At the risk of offending some of my conservative friends, I believe it’s time for Donald Trump to spend more time enjoying the golf courses and good weather at his swanky Palm Beach resort. I say this because I am sick and tired of listening to his obnoxious tirades since losing his election. Not only does he sound mentally unstable at times, he is single-handedly giving Democrats the opportunity to distract voters from the real problems in America today.
Regardless of what took place before election day, Mr. Trump should realize that it is impossible to overturn an election after the final votes have been counted. What good does it do to talk incessantly about this when voters should be reminded every day that the people currently in charge have pretty much botched everything they have touched in the last year and a half? Instead, Mr. Trump, a narcissist of the first order, can’t drop his obsession with his election defeat, giving the opposition the oxygen it desperately needs to make him the main issue in the next election.
Rather than focus on policy and the issues of the day, Mr. Trump spends a lot of time choosing between Republican candidates in primary elections throughout the country. The only way to earn his support is to pledge blind allegiance to him. In doing so, he sometimes endorses candidates that are too extreme and not electable.
For example, the Republican nominee he endorsed for governor in Pennsylvania is almost certain to lose in November. His preferred candidates for the Senate in Georgia, Pennsylvania and for governor in Arizona are not polling well against their Democratic opponents. Republican voters, thankfully, have rejected his endorsements in many states, such as Georgia, South Carolina, Idaho, North Carolina, Nebraska and Texas.
Although I understand many people love Donald Trump unconditionally, his track record as president was decidedly a mixed one. Many of the people he appointed to important positions were colossal failures. One only has to look at making Anthony Fauci his spokesperson for COVID-19 during the pandemic. Under the advice of Dr. Fauci, he publicly scolded the governor of Georgia for reopening the state early in the pandemic. He appointed the chairman of the Federal Reserve, who was one of the last persons to recognize the inflation threat we are now facing. His attorney general recused himself from the Russian collusion case, allowing his deputy to appoint a special prosecutor. The list is voluminous.
Many people now understand the $1.9 trillion Biden stimulus package passed in March of 2021 is a huge reason why we are dealing with the highest inflation in 40 years. One of the reasons that package passed is because President Trump raised the ante by calling for a $1,400 stimulus payment, which the Democrats immediately adopted. He did this during the Georgia Senate runoffs, which was an unmitigated disaster for the country when two Democrats won, handing the Senate to them. Many Georgia Republicans stayed home because President Trump convinced them that their votes didn’t matter since they weren’t counted properly.
President Trump routinely violated the independence of the Federal Reserve by constantly berating the person he appointed to head the agency. Mr. Trump never thought interest rates were low enough during his time in office. He actually suggested that we should imitate European bankers and lower rates below zero. Fortunately, the Federal Reserve ignored him.
Having said all the above, I would not support any of the known Democrats over Mr. Trump should he run again. It is clear that Donald Trump did far more good than bad as president, and would be better than anyone the Democrats could offer. Nevertheless, Mr. Trump is the wrong candidate at the wrong time for the country. He alienates millions of Americans and is just too polarizing for the populace to deal with for another four years.
We need a Republican who fights for rational Americans without the crazy drama to which a Trump presidency would subject us. There is at least one very competent and electable Republican who could meet these parameters. Hello, Gov. DeSantis.
Lou Segal
Santa Barbara
