I think pragmatism makes a lot of sense when it comes to politics these days, but it sure seems like most people are clearly in one camp or another, certain how they are going to vote long before Election Day. But I like to learn the facts, learn about the individual candidates and issues, and make my decision myself. I don’t need a political party or ideological group to tell me how to think.
He’s also not likely to be the greatest president ever, but probably will do okay in the job. I think Joe Biden might be a better choice, but I’m willing to accept whoever the voters chose come next November.
Trump has been excellent on the second amendment and appointing pro-gun and conservative judges throughout the judiciary. He’s been a brash voice for change, not stuck in the old ways of doing things in Washington DC. He represents a new way of thinking, not all good, but different then the mindset that has dominated national politics for much too long. He would be a good check on Congress, especially if the Democrats control one or both houses. He would slow or roll back some of the over-reach of the Biden administration.
That said, I hardly am a fan of his over the top rhetoric and his lawlessness both as President and thereafter. You would would hope the President would have respect for the law and institution, choosing to obey long-standing social norms, rather then breaking them without pause. I also think a second term of Trump would undermine much of the progress at least temporarily on climate change, most notably the Clean Car Standards, though I doubt the auto companies would slide too far backwards, as everybody knows electrification is the future and climate change remains a real threat, even if the temporary occupant of the White House is in denial.
If anything, I think this world is coming to an end rhetoric around the upcoming election is harmful. Do vote, if convenient as it’s your chance to make a difference around the edges of politics. But don’t take the election personally, and don’t act like the world is coming to an end regardless of who ultimately ends up in the White House come 2025. Chances are if you don’t turn on the television, you won’t even know who is in White House that year, and whoever the occupant is that year in the White House, chances are the worse they’ll give you is indigestion watching the news after dinner.
It’s very much an open question when so many of the top Trump officials from 2020 now are justice involved if not serving prison sentences for their involvement in the insurrection. A future administration is going to require tens of thousands of patronage employees but many may not be willing to step up because of the risk to their careers and reputation.
Often working in a presidential administration is the capstone of a career. But for so many appointees in the first term of Trump, they faced extensive political pressure to violate norms and even laws, not only putting their personal ethics at question but also subjecting themselves to criminal penalties and fines, not to mention risks to their future.
While there are millions of Americans to pick from and there are inevitably Trump supporters who’d love to join his administration, most are likely not the experienced, seasoned professionals who you would hope the President would attract as advisors.
Deciding to take a trip out to Madison County a week after West Virginia made me realize in how many ways the landscapes are similar, even while they are different. Less coal and more cows in Madison County, but many of rural homesteads and farms really aren’t that different. Hills are smaller and hollows less deep, but in many ways the people are all alike, trying to make a living out of a tough, rural landscape.
Modern American culture is much more standardized then one might want to admit. We all use and consume same products, the J.D. tractors in New York aren’t that different then West Virginia. Mobile homes and double-wides look much the same, the same breeds of goat and cattle are raised all over. People raise hogs and chickens all over, the make-shift shelters and pens really don’t look all that much different. The wood and coal smoke isn’t all that much different nor the pungent smell of farm country in the autumn after and during harvest time.
We are often told that West Virginia is somehow different then New York. But if anything, the accents aren’t much different or indeed in some parts of rural New York the accents might be even stronger. The thing is most things aren’t that different, as rural culture is both nationalized, as are products and services. And the land is the land, livestock husbandry that works in one part of nation works equally well in other parts of nation, using similar products. And people generally scrape by a living in much the same way, no matter which part of the rural country they reside in.
Vermin usually win. Seriously, they’re called vermin not only because they’re a pest, be it because they kill livestock like coyotes do, or chew holes in walls and into food like mice do, but because they’re damn hard to control and win a war against.
"Memorial Day – a day originating in 1868 (Decoration Day), on which the gravesites of the Civil War dead were decorated with flowers – has morphed into a day that conflates the memorialization of killed soldiers with the glorification of war. The perennial flag-waving, ultra-nationalist speeches, garish street parades and hyper-consumerism of Memorial Day do not honor these soldiers. What might, however, is working to prevent future war and nurture peace – honoring their memory by not sending more men and women into harm’s way and to kill and maim in wars based on lies. To have any chance at being effective, however, this work must include efforts aimed at increasing public awareness about the many causes and costs of war."