Why so much surprise over the Mueller report dismissing the ludicrous collusion assertion? That’s not me being wise after the event. A few months after the election I wrote of this absurdity in NBR, saying the collusion claim was first made before the election. To make it one must know it and thus should be able to produce the evidence instantly. As it eventuated, it took a costly, extensive and pointless two year investigation to show what was obvious from the outset.
Here’s my take on Trump and Russia. About 6 months before he announced his candidacy I read an interview with him in which inter alia he remarked, “I don’t understand why we have to hate Russians”. I found that enormously refreshing and suspect I can guess why this comment slipped out.
Trump is spectacularly ignorant. His biographers insist he’s never read a book. But he’s certainly not stupid. As we know he’d first been to Moscow some years earlier with his Miss Universe or Miss World or whatever pageant, and after that, endeavouring to get various property propositions going.
I can well imagine his first trip, ignorantly filled with “evil Empire” trepidation. He arrives in Moscow and is startled to find himself in a modern efficient airport. Into a smart limousine and more amazement; it’s Russian. The road from the airport to the city, unlike many in the world, is fairly pleasant. Modern medium rise apartment blocks line it in attractive park settings, people are walking dogs, kids on swings, a soccer match is going on and so on – all ordinary middle-class life. Then into the city which is conspicuously spruce and handsome by any standard. So too the hotel, up to the highest standards anywhere, beautiful pleasant receptionists (and we know his taste for Eastern European women) and so it goes. It must have been a huge shock to him. And an even greater one awaited when he saw the modern glistening skyscrapers in what could be described as the financial district for alas, the Irish who are tops at such development activity, had got there first.
Like everyone, I never expected to see Trump elected but after then event, consoled myself with the thought that at least he’d put a long overdue end to the ‘Russians are evil’ silliness.
But on reflection it’s less of a surprise now that he won. First, voters love fresh faces and they didn’t come fresher than Trump with his appalling crassness, or more stale than Hillary who’d been in the public limelight for quarter of a century. But much more important, Hillary offered the electorate nothing more than herself, Trump offered hard-hitting policies that struck a chord and he certainly didn’t pull his punches.
Our NATO allies are parasites on the American taxpayer and not honouring their commitments, he bellowed. He was 100% right and they’re now jumping into line.
China cheats on trade he protested and immediately began to squeeze them which of necessity is forcing them into line with fair trade. As with NATO, reluctantly, all commentators agree his complaint was justified.
Then there’s the wall. Every country should decide their own immigration policy. Illegal economic migrants from central America have been pouring into America in their millions and now constitute a quarter of the country’s population.
In his typically crass manner he disgracefully branded them rapists and criminals but unlike Obama, Bush and others who talked up a storm on this, as also Obama had done in Europe over the NATO cheating, he’s actually doing something about it.
Then there’s North Korea. Kim has made a fool out of him the left now cry. Probably, but at least the heat is out of the situation. And so it goes.
We all want and expect the world’s highest public office to be occupied by a decent dignified individual we can look up to.
Trump is a crude, lying, ignorant and undignified oaf, who having been self-employed all his life is used to making decisions and seeing them acted on. The checks and balances of the democratic government don’t work that way.
Yet if there was an election today I have no doubt Trump would win and if I was an American I might even hold my nose and give him my vote. Why?
Have a look at the lengthy Democrat aspirants line-up. My God they’re a sorry lot. They’re either far too left and thus won’t get elected or plain Hillary bland. The fact that Joe Biden is leading the polls says it all. You can’t even dismiss Biden as yesterday’s man for despite being Obama’s deputy, he had no meaningful yesterday. “Not being Trump” won’t wash as a political platform.
I’m an eternal optimist, a necessity in life to achieve anything. So at this stage with near 18 months to go we must hope that an attractive dignified Democrat candidate emerges who hopefully will learn two things from Trump. First have policies that count and then carry them out.
Having lost their Russian silliness pursuit, the Democrats are now focussing on Trump’s tax returns. It’s complicated but they have the law on their side. Nevertheless, Trump will successfully fight this through the courts and procrastinate until after the next election. Why? First because they will probably show little or no tax paid by legal methods. Trump won’t give a damn about that and nor will his fan base.
If I’m reading him right his biggest concern is to be shown up as nowhere near as wealthy as he distastefully brags about. He’d hate that.
As long as the Democrats maintain their obsession with Trump, they’ll remain losers. An intelligent glamour candidate with sensible and not radical social policies who never mentions Trump’s name, would romp in.