Well, I guess the gloves are off, so here we go.
Last week's GOP debate further convinced me that Donald Trump is a "man of action" and as such will be the embodiment of all out-of-control executives, believing, like Obama, that he has far more authority than the Constitution authorizes. He, like Obama, will follow in the footsteps of our history's other out-of-control "men of action" like Andrew Jackson, both Roosevelts, Woodrow Wilson, Lyndon Johnson and others.
It's the difference between a Washington, Madison or Jefferson, who were driven by Divine Providence, and the aforementioned disasters driven by Manifest Destiny. These progressive disasters were convinced that they knew better than everyone and everything, including the Constitution, and that all must step aside and allow them to lead.
Trump is obsessed with winning and appears to have no humility. And frankly, I'm tired of hearing that we need a tough guy – that we need a fighter, not a wimp. That's bull crap. You can be humble and tough. The two are not mutually exclusive. I could never picture Donald Trump falling to his knees, as did George Washington (definitely not a wimp), asking God for guidance or help. That's humility. Maybe he does – I don't know. What I do picture is him staring admiringly at a portrait of himself.
Trump strikes me as an executive who recognizes no higher authority, or even any equal, as in the other two branches of government.
That's fine for business, but government isn't like business – it's not about winning. Government has but a few main constitutional functions. Protecting the homeland and keeping the states and the people from dominating one another. Other than that, staying the heck out of our way.
But Trump is grand pooh-bah of a privately held empire and as such never has to accept a no vote regarding any of his corporate decisions or mandates. He is in essence a benevolent (I hope) dictator. This is not how the government works according to constitutional dictates. The president, unlike a CEO, may not dictate or decree, not even if the legislature unconstitutionally grants him that authority.
Trump claims to have New York City values, and that's fine for NYC. He said those New York values were on display when people pulled together like nothing he has ever seen on 9/11. Yes, 9/11 was a tragedy – but there have been others like Joplin, Missouri, whose people displayed Midwest values after a mile-wide EF-5 tornado, the most powerful classification, where 158 people died and 1,150 were injured. Their first responders were also friends and neighbors as well as professionals, and I would prefer their values any day of the week.
Yet anyone with a brain and even a modicum of honesty would understand what Cruz was correctly pointing out during the debate as the difference between NYC and "flyover" values.
Yes, New Yorkers came together after 9/11. Of course they did, but it didn't take very long after the cleanup was complete to return to the stereotypically high-minded liberal jerks they are. As the mayor of NYC, Lenny Clotch, in the movie "Ghostbusters," said, "Being miserable and treating other people like dirt is every New Yorker's God-given right."
Trump says New York is a wonderful place. It has wonderful people. And conservatives do come from Manhattan – at least one, as Trump cited William F. Buckley, who died eight years ago. I guess he was the last.
New York City is not a great place. It's a wonderful place to visit for a day or two. Any more and you too may likely become an a--. Yes, it has some wonderful people, like every place in the nation. But it also has far more than its fair share of leftist ideologues.
Is this not the same city that elected a communist? The same city in which Mayor Bill de Blasio won almost 75 percent of the vote? Seventy-five percent of New York City voters preferred the communist.
There's your NYC values! They are just like you and me! Anyone who can cast a vote for a communist lacks similar values to me and I hope all conservatives. Does anyone need any more information about New York values than that 75 percent of them elected a communist?
Last year New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo asked regarding conservatives: "Who are they? Are they these extreme conservatives who are right-to-life, pro-assault-weapon, anti-gay? Is that who they are? Because if that's who they are and they're the extreme conservatives, they have no place in the state of New York, because that's not who New Yorkers are."
Like no other Republican candidate, Trump lacks the temperament for the job of president. He is a bully and like all bullies has an extremely fragile ego that has to be constantly massaged. This is why he keeps up on all the latest poll numbers. The poll could come from North Korean State News, and if it shows Trump ahead, he will cite it.
Chris Christie called Obama a petulant child. But he will have nothing on a President Trump. Trump does not suffer well with people who disagree with him, and America will suffer his wrath if we dare to part from his worldview.
The Constitution has no place for and the founders fought against an "active" Chief Executive. That's not the job. Look it up. If we ever hope to regain any semblance of a constitutional general (federal) government, we must stop electing presidential "men of action."