Readers know that I have mixed views on President Trump. I am happy he is in office compared to the alternative and I generally think his policies are very good, with the exception of his failure to acknowledge the seriousness of our deficit and debt problem. I part company with him in regard to his boorish and unpresidential manner of addressing people. It hurts his ability to get our citizens on the same page and to accomplish his goals. There are two areas in which I strongly agree with his actions and I believe people do not understand how serious he is on these issues and how important it is for humanity that he succeeds. Trump is being given little credit for his efforts in this regard.
The first issue is ending wars and conflicts. I have written before about the phenomenal waste, throughout history, of human and physical resources by the ceaseless violent conflicts that plague us. Millions of people killed, buildings, infrastructure, natural resources destroyed. For what? We can’t find a better way to resolve conflicts? Imagine what could be done with the trillions of dollars spent every year on weapons and on repairing the damage caused by violent conflicts. Imagine how much progress would be made toward improving the life of every human with those trillions of dollars.
Trump obviously feels this in his soul. He has devoted tremendous effort to ending these conflicts everywhere around the world, not just the obvious ones in Ukraine and Gaza, but literally everywhere. He has a visceral understanding of the damage being done and what could be occurring in the place of wars and violence; that people could be building better lives. Trump and Putin are polar opposites–Trump is a builder, an improver; Putin is a despicable destroyer, a wanton barbarian, which is why peace will be impossible in Ukraine without the defeat of Putin.
The second issue is ending the plague of deaths and damaged lives from fentanyl and other drugs in the US. Literally hundreds of thousands of Americans are dying from drug overdoses every year. Millions of other lives are ruined by these drugs–children are orphaned, people become jobless, homeless, estranged from families and friends. This is another enormous waste of human potential. The costs are high–law enforcement, treatment, high health spending on multiple disease and conditions caused by the drug use, crime, effects on employers.
Most of these drugs are coming from outside the United States. People can talk about “demand reduction” all they want; it clearly hasn’t worked and there is no reason why this country should tolerate the literal poisoning of large numbers of our citizens. Taking out boats, or airplanes, ferrying drugs to the US should be only a first step. If we identify drug labs in countries like Venezuela, Columbia, even Mexico, those should be fair game as well. I don’t recall that the victims of this drug trafficking were given any due process before being killed by fentanyl or heroin. I completely fail to see why the criminals responsible for these murders deserve any better.
Sadly, war is inseparable from human nature. Thucydides knew this. There is an element of aggression in human nature. Even chimpanzee clans wage war on one another. There will always be a leader who will wage war against a weaker neighbor for territorial gain, access to resources, or for the glory of the thing. We can hope that Trump can bring an end to some wars in our time, but I don’t believe there has ever been a time when wars weren’t being waged somewhere. But as I said in a comment to another article today, “Si vis pacem, para bellum.”
Let me first say that I wholeheartedly agree with the two complimentary opinions regarding the President. His skill at negotiating truces, ceasefires, and peace settlements among countries is remarkable, and truly unlike that of any other world leader today and arguably any other in the post-war era. If it were anyone else, he would be accorded the enormous respect and admiration that he deserves. But regrettably, we live in a world fileld with corrupt and decaying institutions — the fake-news media and the UN come to mind immediately — that suffer from permanent and irreversible Trump Derangement Syndrome, and who are intrinsically incapable of acknowledging ANY accomplishment by the President, either domestically or internationally. Fortunately, the influence of these institutions is decreasing (rapidly!) every day; perhaps someday we will be fortunate to live in a world without the UN, CNN, the New York Times, and the despicable group of liars, criminals, and otherwise corrupt individuals collectively known as the Democratic party.
Similarly, his aggressive actions against South American drug smugglers is long overdue. Fentanyl kills thousands of Americans every year; every other politician in the last two decades has recognized the problem but has never taken any steps to interdict their arrival on our shores. Only Trump has the courage and conviction to take the necessary steps. The beloved son of one of my closest friends died, at age 38, of a rogue fentanyl overdose. His mother cried for hours every day for two years thereafter until she died as well. Fentanyl kills more than our young people; it kills families as well. Congratulations to President Trump for being the first American with the backbone and moral guidance to address this tragedy in the best way possible.
The problem with the debt is that there is not a critical mass (yet) in America that considers it to be a problem intractable enough to spend political capital to address it. The only possible solution has to be bi-partisan, and after what happened to George W. Bush in 2004-2005, no Republican in the country trusts any member of the Democratic party to maintain any privately-expressed commitment to debt reduction. Maybe that will change. But likely, Kevin, not in my lifetime or yours.
Finally, I want to take issue with your comment about Mr. Trump’s “boorish and unpresidential manner of addressing people”. We would all love to live in a society in which political disagreements were discussed rationally, without ad hominem vituperation, and absent of any threats of violence. Unfortunately, we don’t live that world. Mr. Trump has, for a decade, been repeatedly called a Nazi, Hitler, and a racist. We aren’t in the Bob Dole’s America any more, and the time to turn the other cheek has long since passed. The ONLY way to counter this type of behavior is to retaliate in multiples, and frankly, the Republican rank and file has for YEARS been hoping to find a leader who has the backbone and skills to do just that. (The same is true for the lawfare waged against him over the last 8 years.)
When someone calls me a racist, I look them in the eye, say FU (very clearly), and terminate the relationship. I am BEYOND THRILLED to have a President who treats the worst of America — his delusional political enemies and their puppets in the fake-news media — with the same level of dismissal and disdain. Mr. Trump’s “boorish and unpresidential manner” is PRECISELY and EXACTLY what they deserve.
Incidenatlly, Kevin, you are a fine writer and your voice is important. Please keep up the great work.
My understanding is that the precursors of fentanyl are made in China, shipped to Mexico where the fentanyl is synthesized. It is then imported into the US. Little to none is made in Venezuela or Columbia, although other drugs may be.
Also open borders and prosecuting Democrats using the Justice department as a political weapon.
if you are saying it is a good thing he is prosecuting political opponents using the DOJ, I strongly, strongly disagree with that
I agree that prosecution of political enemies is seriously wrong. Though I dont know how to stop the escalation. Though at the same time prosecuting those that initiated a wrongful prosecutions should be prosecuted.
Scooter libby was investigated and trapped in a false statement several months after the fbi already knew the source of the valerie plume leak
Similar with michael flynn, the FBI knew he statement was correct,
Even worse with the russian hoax. The fbi knew the source of the steele dossier was from the clinton campaign.
fwiw – I dont have an answer or a solution