Trump the Conservative: He Just Plays One on TV

Opinion

Opinion by Daniel McKeon

I guess Republicans in New Hampshire didn’t get the memo that Trump is not a true Republican. In the state’s primary Tuesday night—the first in the nation of the political cycle—Trump won by a wide margin, whisking away 35% of the votes; Kasich won 16% and Cruz 12%. Socialist Bernie Sanders beat Clinton by an even larger percentage on the Democratic side, winning 60% of the vote to Clinton’s 38%. The Media and pundits emphasize Iowa and New Hampshire solely because they’re the first two elections of the cycle. But, beyond their privilege of voting order, they seem to have little other significance, with the exception of the acquisition of delegates. The presidency is not always won by the victors in these first two bouts. The media, though, try to use them as a litmus test for future contests and, ultimately, as a way to predict the victor in the general election. This is not an accurate instrument for this purpose.

Speaking on the Sean Hannity radio show this week, pollster Frank Luntz explained the first four primaries and caucuses are four drastically divergent voting populations. He identified Iowa as more Conservative, New Hampshire as more Liberal, South Carolina (to my memory) as a mélange of the two or as populist (although truly, generally speaking, the Palmetto state is more Conservative than anything else), and Nevada as Libertarian. As such, using results from any of these four to foreshadow primary winners or the presidency seem flawed at best. Now that’s out of the way, let’s over emphasize Tuesday’s results.

As I drifted from news site to news site Wednesday morning on the internet, I was dismayed by the political nightmare in which we’ve mired ourselves. If last night’s election foreshadows the general election (which I pray it doesn’t), then we’ll be jumping from the frying pan of the Obama regime into the fire of either a Trump or Sanders regime.

If Sanders wins, we know what we’ll get: straight-up socialism (where Obama’s socialism, at least to most, was sub rosa). But if Trump wins we’ll likely get a more fascist regime than a socialist one. To me, though, the two political philosophies burn the same flame of malevolence. To me there is no difference. In both, we lose freedom and liberty; in both, we’re destined for a moribund economy; in both, we lose religious freedom, and, in both, the damage to the nation is irrevocable.

Writing in National Review (NR) Online this month, Ben Domenech reminds us that Trump “assures voters that he will use authoritarian power for good, to help those who feel—with good reason—ignored by both parties.” Conservative Republicans—all Republicans should, in fact—know modern big government is an evil. Using evil for good is not a good, it’s an evil. This is imbedded in all Marxist political thought: the end justifies the means. In The Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien brutally demonstrates this, showing us that a greater evil results from using evil means for a seemingly good end.

In the second book of the series, The Two Towers, Boromir attempts to steal the One Ring from Frodo in order to save Minas Tirith and his people. He tries to kill Frodo for it and soon after dies from an Orc attack. If we dispatch our morals, ethics, faith and all notions of freedom to elect a Trump, then our nation will share the fate of Boromir, even if we repent as Boromir does before his last breath.

My point, here, is that Trump supporters need to know that Trump is not who he says he is. He’s a wolf in sheep’s clothing. He’s not really a Conservative; he just plays one on TV. It’s as if his presidential campaign, the presidency, and the country, are all just another reality show for him. In a recent NR post, Glenn Beck points out that Trump supported Obama’s stimulus plan, the auto-bail-out, and the bank bail-out. Brent Bozell also points out that Trump has publically raised money for the Clintons and Planned Parenthood. Additionally, he has supported tax increases and single-payer health coverage (recently, mind you), often perceived as Obama’s omega point of his Affordable Care Act (i.e. Obamacare). We also know Trump has made significant donations to Nancy Pelosi and other Liberal politicians. Also, as evident from the debates, Trump knows nothing substantial, reasonable or enduring about foreign policy. And when was the last time you heard Trump pledge fealty to the U.S. Constitution, or even mention our guiding, founding document?

All this is to say that I don’t agree with the conventional thinking of Trump supporters: I don’t think Trump will be better than Hillary; I think he will be the same.

So, now’s the time to choose wisely and scrutinize every candidate (especially Trump) to ensure we have a true Conservative who pledges everything in his power to restore this country to her former glory. “Test everything; retain what is good. Refrain from every kind of evil,” as St. Paul tells us. We must elect a true Conservative, not just someone who plays one

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