Trump, The Apprentice Conservative
The Conservative, unashamedly pro-life, unashamedly pro-marriage is the one on the right.
In the last few days, The Donald has allowed himself gaffes that must give pause to every one of his conservative supporters; to those supporters, that is, who care for conservative values rather than being worried (which they legitimately can) for their job or for other issues.
The first one was an interview some days ago, during which Trump included health care and education (together with security, obviously) as the three “top government priorities”.
Heavens. Even from the other side of the Pond this sounds immediately “off”. It is like stating on TV he will slaughter two of the fattest conservative sacred cows immediately upon election.
The second one was the embarrassing flip-flop-flip-zig-zag on abortion, where the man has managed to shoot himself on each one of his toes in a matter of just a few days.
The woman must be punished. I was talking in answer to a general question. The woman is a victim. I would prefer States’ rights. But right now we laws are set and we should leave it that way. Until I am elected, that is (this comes from his aides, and thank God for them).
Now, let me say first that I consider Trump a highly intelligent man, who will – if elected – do a lot of good for his Country. However, the shortcomings of this man’s conservatism are becoming shockingly evident.
Trump has based his entire electoral campaign on the electorate wanting to vote the man, and all the elements of novelty this entails. However, it seems to me that Trump is either too arrogant to grasp and internalise what conservatism is, or naively thinks that merely “being Trump” will be enough to get him the conservative vote in November.
Not going to happen.
The blunder on education and health care will have opened a lot of people’s eyes as to the danger of a man who discovered himself conservative when he discovered he wanted to be President. The unbelievable flip-flopping on abortion shows a man who may have (recent) sincere pro-life feelings, but has no clear moral stance as what should be done and why. If you read my recent post about why the mother should be punished you understand that this is the way it should work: the moral stance is the logical starting point for the proposal of the legal discipline. It can’t work any other way.
Trump is not controlled in the way he speaks, and I suspect he is very confused in the way he thinks. He is shockingly unprepared in simple matters of policy, and seems to believe the (laudable) swagger and (admirable) political incorrectness will lead him through the nomination and the victory in November alone. Again, not going to happen.
Trump has a lot going for himself, but the man must do his homework fast and become a conservative already. If he goes on thinking that the “brand” alone will lead him to victory he is very deluded.
I wrote a post some time ago explaining why I think that Cruz is the better candidate (both are good; Cruz is better). On that occasion, I explained that Trump will disappoint you far often than Cruz, because the latter has a firmness of belief and an ideological stance the second just does not possess.
So: is Trump serving the Cross? How is a four or five fold correction on such a stance, and on such an issue as abortion, an indication of one who wants to serve the Cross?
Trump has many qualities we should appreciate. But when you scratch his surface, he is no more than an apprentice Conservative.
Does he have the will – and the humility – to learn to do things right? Will he listen to his (better) advisers and push for a really conservative agenda? Will he do what he should have done these many months: do his darn homework and learn what it is to be a Conservative?
The Italian film director Nanni Moretti said it beautifully: “Chi pensa male, parla male“, or “he who thinks badly, speaks badly”. Trump’s confusion is not a coincidence. It’s in his head. He must clear the confusion, learn to be a conservative, commit to it and toe the line, or he is doomed. If not in Cleveland, in November at the latest.
M
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Posted on April 4, 2016, in Catholicism, Conservative Catholicism, Traditional Catholicism and tagged Donald Trump. Bookmark the permalink. 11 Comments.
Mundabor's Blog 
There are two fatal problems for Trump.
One is that he has no political conviction beyond Trumpism inc. (copyright). He speaks conservative now because he needs the base to win. He does not believe any of it. He will say what he needs to say to advance the cause of Trump.
Another problem, and more importantly: he is political acid. In this respect, whatever policy he does or does not favor is irrelevant. He cannot lead. He is dishonest and a hateful, vicious man. He is the most divisive man I have ever seen. Putting him in the most powerful seat in the world; giving this man, at this time, the keys to the kingdom, would be as irresponsible politically to our nation and western civilization, as it was irresponsible “religiously” to God’s Kingdom to give Bergoglio the Seat of Peter. It is inconceivable to me the level of political and social destruction that would follow in his wake.
Thank goodness we were given a political genius like Cruz to stop him. That is a man who actually believes in conservative principles and can eloquently defend his beliefs and advance them against an irrational, implacable foe.
Cruz is a statesman. Trump is a mouth.
Oh, I think Trump is a smart guy who would be able to surround himself with the right people. But you are right, he would pursue his own brand of Trumpism instead of Conservatism.
Trump’s position on abortion is informed by opportunism which is no different from Romney or any other Republican nominee going back to the first Bush. Goldwater was explicitly “pro-choice”. The only genuinely pro-life candidate Republicans have ever nominated was Ronald Reagan. Why would conservatives abandon the party over Trump’s opportunism when they stuck with it over all the others’? Just because Trump did not bother learning the dishonest talking points so-called “conservatives” are supposed to mouth over the abortion issue ever since majority Republican Supreme Courts delared abortion a constitutional right in Roe v. Wade and defended that stance in the Casey decision in 1992? Just as another majority-Republican Court gave us “gay marriage” in Obergefell?
When Republicans held the House, the Senate and the Presidency under Bush II, they pushed through the biggest Medicare expansion since LBJ. They nominated the very Chief Justice who then proceeded to declare Obamacare constitutional. They instituted NCLB, the biggest expansion of education bureaucracy since Carter created the federal department of education.
Are “conservatives” seriously going to make Hillary president over the known fact that Trump is only about as conservative on abortion, health care and education as the last actual Republican administration and most current Republican Senators and Representatives?
Which Republican presidential candidate, by the way, will outlaw abortion and gay marriage, dismantle the federal department of education and withdraw from all federal involvement in health care? Which one even promises any of that?
My answer is: Cruz.
Happy Easter, Mr. Mundabor. Great analysis of Trump and his “apprenticeship”. Many of us were not at all bothered by the “some kind of punishment” response Trump made to Matthews’ battery of illegal propositions. But we were immediately drowned out by Pro-Life “healing ministry” advocates who suggest – wrongly – that there is a “victim equivalency” between the child whose life is purposefully ended in the womb and the woman who made the decision to end it even under duress. (More collateral damage from FrancisMercy, perhaps?)
I agree that Cruz is a better candidate, however, Trump strikes me as more earnest, particularly on the abortion issue. And as you say, like an apprentice, he comes across as more emotionally invested in the vision he occasionally struggles – quite badly – to communicate. There’s something rather winning about this quality, but also agree that he needs immediately to move forward with a more practiced application of it.
I enjoy your American political commentary, sir, and hope to see more as this race continues.
Thanks, FJ!
I wonder, however, if Trump’s mistakes are not rather linked to issues he does not care about.
He does not make this kind of mistakes concerning the main points of his campaign…
M, I neither love nor hate Trump. I might be one of the few Americans who feels no passion toward the man. But if he becomes President, I believe the United States will experience four years of chaos from the White House. Trump deals with issues in an ad hoc manner. He has no coherent world view. The wave of popularity he initiated could well destroy him because he will feel forced to zig and zag to maintain that popularity. All this furor over his remarks concerning abortion exposed these tendencies.
Now, if Trump wins the Republican nomination, I will support him against either Clinton or Sanders, either of whom would be far worse. But let’s not fool ourselves: Trump as President is a disaster waiting to happen. He’s only less of a disaster than Clinton or Sanders.
I must disagree.
This is a shrewd businessman who knows how to make right decisions. You don’t build an empire by being a maverick.
While I am no fan of Trump, Cruz is a hypocrite. Google “Cruz New York Campaign Donors,” see some of his big money sources. Wife Heidi is an executive at Goldman Sachs, the financial enslavement vehicle of the New World Order. No Catholic should vote for this guy, as he is along the same line religiously as his wacko father, a pastor of the charlatan Kenneth Copeland ilk, spewing their gospel of prosperity bullshit and weird beliefs, in particular Dominionism. Many wishing for a true conservative leader of great character continue to spurn him, as he comes across shallow and lacking of substance. Google those above mentioned issues, there is little good about this guy (plus the oligarchs in control of this country have the vast majority of citizens dumbed down to not believe the whole system is rigged).
People like you incarnate all that is wrong with the US, and explain why the country is led by an atheist cultural Muslim.
This level of stupidity is simply beyond words.
Wake up, look around you, and vote for the candidate instead of committing impure acts with wives’ professions, fathers’ inclinations, and rubbish like that.
I will vote for Trump because of his independence from the money groups. He really doesn’t have to depend on paying back the lobbyists. This is a first in modern-day politics. My oldest son says that Trump is being sort-of a ‘good old boy’ now, but if he wins the nomination, he will return to his ‘businessman persona’ & Clinton will see an opponent to fear. I hope it happens, and I hope he’s right. I just don’t see much hope for this country the way it is currently run. Which is why I try to pay more attention to my spiritual life than the political world. But I have to admit, it has become interesting!