Trumpism

You’ve heard respectable friends praise Mr. Trump, and other equally worthy associates disparage him in the strongest terms. Perhaps you’ve detected elements of truth in every argument, pro and con, but you’re fumbling to grasp the big picture. In a world of niggling details, pursuit of the big picture must be our prime task, and it’s a tough one. Anyone that says clarity is simple and obvious needs to think again.

Peggy Covers the NewsI always appreciate Peggy Noonan‘s journalistic efforts to put current events into the proper historical context. Yes, we remember that she endorsed candidate Obama in ’08; she messed that up, but he that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her (or, in modern English, we know, so shuddup already).

Anyway, I was reading Noonan’s latest article, “A Party Divided, and None Too Soon” (worth reading in its entirety!), and I came across a reference to the Journal of American Greatness (not an entity I’d ever heard of), to which Noonan attributes this vital bit of essence:

“We support Trumpism, defined as secure borders, economic nationalism, interests-based foreign policy, and above all judging every government action through a single lens: does this help or harm Americans? For now, the principal vehicle of Trumpism is Trump.”

Setting aside the limitations of Trump the man, I think we all resonate to that simple, commonsense description of what we want, first and foremost, from our national government. Yet we all perceive that what we’ve been getting for far too many years is a government that puts these first priorities last while vigorously pursuing a dubious collection of irrelevancies and nonsense, and principally serving special interests and cronies. Thus we are all hungry, on both sides of the aisle, for someone, anyone, who has his or her feet planted firmly on the same ground that regular people tread upon. Say what you will, but Mr. Trump has come far closer than any other serious politician on the national stage to filling (or at least appearing to fill) that void.

What will President Trump deliver? We can’t know. He’s promised many good things, including some things no human being could accomplish. And by the way, candidate Obama promised many good things, such as fiscal responsibility, respect for consensus and the Constitutional limits on the presidency, and transparency. We know how much campaign promises are worth. But stack Trump’s promises against candidate Hillary, with her criminality, her incompetency, and her pledge to do just about every bad thing that can be imagined.

What’s there to say? The medicine America so desperately needs is Trumpism. I echo the Journal in stating the bottom line: In this real world we’re stuck in, and at this moment in history, the principal vehicle of Trumpism is Trump.

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6 Comments | Leave a comment
  1. Alain41 says:

    My quibble with Noonan’s column is that the JoAG Trumpism definition is what the Tea Party stood for when it appeared in 2010, though granted, not written down succinctly. Seems like Noonan still is comfortable with ‘wise men’ coming down from the mountain and in a full burqua. A journalist gets comfortable with anonymity. Those wishing to set national policy while staying unknown bothers most of us. Don’t need an Alternate Bilderberg group. Trumpism definition needs to include conducted by men and women in the open.

    • Maynard says:

      True, Trumpism as here defined does not specifically state a goal of limited government (respect the 10th Amendment!), without which we’re all subjected to ever-expanding encroachment into our personal lives for the benefit of special interests and cronies common good. I take it that’s what you mean by rule by “wise men”. Yes, Trump tilts on the side of statism, and of course Obama and Hillary are extreme statists. I lament this (I appreciated Cruz as the candidate most inclined to put the government back in its Constitutional box), but that’s the choice we’re given; too much of the nation has devalued liberty, and thus our liberty is depleted. Of course, this loss can arguably be balanced against the tools of the era which opens new options that didn’t historically exist (such as tammybruce.com, which would have once been produced on a mimeograph machine). It’s always something.

  2. dennisl59 says:

    No one(and I mean no one) can convince me that Donald J. Trump is morally, emotionally and intellectually fit to be President of The United States. The American citizen and legal voter have the choice between him and the ‘it’ that calls herself Hillary Clinton, a proven pathological liar and the active enabler and wife of a serial *** offender.

    And all thanks to Mitt Romney…

    posted 6/12 444pm Texas[Against Trump]Time

  3. Pat_S says:

    This isn’t something new that we need to name Trumpism. What’s happening has happened before many times in many places. Its name is populist nationalism. Trump didn’t create it. He’s an opportunist who tapped into it.

    Populist nationalism is a reaction to elites who didn’t realize or can’t be bothered by the concerns of ordinary people. European politics has been affected by similar frustrations of the people for the last few years. It manifests from the left and the right.

    There is great power in the underlying motivations and possible danger in the emotions evoked. A correction in the order of things is at hand but we must be very careful how it is led and how it unfolds. The pitfalls are enormous.

    Hillary is finally right about something. Donald Trump is temperamentally unfit to be president.

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