HAS DONALD TRUMP RE-BRANDED THE GOP?

…Here’s Pence & Trump, the real “Odd Couple”

 

Was Trump’s choice of Mike Pence a good idea?

 

OK, the Washington Post has made it clear that they will not endorse Donald Trump and that he would be dangerous for the nation and the world.

 

They have noted that Trump has “contempt for the Constitution and the unwritten democratic norms upon which our system depends”. 

 

The Post has even commented that Trump doesn’t know what is in our nation’s founding document.  They have also stated that when asked by a member of Congress about Article 1, which enumerates the congressional powers, the GOP candidate had responded with: “I am going to abide by the Constitution whether it’s number 1, number 2, number 12, number 9.”

 

The US Constitutional Charter only has 7 articles.

 

Trump also has no Idea about the US Constitution’s limitations on executive power.  He instead, sounds like as being president, he would be able to act like a third-world dictator.  Trump has even threatened that those who criticize him will suffer when he is president. (Water-Boarding anyone?)

 

Trump has vowed to torture suspected terrorists and bomb their innocent relatives, even though he could not do that legally as president. He has vowed to illegally put pressure on the independent press.  Trump continues to go after a judge whose rulings angered him, as he freely shows his contempt for the independence of the judiciary.  He has insisted that the judge of Hispanic descent that has been dealing with his Trump University suit, should be disqualified solely because of his Mexican heritage.

 

Mr. Trump has even encouraged and celebrated violence at his rallies.

 

The US democratic system is strong and it has stood strong when it has been tested.  As Americans, we have faith in it, but to elect Mr. Trump would be to knowingly subject our system to some serious threats.

 

Important political decisions often ask about which bridges to cross and which to burn. With Donald Trump, the dilemma is that he burns some bridges by the way he crosses them.

 

The one bridge that Trump has crossed that had appeared to make sense was his VP candidate selection.

 

But was it a good choice for Trump, or was it a good choice for the selected Indiana Governor, Mike Pence, or for neither?

 

The issue between these two candidates was only touched upon when they both appeared on “60 Minutes”.

 

According to Pence, being chosen by Trump was “very, very humbling.”  He declared that, “Trump is one of the best negotiators in the world” and will provide “broad-shouldered American strength.”  According to Trump, “This good man is totally awed by the American people”, whatever that means….?

 

From my point-of-view, they are one “odd couple” for a political team.

 

Mike Pence is a serious social conservative whose comment about himself is that he always describes himself as "a Christian, a conservative and a Republican, in that order."   As Trump’s VP, he is now required to minister to this boastful jerk and aspiring torturer, who apparently Pence thinks belongs at the bully pulpit.

 

Back in April, Pence had seriously endorsed Ted Cruz.  But since then, because he apparently didn’t look like he would win his re-election as the Indiana Governor, now he endorses Donald Trump with lavish praise.  But Trump in the 60 Minutes interview excused Pence for buckling “under tremendous pressure from establishment people,” when Pence had voted for the war in Iraq. 

 

You see, it’s horrible that Trump's “Crooked Hillary” voted for the war in Iraq, but Trump will excuse Pence for voting for the same war.   Per Trump, “Mike is allowed one mistake.”  In a year of many bazaar novelties, now we have this one: A presidential candidate that has actually called his running mate, ‘weak’.

 

It is amazing about all the things that Trump is for, and that Pence is against, or vice-versa.

 

Pence had voted against the prescription drug bill for seniors, which was a Republican President, George W. Bush’s plan that was one that was not paid for.  That’s why Pence voted against his party on the bill.  In fact, the Republicans held the House voting time open for a record 2 hours and 51 minutes until they could get enough votes to finally win by one vote.

 

Today, will a more pliable VP Pence candidate amend his convictions and repent his resistance to this now immensely popular senior entitlement?  Trump, sees nothing amiss with the existing American entitlement system and he disparages those who think trillions of dollars of unfunded liabilities are problematic.

 

As compared to Trump, Pence also has strongly favored free trade, including the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) that Trump calls “the worst economic deal in the history of our country.” 

 

Now, back in 1980, George H.W. Bush denounced Ronald Reagan’s “voodoo economics” until Reagan selected Bush as his running mate.  Obviously, Bush then decided that voodoo economics was very good. Looks like we’re in for another change of that sort.  As some politician once said, “The malleable shall inherit the earth.”

 

As Trump’s campaign manager, Paul Manafort, says, Trump “has changed the face of the Republican Party, just as Reagan did”.

 

Well, he has indeed.  Today, a sneer and a snarl have replaced Reagan’s sunny Southern California smile.

 

Trump, is today’s consummate self-branded man and he has so far been successful in completing the rebranding of the Republican Party.

 

Only time will tell what the GOP will look like by the time Trump is done with the Republican Party.

 

Copyright G.Ater  2016