I noticed that a pickup had stopped behind my vehicle as the driver was reading my bumper sticker that reads...."Trump...Four Years Only....From A Conservative." I said hi....he asked what I meant by the bumper sticker.....a car came up behind so I asked him if he could pull over a little....and we talked for about fifteen minutes in my estimation. He carried at least 90% of the conversation....and ran off a litany of issues in support of President Trump.....every one of which are not only my issues also but have been my issues also for the past decade and even much longer.
Had we met two years ago we would have essentially been of one mind.....empathizing with other....encouraging each other....but now we are divided. The conversation was good....he showed emotion and tenacity in his belief....and I thought about our talk on the forty minute drive home.
Here is the politics of the situation as I see it....but I only have about fifty years of observing politics to work with. The issues themselves are not separating us....the issues are not causing conservatives to turn against Ann Coulter. Donald Trump is separating us. He has that unique ability to inspire some to fiercely defend him....and to make others totally and irrevocably distrust him. Right now we are ignoring this reality.....but it will not go away. You cannot find out who someone is......and then un-find out who that person is.
President Trump is to be given credit for the good economic statistics in the American economy right now.....but two things about that. This economy was going to improve with any Republican president.....maybe not as much as with President Trump.....but they would have been good. Secondly the economy does not exist in a vacuum. Right now there are numerous immediate dangers to not only the American economy but the world's economy. Mistakes on North Korea or the Middle East or a dozen other foreign policy ventures can bring collapse. This is not a time for nation-building that can increase dangers....it's a time for preparation that recognizes dangers that already exist. Ignoring the $23 trillion national debt will by itself bring collapse. Tariffs can put dangerous scenarios in motion. This statistical boom will be short lived....my opinion of course.....but you can find economists on both sides of the projections.
Many speculate that the conclusion of the Mueller probe will be anti-climatic.....I don't believe that for a moment. The news media....theirs and ours both....have made this a 'collusion or nothing' investigation....but the probe is going to tell us a lot about who Vladimir Putin wanted to win the 2016 election. Every bit of it will probably bring extreme controversy....causing this ship of state to list even more.
If Donald Trump should be nominated once again....a certain form of unity will return....but up until that second nomination is certain....we on our side will continue with the same principled conservatism and anti-elitism that we have championed for a long time. We are not as keen on defending a man....as defending principles. If another man or woman can better further those principles....then we will go with that man or woman.
I was on my way home from visiting a Christian college as this conversation took place. While on campus....and as I walked towards a beautiful building with wonderful Bible verses and phrases and quotations from Christian men from the past etched in the stone....I prayed....(which I had done many times before)....for God's hand upon that particular college....(and I do the same on other Christian colleges)....that His Spirit might move mightily upon these young minds....and that these words would come alive again.....in a mighty way that would give God glory. You see I'm a sucker for history.....Christian history.....I know very well how God has moved in the past....and He has not changed.
Had we met two years ago we would have essentially been of one mind.....empathizing with other....encouraging each other....but now we are divided. The conversation was good....he showed emotion and tenacity in his belief....and I thought about our talk on the forty minute drive home.
Here is the politics of the situation as I see it....but I only have about fifty years of observing politics to work with. The issues themselves are not separating us....the issues are not causing conservatives to turn against Ann Coulter. Donald Trump is separating us. He has that unique ability to inspire some to fiercely defend him....and to make others totally and irrevocably distrust him. Right now we are ignoring this reality.....but it will not go away. You cannot find out who someone is......and then un-find out who that person is.
President Trump is to be given credit for the good economic statistics in the American economy right now.....but two things about that. This economy was going to improve with any Republican president.....maybe not as much as with President Trump.....but they would have been good. Secondly the economy does not exist in a vacuum. Right now there are numerous immediate dangers to not only the American economy but the world's economy. Mistakes on North Korea or the Middle East or a dozen other foreign policy ventures can bring collapse. This is not a time for nation-building that can increase dangers....it's a time for preparation that recognizes dangers that already exist. Ignoring the $23 trillion national debt will by itself bring collapse. Tariffs can put dangerous scenarios in motion. This statistical boom will be short lived....my opinion of course.....but you can find economists on both sides of the projections.
Many speculate that the conclusion of the Mueller probe will be anti-climatic.....I don't believe that for a moment. The news media....theirs and ours both....have made this a 'collusion or nothing' investigation....but the probe is going to tell us a lot about who Vladimir Putin wanted to win the 2016 election. Every bit of it will probably bring extreme controversy....causing this ship of state to list even more.
If Donald Trump should be nominated once again....a certain form of unity will return....but up until that second nomination is certain....we on our side will continue with the same principled conservatism and anti-elitism that we have championed for a long time. We are not as keen on defending a man....as defending principles. If another man or woman can better further those principles....then we will go with that man or woman.
I was on my way home from visiting a Christian college as this conversation took place. While on campus....and as I walked towards a beautiful building with wonderful Bible verses and phrases and quotations from Christian men from the past etched in the stone....I prayed....(which I had done many times before)....for God's hand upon that particular college....(and I do the same on other Christian colleges)....that His Spirit might move mightily upon these young minds....and that these words would come alive again.....in a mighty way that would give God glory. You see I'm a sucker for history.....Christian history.....I know very well how God has moved in the past....and He has not changed.
