Trump: It's Not About Politics

Lately I’ve been vocal about calling Trump himself and his supporters idiots, and gotten some flak about insulting people because I disagree with their politics.  What they don’t seem to understand, is that with regard to Trump’s incompetence and our opposition thereto, it’s not about his politics.

First off, I’m a Libertarian who was originally Republican.   Here are my presidential votes, starting in 1988, when I was 19:  George H. W. Bush (1988), George H.W. Bush (1992), Bob Dole (1996), Harry Browne (LPA) (2000), Badnarik (LPA) (2004), Bob Barr (LPA) (2008), Mitt Romney (2012), Gary Johnson (LPA) (2016).   I have never voted Democrat, at any level.  I default to Republican candidates unless a Libertarian happens to be running for that slot.  I have some issues with Democrats, which I’ll address in a later blog; for now, suffice to say that I am not a Democrat and never have been. 

FYI:  Libertarians are a third party whose basic premise is that the proper function of government is to protect individual rights, not to redistribute wealth (the Democrats’ major problem), to legislate morality (the Republicans’ major problem), or to start wars abroad or favor businesses with subsidies and regulations at their request (both parties’ problem).  As a practical matter most Libertarians seem to be former Republicans fed up with the GOP, and when it comes to stealing votes, the LPA’s votes are mainly at the expense of Republicans.  In addition to defending gun rights, Libertarians also support legalizing marijuana, which leads them to be slammed by Democrats as “Republicans who smoke pot.”   Among the Republicans themselves, the “Libertarian Wing”, as it were, is Ron Paul, Rand Paul (his son), Justin Amash, and Thomas Massie.  The LPA candidate for president in 2012 and 2016 was Gary Johnson, former Republican governor of New Mexico.  

Trump’s Politics.  He really doesn’t have any.  This was a guy born rich from the start, spoiled for his entire life.   A doctor renting space from his father falsely diagnosed him with bone spurs, which kept him out of Vietnam.   Even Al Gore knew enough to go to Vietnam, albeit in a non-combat unit, just so he could say he went; GWB went into the Air Force National Guard, a unit which would not be sent overseas.  Trump has not been mayor, state legislator, state governor, or US congressman.  His sole experience in politics has been in local, shady real estate deals, “you scratch my back, I scratch yours”.  He lacks the ability to understand politics at the abstract level; he wouldn’t know Das Kapital from Mein Kampf from Wealth of Nations.  Tell him, "from each according to his ability, to each according to his need,” and he would zone out, not even recognizing the nature or source of that quote.

NRA.  About the only consistent political position Trump seems to be able to articulate is support for gun rights.  This isn’t because he loves guns, or is passionate about the principle behind the Second Amendment.  It’s because he simply recognizes the NRA as a political ally, so he’ll support whatever they ask him to do.   If someone else tells him, “maybe it’s not a good idea to allow private citizens to own guns which outwardly appear to resemble the M16s our own military carries,” he’ll say “yeah, sure” and unwittingly orally advocate gun control as a principle.  Then a few days later the NRA will helpfully remind him of their position, he will be utterly confused, but will then simply repeat what they told him to say.   Given that I support gun rights, own several guns, and am myself an NRA member, I have to say that on the one political position which Trump most consistently supports, I agree with him.  Not for the same reasons, but hey…

Under normal circumstances I would agree that calling someone an idiot because you disagree with their political views is wrong.   But I don’t do that with Democrats, who are ostensibly on the other side from me.   At the extremes, I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone who explicitly identifies as a National Socialist (Nazi), I may have met a few people who self-identify as communists, socialists, or anarchists, and do not recall ever calling them idiots for that reason, if any.  I do it with Trump supporters, not because they’re nominally Republican, or because Trump is nominally the Republican president, but because Trump is an idiot, Trump is incompetent, and his politics are irrelevant in this whole equation.  

Maybe you can imagine someone you went to high school with, someone you could sit down and have a beer with, and discussing politics the two of you would agree 100% on the issues.  But this person has never held office and is not qualified to be the mayor, much less run the United States.  Would you say this person should be the President simply because you agree with their politics?   Come on, now.