Recently Featured +++++++++++ One of the WSJ's finest thinkers and writers is Daniel Henninger. In the op ed below he has written a thoughtful review of how Trump ended his presidency or better how the presidency ended Trump.
We are now witnessing the pile on period from Trump Hating hypocrites who were somewhere else when the rioters and thugs were looting, burning cities while Democrat Mayors and Governors remained either supportive or absent and the mass media were characterizing riots as silent protests, bla, blah, blah.
I have already written my thoughts about how Trump lost all self-discipline in his remaining days in office and that will always become an asterisk for those who write a dispassionate and professional review/history of his presidency.
I want to use Henninger's piece to take off in another direction. He correctly talked about the loss of trust in the political system and elections in general.
For what it is worth, this is my take and I come at it from a different direction
I am a traditionalist. If I see something advertised as "new and improved" I walk away,. Generally I prefer to wait and let others go first. I am not opposed to progress, I just wish to let time pass.
So what am I getting at?
I have written repeatedly, far too many liberals are discontent with what is and in order to give them a reason for living feel they must change everything. They just refuse to avoid touching wet paint, so to speak. Consequently, even if they are well intentioned, they create doubt in what has been proven, is reliable, works and often is far better than what is offered as a replacement.
Specific to voting, as Henninger points out in his article, progressives, liberals, Democrats attack Republicans, conservatives who believe it is wise to make voters present identification. They accuse my kind with wanting to "suppress voting." They say we are racists.
Consequently, a backlash is created by those, like myself, who respond and resent identity politics and attempts at intimidation.
I believe voting is a sacred right and only legitimate citizens of a country should have the right to vote. Second, in order to determine who is legitimate, official identification is useful. Third, the argument of not needing identification to vote is not a rational one when lesser activities require same, ie. withdrawing a book from the library, getting on a plane, visiting your congressperson at The Capitol, even going to see your doctor or dentist and you know all the rest.
There are many reasons voter identification is challenged. Among them is because there are those who want to destroy this nation, who want to create discord and division, who can raise money by establishing a movement and who, like Stacey Abrams, helped her cause to become governor and/or elevate her prominence to a national level. Her charge was as phony as many of Trump's various assertions but the mass media support Abrams because they align with her and not Trump.
I despise hypocrisy and therefore hypocrites and this is why I rebel when I see those seeking change not because it is rational but because it is to create disruption, discord and because they have self-serving and/or nefarious intentions/motives.
America is under attack from a variety of directions and from a variety of sources. We are constantly under technological attacks (cyber). Radical Islamists sent planes into "The Towers" and I have no doubt last year's rioters were financed from within and without, were provided transportation, funding and dangerous projectiles. We are particularly at risk because we are an open society and our views, our constitution, our success threaten those who are oppressive dictators, gain their power and dominance through Socialism, Communism and other "ism's."
What possibly could be a logical argument for defunding police and why would anyone, believing in law and order, take up this cause unless they meant to do harm to black citizens and thus create conditions of racial discord. I write this not in defense of law officers who exceed their authority and/or where more appropriate training is necessary and deserves funding.
I believe a life of moderation is good for society, I believe a rational argument is preferred over emotional thoughtlessness and I want America to always be in the forefront of change but not simply for the sake of change.
This is why I am unwilling to drink from the well of liberalism, progressivism and the polluted waters of hypocrites .
Trump’s Trumpian Final DaysAmid the Electoral College challenge, the president is putting the substance of his achievements at risk. By Daniel Henninger
The greatest threat to Donald Trump’s legacy is if his American
presidency is seen by future historians as ending in farce and tragedy. We may
be there. For the last half of his Monday evening rally in Georgia for
Republicans David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler, Mr. Trump read from the teleprompter
a detailed description of the ways he believes election fraud was committed in
Georgia, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. The two Republicans then lost. On Wednesday in Washington, Mr. Trump delivered the same speech
to a massive crowd, which then invaded the Capitol building, forcing the
evacuation of Vice President Mike Pence and a general lockdown. Political mockery is merciless, and so it was this week with the
appearance of a viral video that recreates Mr. Trump making these
election-fraud accusations seated at his desk in the Oval Office—“the numbers
are corrupt, it was a rigged election, 100%”—as workmen remove the desk, with
him attached to it, out of the office, down a White House hall and into the
back of a truck, while he insists: “There’s tremendous fraud here. Wait just
one second . . .” That second has passed. Mr. Trump’s notion that Vice President Pence would carry out the
Electoral College challenge now looks utterly unserious, as the Capitol mob put
in motion with his speech rendered that impossible. Those electoral votes will
be counted. As well, Sens. Josh Hawley and Ted Cruz, who could have foreseen
that Mr. Trump would take this project to an unpredictable end, have probably
done irreparable damage to their presidential dreams. As has Donald Trump. For certain, Mr. Trump will depart the White House by Jan. 20.
But left behind will be a damaged American election system. The conventional wisdom is to blame all this on Mr. Trump for
making “baseless claims” about the election. A more honest assessment of the
damage done during Mr. Trump’s four years in office would require everyone in
politics to take a long look in the mirror. There is an important distinction to be made between election
fraud as Mr. Trump describes it and the public’s basic faith in the credibility
of the American election process. Morning Consult has been asking voters about election trust
since September. Just before the election, trust in elections among
independents, Democrats and Republicans was between 58% and 68%. Afterward,
Democratic trust rose (naturally) to 80%, while for Republicans it dropped to
30%. More interesting is that by late December trust among
independents—America’s self-identified “moderate” voters—had fallen to 45%. In other words, well over half the country is losing faith in
how the U.S. conducts elections. This can’t all be attributed to Donald Trump’s
tweets. Anyone with a passing interest in politics knows that at least
since the Obama administration, Democrats and Republicans have been battling
over the issue of election credibility. For Republicans, the shorthand version
is “voter ID.” For Democrats it is variously “voting rights” or “voter
suppression.” But raise doubts of any sort about Democratic easements to the
voting process, such as ballot harvesting, and one is accused of racism. Now, even most independent voters are beginning to think the
U.S. election system is untrustworthy. The political class and press have
enabled, if not abetted, this erosion. Closely related to this downturn in trust is the rise in our
time of political conspiracy theories. This by now appears via a media ctrl-alt
user-key for “right-wing conspiracy theory.” One may ask: What has been more damaging to Americans’ trust in
their political system—the low-rent QAnon fantasy or the white-shoe conspiracy
of the Steele dossier? If previously sober FBI officials like Andrew McCabe and
Peter Strzok can become crazed, don’t feign shock when otherwise serious people
believe an election was stolen in six states. Donald Trump should have won this
election—by a lot. As I’ve noted previously,
the braggadocio coronavirus press conferences last spring pulled him below 50%
support. This week Covid-19 was surging across Georgia. Now the Trump presidency is ending in rage and ignominy over the
Electoral College and a repellent hit on Mike Pence’s loyalty. Bill Barr went
last month. Who’s left? In these last days, a fine line has developed between Trumpism
and Donald Trump as a kind of streaming arena show. Even this week, Trump
headquarters has been sending out four fundraising emails a day, such as: “I
just stepped off stage after speaking at an EPIC Victory Rally in
Georgia . . . Please contribute $5 NOW to get on the donor
list.” Final memories matter, and this
week’s events have put at risk the substance of his presidency such as the
historic—that’s right, historic—creation of self-supporting jobs, and
self-respect, for blacks and Hispanics, both men and women. Or the Middle-East
peace present Joe Biden is
getting, no strings attached. Serious Trumpians will have to recognize the difference between
the substance of Trump and Trump as sentiment, when a line has been crossed,
and when it is time to move on. That time is now.
Write henninger@wsj.com
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