Never Say Never

Post by AVO

In my last piece, I wrote of my libertarian leanings and idealism. Yet in this piece, I would like to write about practicality.

The way I see it, Donald Trump is by no means a liberty loving American, at least not in the classic sense of ‘liberty and justice for all.’ During this round of presidential primaries I was hoping to see a serious candidate arise from the rubbish we call the Republican Party. I watched and refrained from supporting anybody outright and even when the Trump-Clinton matchup became painfully obvious I still viewed it apathetically.

One of the main arguments of the never-Trump camp is that he lacks presidential presence and basic diplomatic skills. The recent Open Letter on Donald Trump by so-called GOP national security experts stating that "Mr. Trump’s own statements lead us to conclude that as president, he would use the authority of his office to act in ways that make America less safe, and which would diminish our standing in the world" comes to mind. Amusingly, it was precisely these elements that fostered my aversion to Trump - to the point I was going just sit this one out...

Lets face it, we've all heard the MSM’s narrative of what a terrible person Mr. Trump is and how there's no conscienable way to support him; we've heard it from within the conservative camp and sadly, we've heard some pretty strong voices from within Jewish orthodoxy. (This last group has potentially done much damage to the Jewish community’s image, but that’s another story)

But I digress, I would like to call your attention to Mr. Trump’s press conference in Mexico last week - which was held in conjunction with Mexican president, Enrique Peña Nieto, and then we will review two of the most common arguments I've heard coming from the never-Trumps and my reflections.

You can see the whole video here:

Alright, let’s get into it:

Trump is no diplomat - let's begin with biggest claim. Mr. Trump runs his mouth - true. The plethora of stomach twisting quotes and tweets he has left us with has not helped his cause in the wider public In many instances it leaves us wondering how Mr. Trump could possibly be trusted to represent us on the world stage while on the other side, we see Mrs. Clinton rubbing shoulders with world leaders. After two decades of building her Rolodex we should naturally trust her in this arena while Trump has been untested with all indicators predicting negatively. However, here we see a very presidential leader with a strong presence; I must stress the importance of judging this speech for its own merits and contrasting it to how badly it could've gone.

Trump hates Mexicans - OK this is probably the most poisonous of accusations and borders on libelous. Even the Never-Trumpers should refrain from restating this point because of the major damage it has caused our society. It is no secret that this common assertion has been used by the criminal elements in our nation as an excuse to act out violently without fear of legal repercussions at all sorts of rallies and counter-rallies from coast to coast - especially in California where we have a high percentage of Mexican nationals and Mexican-Americans. Well, here we see Mr. Trump actively respecting the Mexican government and he has since professed deep admiration for Mr. Peña Nieto, so clearly the Hitlerian image the MSM has been using is moot.

I would like to add that I still don't think Mr. Trump is conservative and I certainly regard him warily. I fear he will do little to stem the federal government’s reach, unnecessary spending on foreign conflicts will continue under his watch, monetary policy will continue to serve the interests of Wall St and we'll still be struggling with our same daily challenges. These are key issues for all libertarians; they are our most pressing concerns. Unfortunately in our lesser of two evils situation we are forced to consider these key points. Before the election, only Mr. Trump has begun a dialogue with an important neighbor, unlike Mrs. Clinton who publicly refused Mr. Peña Nieto’s invitation. I would think Mexico is more important to our national security and interests than Libya or Syria (which Mrs Clinton is busy covering up), so why has only one candidate shown any interest in them? Mexico’s southern border is infiltrated thousands of times every day by people from all over the world hoping to cross into the United States and we should be partnering with the Mexicans to stop this flow. Let's not forget these individuals are dangerous to Mexico as well and Mr. Trump put it beautifully when he spoke of the exponential added value from working with each other; it's not a zero sum relationship as Mr. Peña Nieto said.

This piece wouldn't be complete without addressing the supposed Twitter war the media invented between Misters Trump and Peña Nieto. One must bear in mind that respect for an individual and maintaining one’s ground are not mutually exclusive positions, so while Mr Trump immediately praised the Mexican president personally he also remained on point with his original campaign promise of building the wall and sending the bill to Mexico. I don't see that as an attack in any way and it's befuddling how so many pundits turned it into a personal issue. Maybe they just all have thin skin...