“We’ve spent $4 trillion trying to topple various people that, frankly, if they were there and if we could have spent that $4 trillion in the United States to fix our roads, our bridges, and all of the other problems…we would have been a lot better off…
“We have done a tremendous disservice not only to the Middle East — we’ve done a tremendous disservice to humanity. The people that have been killed, the people that have been wiped away — and for what? It’s not like we had victory. It’s a mess.”
– A Candidate for President
Which candidate said that? Rand Paul? Bernie Sanders? Nope. That was Donald Trump. He said that last month during the CNN debate, in front of largely unfriendly audience filled with hawkish Republicans.
Trump supporters like me know that the billionaire real estate tycoon is one of the more reasonable candidates. The quote above about the Iraq War is indicative of a man who is sensible, humane, plain-spoken, and living in the real world.
But Trump haters only read the headlines about his most provocative announcements and assume the worst about him. If you only read what the mainstream media reports, it’s easy to believe its conclusion that he is nothing but a racist megalomaniacal blowhard.
The candidate certainly does say ridiculous things sometimes. He clearly isn’t going to build a wall across the southern border and force the Mexican government to pay for it. I will respect your opinion if you are rooting against Donald Trump.
I am infuriated, however, that anyone agrees with the White House’s official opinion that Trump has disqualified himself from the Presidency when he proposed a temporary ban on Muslim immigration into the United States.
You can darn well disagree with it, but you can’t say that it is any more extreme or outrageous than the other major candidates.
Ted Cruz said that he wants us to bomb the Islamic State until “sand glows in the dark.”
Chris Christie wants to institute a no-fly zone over the Islamic State (which doesn’t have an air force, by the way) and to shoot down Russian planes that enter Syrian airspace, effectively risking World War III.
Hillary Clinton voted for the Iraq war and presided over the disastrous final years of the conflict as Secretary of State. And she actually supports Christie’s no-fly zone proposal even though she’s smart enough to know better. (I wonder how much Raytheon and Northrop Grumman are paying her).
Those three truculent turnip-heads are perfectly respectable candidates and Donald Trump is disqualified? I find the concept pro-war, anti-human, and offensive.
Barring new Muslims from the country may be xenophobic, but it doesn’t actually kill anyone. It doesn’t actively promote Islamist hatred of us like 50 years of activist, colonialist foreign policy clearly has.
And it is worth pointing out that Donald Trump has no choice but to make outlandish public statements sometimes. That’s the only way he can get on TV.
The other major candidates—especially Rubio and Clinton —have huge campaign organizations that are paid for by wealthy donors and corporate-backed Super Pacs.
Donald Trump, to his credit, is trying to bypass the plutocracy, thwart the Republican establishment, and get his message straight to the voters. The best way to do that is to say things that are so amusingly outrageous that the media can’t help but publicize them.
The very reason why you don’t like Trump is the reason why you should respect what he is doing. By grabbing headlines with his bravado and brash proclamations, he is proving that you don’t have to be a pro-Wall Street corporate puppet to be a major political player.
If the White House, Hillary Clinton, the RNC, and the Koch Brothers agree that Donald Trump has disqualified himself from the Presidency, that only proves to me that he might be the most qualified of all.
