By now it's nearly impossible for all but the most devoted fans of President Trump to put a positive spin on his second term. Second terms are often a bugger when it comes to presidential legacies. After all, the driving motivation of the first term - getting a second term - has already been fulfilled.
Nonetheless, we also know that second terms can yield some pretty good results. I'm looking at you President Reagan. Sadly, so far at least, President Trump's second term is not going in that direction. At least it isn't yet.
Like Carter, we have lag over of an economic downturn that continues to plod along. Toward the end of last year, things did seem to be improving. Finally. Prices were going down, and if incomes weren't exactly skyrocketing, affordability getting better was a good enough compromise.
But since the Iran conflict, they've done an about face once again. True, in some areas they aren't as high as 2022/2023 when the MSM assured us the economy was as strong and healthy as ever, and inflation but a minor blip in an overall robust economy. But it's been going on a half dozen years of these high prices, and the strain is beginning to break a lot of people.
Despite the media universally supporting the message, President Obama was unable to spend eight years assuring us that all problem with the anemic economic recovery were anyone else's fault. I doubt it will work for President Trump without such MSM backing.
Then we have the Iran debacle. And debacle it is. It should be mentioned that his usual clowning isn't funny anymore:
His 'let me be funny and troll them all' schtick has largely grown stale as the problems mount and the solutions seem far removed from his field of vision. It's just not amusing when it's clear that Iran knows it has the cards to play and the Administration no clear way to wrap this up. I mean, even the most sympathetic analysis has to admit this is the case. It puts me in mind of the Iran Hostage crisis. Whatever happens will depend largely on Iran or, from the looks of it, someone else in the White House. Unless things take a major turn. And in a bit of irony, I'm hearing Trump supporters admit this, though in a backward sort of way. That is, they're saying Iran is just trying to hold out until the next president comes along, hoping it will be some leftwing President that Iran can then manhandle. But even if that's the case, then it's still a loss for President Trump. And a big one at that.
Is he getting older, slower, and less sparky than his first term? Sure. Like all in the generation that won't give up the reigns, he's getting up there. I couldn't deny noticing a marked difference in his energy and interactions compared to his first term. Sure, it's nowhere close to President Biden's cognitive unraveling, but it's still there.
I know, I know. I've never been a Trump fan. But I also didn't want to go never-Trumper bat crazy either. I've tried to give credit where it was due. Especially in his first term, where even the most cynical critics had to concede that things took a turn for the better under President Trump. And not just in the wallet. He was scoring some impressive victories at home and abroad.
But this time? Not so much. I'm not saying he's done nothing. He clearly has scored some hits. But in the areas where it matters - the bank accounts and pocket books of Joe and Jane America - it's still lagging far below where they need. And if things don't improve, given the growing 'we're against whoever is the establishment status quo of the day' movement, I expect some pretty stunning results at the November voting booth. Not that it makes me happy, but where politics is concerned, I've always tried to be a realist.
And this is looking past his continued 'total pro-life today, but tomorrow you never know' approach to almost anything. In some ways, I've said President Trump is America's Id. He's a bodily incarnation of almost everything we've been building as a society for the last century. And when I say that, it's not supposed to be a compliment. Either for President Trump, or for America under our watch for these last generations.
What we have today, in this president, is someone who has withstood countless allegations of corruption, fraud, criminal activity at every turn since he announced his run for the presidency in 2025, and it continues to this day. There is nothing this administration can do without some judge putting a stop to it as to delay the president from implementing his rulings. MSM is no friend, and is truly an enemy of not just Trump, but the people of this country. What you read in the news is what they want you to believe, not what is truly happening.
ReplyDeleteHow much money has been defrauded from the taxpayer through USAID? Do we really think that would have been uncovered by another president? Or medicare fraud? Fraud of Covid payments? Do we really think another president would be taking the time to find over three hundred thousand children who crossed the border alone and are now trafficked? Who would have closed the border with the resistance this president has met at every turn? And I dare say, as a Catholic, I was dismayed to learn of the money from Catholic Charities, being used as an enticement to illegals to cross the border at the behest of the government.
Everything humanly possible has been done to hate this president. Everything. I don't know how many people have been asked why this hatred of a man and most are unable to give a response. They were told to hate Trump by the MSM and so they do. Yes, he is a blow hard. Yes he resorts to name calling his opponents of which there are many, yet who else is making Nato pay their share of their OWN defense? Who is leveling the playing field for American manufacturers through tariffs? If that ticks off the world, too bad. We've been had for years and it's time it stopped. I could go on and on. Iran? That bucket has been kicked down the road for over forty years. They supplied Hamas, Houtis, Hezbollah and other terrorists in the Middle East. Who did anything about it? No one. Absolutely no one. I don't care if it's taking longer than we want it to be but I want Iranian regime to be, as they have said of Israel, wiped off the face of the Earth.
Finally, I look at what the democrats have to offer and what do I see? Nothing except socialism/communism. Abortion until birth. Mutilation of children. Medically assisted suicides. Open borders. Illegal voting by non citizens. Fraud to a scale unseen before. We cherish our Christianity? Name the democrats that will defend our right to live our faith without harassment(crickets). God hating democrat/socialists/communists have infiltrated NY and MI.
Donald Trump is far from perfect, I agree, but compared to what we've had in recent memory I would vote for him again or someone who will continue in the same path. Freedom of Religion is of the utmost importance to me and this president has been the defender of that right. Not devoted Catholic Joe Biden. Not Muslim Barack Hussein Obama. Get a Mamadani type person into the White House and lets see what happens to our religious freedoms.
Yes, Dave, I do wish Trump would tone it down at times and stop the trolling but that's who he is, and if thats what we have to put up with to get this nation on track, so be it. I pray for him and this government to do what is right for the common good of this nation and the world and the for the grace for Trump to discern between between good and evil. This I pray at daily mass and how thankful we did not get four more years of Biden.
I think a big reason even some of his harsher critics would vote for Trump again - and that includes me - is that for all he's gone through and all they've done to him, it doesn't take much to realize they'd happily do it to me. In fact, they are becoming more open and honest about it. A Marxist based socialist state of mandated conformity or watch your tail. With that said, mistakes are still mistakes. And the economy is the lodestone around his neck, as it would be for anyone. Come November, if people are still seeing the prices I'm seeing, and on top of that, we're still hearing that a Big Deal is right around the corner regarding Iran despite hearing the same for months, I believe those wanting that Marxist Socialist state of mandated conformity will have moved the ball at least another ten yards toward their goal.
DeleteI pray that that the commies do not win because there is a large swath of people with guns in this country that will not comply and will greatly resist the take over of all they have worked for if the godless loonies on the left get their way. I do not see a good end to all of this if the commies ever get a Lenin in office of the president.
DeleteI'd rather go over the falls in a Dixie cup than to see any of those dedicated to destroying my country win an election. But unless things turn around big time, only those paying close attention will vote over the ongoing financial burdens hitting so many people.
DeleteI don't actually think Iran is the quagmire it appears to be, (although I admit the appearance is a problem for Trump) and it's probably both because I can't trust anything the media says, and I've seen too many Promethean Action videos that kind of make sense in regards to the globalist system. I also read the Substack Coffee and Covid, which often lays out news stories in a different light. I know prices are high, and it's unfortunate because people want the quick fix over a fix fix, and there is a LOT to fix, but knowing what we know now about voter fraud, visa shenanigans, and USAID money laundering, etc...it would be short sighted not to support the current administration through this cycle and see what more it can do. Because the other side is out for American blood, in the open, and you cannot have the simplistic viewpoint of your parents' generation on politicians anymore. The country is already too changed.
ReplyDelete(Hey I sometimes read that substack too.)
DeleteThere is a god, his name is Trade-offs.
As ever the question is: what do you want? Do you want prices to be as low as possible? Then we'll ship everything over seas, surrender it all to China, let Iran bully its neighbors, and let slavery reign across the globe. Do you want something done about any of that? There's going to be some cost to it then.
Too often the voters remind me of a person who wants to lose weight, but doesn't want to feel any pain from working out. You can't have both, you have to pick one. But I also notice that the longer one waits, the more interest compounds on that pain. (I speak from personal experience.) Or we might use the metaphor of a broken bone - it will hurt to set it in place and let it start healing, but the longer you wait, the worse the pain will be (as it complicates).
I know in theology debates it's so often asked, "is this the best of all possible worlds" and on the debate goes. As I get older, I've come to realize that the world we have is the one we have chosen and made for ourselves. Or as the Good Book says: "As we have sown, so shall we reap."
You are both right and explained things with more clarity than I was able to. We've had a bad eight years of Obama. Four years of a politically naive though well meaning Trump who didn't know how the game was played. Four disastrous years of Biden. As was said above, there is a lot of fixing to do and as we can see none of it is easy to accomplish with the wave of resistance from the media, liberal judges and the Dems. Imagine what would have been done had the dems played nice and worked as servants of the people of the United States rather than having knee jerk reactions to everything Trump proposes, does and proposes. No, I am pleased with the amount of work coming out of this White House and the accomplishments so far. As Bernadette said above you cannot believe any reporting from the media. They are out to assasinate Trump either physically or his character. The socialist/Democrats are the spawn of the hatred of Trump that has come from the Democrats for the last 10 years. They deserve what ever becomes of them.
DeleteToo true, Bob. What i find frustrating about Trump is that all reasonable discussion goes out the window around him. (Present host excluded, Dave. One of the reasons I like coming here.) You see someone like Shea or other liberals complain about something and all I can ever think is: "Ok, that is an issue. If we get Trump to stop, how do we solve it?"
DeleteBecause silence is the only answer I've ever gotten. It's hard not to get the impression that they don't want any solutions, they just want the media to stop talking about it and Trump to stop doing it. If Biden or anyone else does it, that's ok because then the media won't tell them about it and they can go back to sleep.
(Increasingly I think Marx was wrong - religion isn't the opiate of the masses, media is.)
I've considered the media as the "False Witness" to the truth for a very long time now.
DeleteOh, I'm always happy to learn of another C&C reader! Bob and Dave, you might enjoy that Substack as well :)
DeleteIf the media were even halfway fair to Trump, the actual good causes he champions, his administration, or his policies, we might all be seeing and thinking about things differently. I just don't think we hate the media enough. That being said, for sure Trump doesn't help himself at times. Adding his name to the Kennedy Center or "changing" the name of Lake Ontario when he really should just be quietly squashing the Canadian economy like a civilized gentleman...those are just unnecessary moves and fodder for his detractors.
Bernadette, I realize there is much to this. But it's hard, even assuming media mendacity, to not see that this has not been what President Trump had in mind. I've heard some of his defenders say that the problem is Iran's leadership doesn't car and is insane and all that. But that should figure into the strategic planning. Again, this clearly hasn't gone as Trump expected, and his constant 'this time it's over' repeated endlessly just demonstrates that. And worse, we can all see that the economy was starting, however slowly, to improve last year. But since the war, for whatever reasons, it has lurched backward. And if it continues, I'm afraid we will see quite a blue wave, no matter how the DSA is working hard to keep that from happening.
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