The easy thing to do is dismiss Donald Trump and his presidency. The usual excuse is his “decorum.” Or rather, “He is beneath the dignity of the office.”
To that, I say bunk. Conservatives throughout the country need to consider this; we have tried the dignity approach. Come to think of it, there hasn’t been a man in the Oval Office who possessed more dignity than former President George W. Bush.
All he got for it was the outrageous lies and politically motivated hatreds that undermined his presidency. No man suffered more at the hands of a hostile, left-leaning media than that man, and that includes Richard Nixon.
Dignity didn’t work so conservatives tried statesmanship. One man who comes to mind in that category was former presidential candidate John McCain. Could there be another human being on this earth who so desperately prized “collegiality” as John McCain? Does anyone remember his eloquent concession speech after losing to Barack Obama?
That didn’t work so conservatives tried propriety. Can anyone name a nicer presidential candidate than Mitt Romney in the 2012 campaign?
Dignity, Statesmanship, Propriety Didn’t Work
No. In each case, the message from the opposition was rude dismissal. Playing by the rules of dignity, statesmanship and propriety are a waste of time with the 24/7 anger of the left. They are reminiscent of the Marlon Brando role in “The Wild One.”
In the film, Brando is a rebel motorcyclist. Upon motoring into a small town, an innocent girl asks him what he is rebelling against. His reply is, “What have you got?”
No other single line of dialogue in film history illustrates the anger of the left. It really doesn’t matter what the issue is. If you are not on their side wholeheartedly, you are against them and they will do everything in their power to destroy your opinion, life and career.
The results were always the same. Conservatives have been playing by the rules of decency for decades with no tangible results. The left has been engaged in a never-ending battle where the rules are those of Saul Alinsky.
The Left Thrives On Discord
Don’t look so quizzical. Was it dignified and proper the way former President Barack Obama outright lied about the known facts of the Ferguson shooting in Missouri? He intentionally accelerated the racial hatred to serve the Democratic Party’s patronizing of the African-American vote.
Before that, was it dignified when his administration and he lied about the deaths of four Americans in Benghazi and blamed it on an innocent filmmaker who was imprisoned? Not to mention the president was too busy being a statesman at a Las Vegas party fundraiser and did not cancel the trip after hearing of the tragedy.
That isn’t enough? Was it statesmanlike to allow the IRS to be utilized to destroy political enemies because they differ with your questionable ideology? Obama was a great orator, articulate and polished, with a teleprompter, but can we say he was statesmanlike, cordial or proper?
This is not a new political battle of hatchets and smears. It began with the rise of children of the 1960’s. That became a game where nothing is sacred and anything goes if you are on the right side. It has been a war of violence, the threat of violence, demagoguery and lies from day one.
Culture Wars Get Rough
Meanwhile, conservatives continued to act with dignity, collegiality and propriety. That all ended with Donald Trump. It signals the end of one side being all of the above. He is the first wartime president in the Culture War.
It is obvious that trying the bi-partisan approach is futile. Abraham Lincoln discovered that when the North was losing the Civil War initially. The gloves had to be removed and it called for a tough-as-nails general who would win at all costs. That introduced the country to Ulysses Grant who countered General Robert E. Lee’s win-at-any-cost and the rest is history.
Grant was no prize. He was a renowned drunk and abrasive to his men. But he was the right man in the right time at the right period of our nation’s history. He too had a lack of decorum and thanks to God for that.
Then there was General George S. Patton. He was a profane non-conformist. His was not a subtle, statesman-like approach, but he got the job done and the Nazis were defeated in WWII.
This Is A Real Fight
My fellow Americans, I submit this to you: Donald Trump is fighting. He is defeating the left at their outrageous game of chicken with the country as hostage. Whereas the liberals subscribe to the tactics laid out in Saul Alinsky’s “Rules for Radicals,” Trump sees right thorough their thin blue line of offense.
Some may say his daily tweets are rash, but how else can he reach the American people who are subjected to an inherently biased press? They are diametrically opposed to the truth. He has isolated the biggest enemies of the truth, The New York Times, CNN, MSNBC and The Washington Post. Trump is fighting fire with fire and they do not like it.
Just as radical Alinsky subscribed to disruption; Trump’s tweets have put the mainstream media in an untenable and unwinnable position. They could begin to honestly report the news in a factual and non-biased manner. Instead, they choose to up the ante on their usual tactics. The partisan media hope to defeat Trump with twice their usual hysteria and demagoguery.
Fake News Keeps the Left Alive
Should they take the high road and present the facts as they are, it could spell the end of the Democratic Party. Fake news keeps the left alive. Think not? Had they honestly reported the facts on then-candidate Barack Obama, the American people would have been privy to personal information that would have changed millions of votes.
That would include Obama’s close ties to foreign terrorist Rashid Khalidi, domestic terrorist William Ayers and mafia gangster Tony Rezko. What about the evils of his spiritual mentor Jeremiah Wright’s church? Barack Obama was the left’s media darling and that sort of factual information was forbidden in newsrooms across the country.
Would it be better to have a congenial and dignified president? Not in these times. This is a war for the hearts and minds of all Americans. It is a war the left has been fighting for 50 years. We cannot give up on this man. He is the General Grant and General Patton of our times. Donald Trump fights for America.