IS PRESIDENT TRUMP WORTH DEFENDING?

Stuart McKinlay: The trouble with

Stuart & Neil, in the Dog House, Balloch, Scotland.

Trump the public figure is that I (for one) do not know who he is. I want to give his office of President proper regard as that of the US Head of State, and therefore cordial respect for the people of the United States, whatever their merits or faults.

The President is supposed to be America personified. Yet, I don't know who he is. He is accused of, and denies, base behaviour, particularly a habit of misogyny and predatory sexual behaviour, and of boasting of it, and laughing it off in coarse terms; with, we are told, at least a dozen women (one would be too many) complaining of this alleged behaviour. Is it true? We can't know without the test of evidence offered in court. It reminds me uneasily of “But Brutus is an honourable man.” It's surprising though that in throwing every calumny they can at him in seeking his impeachment, the Democrats in their hysterical desperation (including leadership disarray) haven't flung this in too. 

There we see Harvey Weinstein (I've just checked he isn't dead), whose insurance companies are counting the cost of the compensation he's agreed to pay out, before he even appears before the bench.

And we see women with complaints, some horrendous, all symptomatic of systemic abuse or a culture of acceptable outrage, encouraged to come forward at personal, traumatic cost to say they too can be silent no longer. It is against this background that here I am, having read four books on President Trump, three “against”, one “for”, really none the wiser. I can’t say yet that I see him as an Abe Lincoln, but I hope he's no Weinstein.

My instinct (for what it's worth) is to defend him among friends, especially during this impeachment which from what I’ve read I judge to be malicious and will fail. This, we must remember, is against a background scenario of the Swamp he has attacked striking back with the power of wealth and privilege, and of old money wielded by seasoned elitists entirely used to looking to the interests of their own whatever the truth.

I admire him for stirring up a nest of vipers, this malignant undemocratic, exclusive powerhouse, in “draining the Swamp”, and having the wherewithal in both guts and cash to fight the consequences. But, as Mr C Dickens says in Hard Times, “Now, what I want is facts.. Stick to the Facts, sir.” I hope that we are defending someone worth it.

Neil McKinlay: I hope you don’t mind if I cobble together two things that you mentioned, as I think they sum up what you are driving at, and the importance of it. You wrote, “The President is supposed to be America personified … I hope that we are defending someone worth it.” As I see it, we are primarily defending two things, viz., truth and honesty. The former has to do with facts and the latter has to do with how we interpret those facts. There are no such things as “brute facts”. ("There are no brute facts … All facts are interpreted facts." Cornelius Van Til.)

What are the facts about President Donald Trump? What is the truth about him? Who do we listen to? Remember, we’re talking about what Donald Trump is doing currently as President, and not any past indiscretions he may or may not have committed, depending on who you listen to. And there’s the rub! In politics the opposition invariably tries to use the blackest paint to smear their opponent. E.g., I was aghast at the dishonesty of the Democrats trying to stop Brett Kavanaugh become Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. Baseless allegation after baseless allegation were lined up against against him. Now, no doubt many, and perhaps all of the women used by the Left, had been sexually abused by someone while at the same college as Kavanaugh. But it was clearly shown that he was a boring bookworm who kept a diary of his college years, and not some rapist, thereby helping to clear his good name. The point being, “The first one to plead his cause seems right, until his neighbour comes and examines him” Proverbs 18:17.

Discernment between good and evil (see Genesis 3:5) was one aspect of the wisdom Solomon asked God for. “Therefore give Your servant an understanding heart to judge Your people, that I may discern between good and evil” 1 Kings 3:9a. What President Trump calls “fake news” is what we’re talking about here. With your journalist background you know full well the difference between news reporting and someone simply giving their opinion. “Fake news” has confused the two.

We all have opinions. These opinions, in turn, are based on our worldview. Our worldview is based on that by which we are influenced most, usually your mum and your dad to start with. Then as you grow older, the company you keep, whether face to face or in books, magazines, music, and movies etc. I consciously try to base my worldview on the Bible, (understood as being God’s full revelatory Word to fallen mankind)

We are trying to discern whether President Donald Trump is worth defending. What do his friends say about him? I read, e.g., what a personal friend, Judge Jeanine Pirro in her Liars, Leakers, and Liberals had to say about him. Praise! And I see daily on the television and here on the radio (mostly Australia’s ABC) what his enemies say about him. Constant put downs. You wouldn’t think it’s the same person they’re talking about! Then there’re are some who are less biased, such as Victor Davis Hanson as per his A Case for Trump. (To me Hanson’s like the late Charles Krauthammer, always worth listening to). He likens Donald Trump to Clint Eastwood as Dirty Harry. Hired, not to be a Sunday school teacher, but simply to get the job done. (Regarding the issue of "Fake News" see e.g., Mark R Levin's valuable book Unfreedom of the Press. See also David Limbaugh's great book, Guilty By Reason of Insanity: Why the Left Must Not Win.)
So, how do we tell who’s telling the truth about President trump? Discernment. As President, is he doing or striving to do what he promised he would in the run up to his election? The old adage springs to mind, “Action speaks louder than words.” President Trump may come across at times as bombastic, but his record shows (but not on “fake news” channels!) that the truth is that he has been upholding his promises – in spite of all the forces of the “swamp” elitism, i.e., the establishment Washington DC rising up against him!

The partisan impeachment farce is as vapid as anything the Democrats have tried to throw at him. His impeachment is simply swamp gas. It’s a Democrat Party collective fart!

Is President Donald Trump worth defending? Of course he is! Why? Because he is the epitome what it is to be an American. He is America personified. Why? Because he is a success story. He exemplifies the notion that anyone can become President of the United States.

Stuart McKinlay: Bravo! Brilliant positive defence. Bombast and fractured syntax is okay with me: there is an unforced sincerity to it. I enjoy listening to President Trump's distinctive and rather creative use of the non sequitur in dismissing the mad Lilliputians trying to fell him, while the forces of darkness gurgle epithets from the gaseous swamplands.

The standards of journalistic abuse and praise once giving satisfaction to choice of prejudice have been reduced to a competition between fake news and even faker news: What’s a President to do but keep swatting away? The internet has unleashed social media upon the courts of the nations and it's hard to tell whether it's Halloween or Christmas.