didn’t come away from the table liking Mr. Trump, there’s no question that we came away with a lot of respect for him. He was a tough, shrewd, no-nonsense executive who knew how to get things done, and done quickly. He was also an adversary whom no one would want to mess with.
2.The Claim that He’s a “Racist” (excerpt)
The term has become so overused that it now just means he says things the left disagrees with. Nevertheless, people — including those who know better — are flinging it about with no evidence to support it but their own bilious dislike of him. On the other hand, no less than Thomas Sowell, the brilliant black economist from Stanford, and David Horowitz, champion of civil liberties and a real conservative, both found his speeches on the Democratic Party’s destruction of blacks compelling. (Here are transcripts of his Dimondale and West Allis speeches for those who didn’t see it and whose news sources didn’t bother to publish them.)
Feldman provides ample excerpts from Sowell’s and Horowitz’s excellent commentaries.
3. He’s a Threat
Emphasis ours, this excerpt from her response to the above theme is near and dear to our heart as a response to those who say “dump Trump and concentrate on the Senate and House” One cannot seriously have confidence in a McConnell or a Ryan to stop Hillary on anything.
But no Congress could stop a President Hillary Clinton. She will finish the job her predecessor started: to fundamentally transform the United States of America. Perhaps forever.
4. Not voting for him is a “Protest Vote” (excerpt)
There’s no such thing as a “protest vote.” Bookwormroom put me on to this wonderful blogger, Clay Shirky, who said it best:
In 2016, that system will offer 130 million or so voters just three options:
A. I prefer Donald Trump be President, rather than Hillary Clinton. B. I prefer Hillary Clinton be President, rather than Donald Trump. C. Whatever everybody else decides is OK with me.
That’s it. Those are the choices. All strategies other than a preference for Trump over Clinton or vice-versa reduce to Option C.
5. Putting “Principle Before Party” (excerpt)
Their preferred candidates lost the nomination and now they want to attack the man who won and prevent him from winning.
Dismount from your high horses and vote for Trump or marry an insufferable, dishonest, and authoritarian mother-in-law.
Excellent commentary — read the entire analysis here.
DLH with R Mall
