There’s a scene in the Oscar winning 1984 movie Amadeus where Mozart is pleading with Austrian Emperor Joseph II to allow him to produce a work many in the court find distasteful: “Forgive me, Majesty. I am a vulgar man! But I assure you, my music is not.” As anyone who’s seen the movie knows, that statement is indeed true – at least in that big screen version of Mozart. The point of the line is simply that it is his work, i.e. not his words, that are important.
It’s a line that I think could equally apply to Donald Trump. The man is indeed vulgar at times. He frequently spouts off without necessarily knowing all the facts, without being clear, sometimes he’s simply wrong, and he frequently shows his thin skin when it comes to anyone who disagrees with him or who he believes has slighted him.
By any measure, if America was looking for a standard bearer of eloquence, someone to be the next Abraham Lincoln, JFK or Ronald Reagan with words that inspire a nation to greatness, that’s likely not Donald Trump. If America seeks to have another John Adams or Thomas Jefferson who leaves behind a virtual library of deep, thoughtful, consequential correspondence, that’s not likely Donald Trump either. But if the nation is looking for someone to do the basic nuts and bolts things that help put the government back where it belongs, helps point the nation towards prosperity, reminds Americans that it’s not government that made America great but rather her industrious people, then Donald Trump may be that man.
In the 50 days since Donald Trump was inaugurated the Trump White House has been a cavalcade of activity seeking to rein in the leviathan of government bequeathed to him by Barack Obama… and truth be told, by most of the dozen or so presidents before Obama as well.
The first and most important step Trump has taken has been the nomination of Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court. In a universe where modern courts seem to create law out of thin air or less, a conservative who recognizes that government power derives from the Constitution and what’s actually in it is exactly what the country needs.
But that’s only one. There are many more. Putting Betsy DeVos at the Department of Education is a genius move. Unlike most of the Education bureaucracy, DeVos understands that education is about the students, not the teachers’ unions. Schools are there to teach students to survive and thrive in the world, not a jobs program for teachers and administrators. DeVos will work to put parents and local communities back in control of their children’s education rather than Washington and teachers’ unions.
Then there is Scott Pruitt over at EPA. In Pruitt Trump has empowered someone who understands firsthand how the EPA has strayed far from Congress’s original intent. Pruitt will seek to reverse the decades long mission creep that jumped the shark back in 2011 when the EPA decided that it could regulate milk spills on farms the same way it regulates oil spills. (Eventually the agency had to explicitly state that it would not regulate milk…) Added bonus, Pruitt understands that energy is what powers the United States and he will seek to reverse the EPA’s war on traditional sources.
And speaking of environmental regulations gone awry, the Trump administration has announced that it will roll back the Obama administration’s last minute jump in CAFÉ standards regulations which would have required automakers to increase fuel economy for new cars to the equivalent of 54.5 miles per gallon by 2025. Aside from being an indirect subsidy to Elon Musk and the rest of the electric car market, this would have turned the United States into Europe, where practically everyone drives around in Matchbox cars few actually want.
And finally there is regulation itself… On the campaign Trump promised to cut regulation by 75%. While he may or may not ever hit that mark, he has taken two strong steps in stemming the tide of overregulation… which costs the United States almost $2 trillion per year. During the first month of the Trump administration not only stated that there would be $0 budgeted for new regulations, they also stated that for every regulation that might be rolled out, an agency must repeal two existing ones. Add to that a hiring freeze – and a ban on hiring contractors – and Trump has set himself up to at least move down that road.
Donald Trump may not be the kind of guy you want to invite to your dinner table or the guy you want dating your daughter… But so what? He wasn’t elected to be a polite dilettante who makes everyone feel warm and fuzzy. He was elected to be the chief executive of the federal government. His single most important duty in that role beyond national defense is to seek to ensure that the government does only those things that it is Constitutionally empowered to do, and if possible do them efficiently and effectively. By reining in stifling government overreach and overregulation, Donald Trump will hopefully put the United States back in a place where innovators, inventors and entrepreneurs can revive real opportunity and prosperity.
For eight years we had an “articulate” and caring president who did indeed make many people feel warm and fuzzy, and over whom Hollywood, the media and academia fawned… with the result being an avalanche of regulation, a dysfunctional and intrusive government and a GDP growth rate that averaged 1.8% – the worst in eighty years – all while piling another $10 trillion of debt onto the shoulders of American citizens!
There may indeed be sour notes ahead, like the disaster of the Obamacare repeal that is shaping up in the House, or potentially a waffling on taxes or the Paris accords, but today 50 days in, the music coming from the Trump administration has been surprisingly sublime. Like the Mozart of Amadeus, Donald Trump can indeed be vile and sometimes repugnant man, but if he continues on this path and succeeds in returning real prosperity to the United States where a robust rising tide lifts all boats, his legacy will be music to the ears of most Americans…
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contemplate these two paragraphs, than try to reconcile what the radical muslin terrorist ex-pres operated
“It would not be impossible to prove with sufficient repetition and a psychological understanding of the people concerned that a square is in fact a circle. They are mere words, and words can be molded until they clothe ideas and disguise.”
“Success is the important thing. Propaganda is not a matter for average minds, but rather a matter for practitioners. It is not supposed to be lovely or theoretically correct. I do not care if I give wonderful, aesthetically elegant speeches, or speak so that women cry. The point of a political speech is to persuade people of what we think right. I speak differently in the provinces than I do in Berlin, and when I speak in Bayreuth, I say different things than I say in the Pharus Hall. That is a matter of practice, not of theory. We do not want to be a movement of a few straw brains, but rather a movement that can conquer the broad masses. Propaganda should be popular, not intellectually pleasing. It is not the task of propaganda to discover intellectual truths.”
Liberals don’t care so much about real results; they like things that make them feel good. So, they don’t want to hear that it takes hard work to accomplish economic security; they are perfectly happy to hear flowery speeches about how they will be taken care of by the government as long as they have someone to blame when none of that quite comes to fruition.
So, opposing Trump’s common sense agenda to improve the economy and secure the nation is a matter of opposing a message that is not milk and honey but work and sacrifice. Unfortunately, he speaks in layman’s terms and not in the elitist manner of someone so much smarter and better than the rest of us.
Obama’s articulation produced practically nothing in 8 years. In two months, Trumps Neanderthallic demeanor has produced more positive results than Obama did in his entire term; could have produced much more but for the mindless and pointless opposition of a cadre of sore losers.
What we elected was the Cable Guy.
Git ‘r done.
We want the roto-rooter to clean out the drains.
We want the ramrod to swab down the barrel.
We want the bulldozer to clear away the rubble.
We don’t care if the dozer has chipped paint.
We don’t care of the snake has been used a bit.
We don’t care if the ramrod is a bit rusty.
We just want the camel nose away from the tent!
Have you all noticed how tireless President Trump is?
He’s exhausted the press.
He meets with folks who hadn’t met with a president in over 8 years.
And I am talking about DEMOCRATS and LIBERALS!
All those black educators.
Black Dem congressmen.
Joe Manchin, DEM said this:
Trump uses hyperbola to hector in on what it is he really wants.
He might say he wants 150% of his goal.
Outrageous.
But then his opponents come up to 100% of what he wanted.
So, he gets what he really wanted AND his opponents feel like they’ve won!
He’s been doing this for years.
Read his older books!
Liberals can blabber all they want until their mute about tollrence when in truth their the most intollerent bunch of socialists scumbags ever their intolltent of conservatives god fearing gun carrying traditional american family conservatives just look at the femanasties against manly men who want their sons grow up to be atthelts policemen,truck drivers,constuction worker Etc instead of ballet dancers,tree huggers,herb gardeners and piano players
educated people discuss ideas
the average person discuses event
the demorats and illiterates talk about people
the movie Amadeus was a fraud- Mozart and Antonio Salieri shared the same librettis, the same restaurant’s, the same women, and often dined together. Ponte was shared by both on several operas
Trump is incompetent as president, but of course many people will approve of him anyway. They wanted change, and he’s a disruptor. So is a bull in a china shop.
The truth is that there’s nothing at all difficult about knocking a china shop to bits. The hard part is reassembling the smashed up pieces into something better. You’re enthusiastic about the demolition. I’m sure it’s all very satisfying. But you haven’t even asked to see the renovation plan. Nor have you given much thought to what happens if it turns out there isn’t one.
Obamacare is a case in point. Foreign policy is beginning to look a lot like another one.
@Greg: You voted for Obama and supported Hillary. You have no idea, concept or image of what competent is; you’ve never believed in it.
Obama set out to demolish America. He was almost successful. His Democrats are trying to finish the job he started. If THEY are successful remains to be seen.
The politically wise thing to do is leave Obamacare alone, let it crater and leave hanging around the Democrats’ necks. But, people will get hurt when that happens, so it is the duty of the Republicans to try and fix that massive steaming pile Obama was too lazy to flush. The same goes for that disaster of biblical proportions foreign policy mess he left as well.
I voted for Obama because I thought he was an excellent choice. I voted for Clinton because I concluded she was by far the lesser danger.
@Greg:
I was already convinced of my point; you didn’t have to absolutely confirm it.
@Bill… Deplorable Me, #8:
The wise thing to do would have been to address each problem as it came up until we finally got it all right—exactly as is done when you’re in the process of creating any complex, properly functioning machine. All complex things that work well are always imperfect at the beginning, and then improved and adjusted incrementally. Nobody expected we’d get to the moon using the first rocket NASA put together.
Instead, the republican majority instantly set to the work of incremental legislative and litigatory sabotage, attacking various essential components of the Affordable Care Act in an effort to undermine its funding and function, with the intention of assuring its failure. They apparently weren’t all that convinced that it would fall over without being pushed.
What republicans did was entirely political, and so is what they’re trying to do now. They’re trying to quickly hammer together something that will pass muster sufficiently to get them out of the political corner they’ve painted themselves into. Creating a genuinely acceptable working replacement for the Affordable Care Act is a distant second priority, if it’s even a consideration. They want to create the appearance that they’ve done so, while putting off the serious negative consequences of repeal until after the next big election.
I still see that Maxine Waters wants to impeach trump and frankly Mad Madame Mim is off her meds again and needs a streight jacket and a padded cell
Jobs reports ‘may have been phony in the past, but it’s very real now’
This is a bit odd, given the fact that nothing whatsoever has changed with regard to the Department of Labor’s data collection or computational methodologies.
It’s also odd, given that neither President Trump nor Congress have actually done anything directly affecting the economy.
What we’ve got here is the same employment trend we’ve had throughout the later years of the Obama administration—quite possibly because Trump and Congress haven’t yet screwed things up.
The deplorable unaffordable health Care act was never going to succeed. The dirtbag Gruber told everyone it was intended to fail. It was and is on course to detonate. The repeal in name only plan is unacceptable.
@Spurwing Plover:
greg gets his Intel from maxine the moonbat waters
@Greg:
Since it was designed to fail and usher in full-government run health care (VA for all), it can’t BE repaired.
The labor participation rate went up. Wages went up. Manufacturing jobs went up. And it is all a direct result of the ELECTION of Trump.
Approving the Keystone and Dakota Access pipelines certainly is action. Curtailing the death grip the EPA has had on business is action. Reducing regulations is action. But, mostly, business believes they no longer have a mortal enemy in the White House.
Consumer confidence is at a 15 year high. Now, why would a spike in consumer confidence coincide with the most regulatory President leaving office and the most business savvy President entering? Think there might be a connection? Trump promised to do everything to boost the economy and has been keeping EVERY promise, despite Democrats trying to block and undermine everything simply for the sake of acting like sore losers.
Why don’t you liberals allow Trump to put his agenda in place, THEN attack the results? Afraid of the possible resounding success? Do you think it will be proper for Trump, when he is out of office, to attack the next Democrat President incessantly? Should the trend that the Clinton’s, Obama and Carter have initiated become the tradition?
greg is on suicide watch. Every day Trump is President is a day closer to the end for him. It is apparent injustices writing that his grip on reality is waning.
He is an unlikely hero, perhaps. I don’t find him to be vile. And, while Obama was allergic to his office, and any real work, Trump is going to do the job the way it should be done.
A lot of people paid a lot of money to get Obama into that office, and he spend as much of his energy staying out of it, at the golf course, on vacation, out incessantly campaigning. He corrupted the IRS, the DOJ, and now, it looks like the intelligence agencies, too. Everything he touched, Chicago politics rolled in, in spades.
I feel such a sense of relief ever since we dodged the HIllary bullet. We survived Obama and now we have a chance. That’s what matters. Go Mozart!
@Bill… Deplorable Me, #16:
I would call that conclusion a product of magical thinking. Trump hasn’t made any changes that have caught up with the real world yet—unless you want to count terrorizing undocumented aliens and their families.
At some point, effects will begin to set in. We’ll begin slipping into an international crisis situation and suddenly realize we no longer have a functional State Department, only a gutted organization headed by a former Exxon executive. We’ll discover we have a president who thinks Mauritania is some obscure Eastern European country that was once part of the former Soviet Union.
Trump as dont more for america then Obama did in his eight years in the oval office and done more to make little collage snowflakes cry and throw tantrums as well
@Greg:
YOU ARE A TRAITOR TO THE DEMOCRACY UNDER WHICH YOU ARE PRIVILEGED TO WRITE
@MOS #8541:
I have said I believe greg should be put on suicide watch. His rantings show a pattern of irrational thought and detachment from reality.
Eight years will be a long time for him to survive so much winning…..
I believe the detachment from reality is mostly on the other side of the conversation. Perhaps you should expand your sources of information and try to stop viewing the world as a contest between diametrically opposed ideologies. The truth is always more complicated than that.
@July 4th American:
AGREE
@Greg:
If Hillary had been elected, you would have been happy. Why would that have been? You would have been happy before Hillary had enacted any changes and before her election had changed anything.
But, you complain that others are happy about Trump’s intentions, when he has not yet changed much. And, those others are starting plans to invest and hire people, on their expectation of what is to come. Indeed, some have already been hired.
So, your happiness and future plans would be entirely rational, but you see those others as delusional.
@Andrew Garland: Obama was granted a Nobel Peace Prize based on what he MIGHT do. He then proceeded to turn the world into a much more violent, dangerous place. He did NOT do what he promised to do.
Trump’s “prize” thus far, based on what he “might” do has been an exploding stock market, growing jobs (good jobs, manufacturing jobs, not part-time, low paying jobs), increased labor participation and jobs coming BACK to America.
I find it significant that the left has to INVENT (i.e. lie) infractions committed by Trump in order to have anything to complain about. This tells me… PROVES to me… that the left has no idea how to counteract Trump’s agenda and live in fear of his success, because that would bury them and their obstructive, restrictive, socialistic agenda once and for all.