Donald Trump Can’t Say 'No' - Is That What We Want in a President?

National Review ^ | November 20, 2015 | Charles C. W. Cooke

[Cincinatus' Wife]

As has been made abundantly clear by his incessant mewling and pathetically thin skin, Donald J. Trump is not in fact an unwaveringly resolute tough guy of the type you would hope to find standing next to you in the trenches, but an insecure attention seeker who cannot help but pander to his audiences' prejudices. In the past few days, Trump has been asked variously whether, if elected, he would use his power to close mosques; whether he believes that Muslims should be registered in a special government database; and whether or not it would be a good idea to suspend the Fourth Amendment for anybody who prays to Allah. In all cases he has either demurred completely or eschewed the more traditional "yes" and "no" categories in favor of some choice hedging. "That may have to be done," Trump says. "There's no doubt." "We'll look at that." "We'll consider all the options." "We're going to have to look at a lot of things very closely."

So painful has this tendency become that I have begun to hope his interviewers will get a little surreal, just to see what he says:

"Will you replace your hair with spaghetti and your fingers with soup spoons?"

"Sure. We're going to look at everything."

"As president would you consider taking suspected burglars and parachuting them naked into lava?"

"That's something we'll consider. You can't have all this crime. Terrible."

"Do you think it's fair to say that you are the egg man, that you are the egg man, that you are the Walrus?"

"We're going to examine a range of possibilities."

"GooGooGooJoob?"

"I'll be looking into that."

Perhaps the only thing that is worse than Trump's silence is what he does say.

The most common defense of Trump's perpetual acquiescence has been that he did not explicitly say "yes" to the more controversial among the questions, and that he cannot therefore be accused of endorsement. In truth, this isn't quite right; speaking to NBC last night, he did seem to suggest affirmatively that Muslims would be required to sign into his hypothetical database or face consequences. Either way, I'm struggling to see how this defense can be acceptable to his admirers. Trump, recall, is supposed to be courageous. He's supposed to be steadfast. He's supposed to be a no-holds-barred badass who will make great deals and stare down enemies and Make America Great Again. How, one wonders, does a chronic inability to say "no" fit into that mien?

If there is one quality we need in a president, it is the ability decisively to say "no" - especially, I would venture, if that president hopes to advance conservative goals. When a sane person is asked whether he would institute a tracking database for Muslims or force one religious group to carry special ID cards, he says, "Of course I wouldn't." If Trump is unable to manage even this, how would he rein in spending or limit illegal immigration? More to the point, as Trump might ask sneeringly of others, how would he deal with Vladimir Putin?

Perhaps the only thing that is worse than Trump's silence is what he does say. Even if we are generous and assume that the man does not actually believe any of the specific proposals to which he has given his tacit consent, the attitude he is exhibiting is positively Wilsonian in character. In Trump's world, America will be restored to glory when his handpicked team of experts is permitted to experiment upon the public outside of the usual constitutional limits. Nowhere in his rhetoric will you find any reference to America's pre-existing cultural and legal traditions, or to the necessary bounds that free men insist be imposed upon the state. There is no talk of "freedom"; no reflexive grounding of ideas in the Declaration and the Federalist Papers; no conceptual explanation or underlying philosophy. There is nothing, except will to power. By his own admission, Trump's are the politics of doing enthusiastically what works in the moment; of Woodrow Wilson and Franklin Roosevelt; of the administrative state and of bureaucratic expertise; of the Prussians and the French and the Singaporeans. Whatever he might claim before his adoring crowds, Trump is not in fact an antidote to Barack Obama. He is his parallel.

Calvin Coolidge said "no" over and over and over again because he understood that the federal government existed for a handful of specific reasons, and that any action it took outside of its carefully delineated tramlines was inherently suspect. Donald Trump's only visible constitutional opinion is that someone strong ought to make sure the trams run on time. There's a word for men like that, and it sure as heck isn't "conservative."

[Boardwalk]

Dude...called him on it already and he did not deny.

[caww]

The young voters don’t care either. ...in fact with the mindset they have of “meeting up” they may very well invite so.

[crosdaddy]

The only candidates for the GOP who will go after her,are Cruz and Trump,regardless of who the debate moderator might be.All other GOP candidates will be the typical little demur mangina’s that they are.
Hillary ain’t got the chops to take on Trump or Cruz,even with the moderators help.

[Boardwalk]

The ones I have informed were shocked and mortified. It was a long time ago!

[Boardwalk]

It’s hooking up! Meeting up, lol. Dude, get out more!

[Captain Peter Blood]

Is this the same Charlie Cooke who works for Democrats or a different one?

[entropy12]

Love how you bombard TDS posters with facts! :)

[SamAdams76]

You are still upset that your RINO heroes Scott Walker and Rick Perry got run out on a rail.

[DoughtyOne]

Cincinatus’ Wife

[DoughtyOne]

I agree with Entropy12.

Nice job MinuteGal.

That’ll leave a mark...

[Boardwalk]

Yes CW is a man. Ask it.

[Jane Long]

Love how you bombard TDS posters with facts! :)

---

Amen, amen.

These TrumpTrolls are NOT entitled to their own set of facts (LIES). Thanks, Leni, for catching, and then stopping these RINObots in their tracks.

[Jane Long]

Yikes!!!

:-/

[DoughtyOne]

Okay... I catch your drift now.

Thanks. I thought you were trying to turn this back to Trump.

I apologize for being obtuse.

[woofie]

What if his sister changes her mind?

[Boardwalk]

They seem to get quite a kick out of those who take wife as gospel. I would say zot, but there have been some good conversations, and they never come out on top. I’m sure it’s a position they are uncomfortable with, lol.

[Hulka]

“Didn’t Trump raise his hand when asked if he would forgo pledging to support the eventual Republican nominee? “

Yes. . .but that was way early in the process and clearly attempt to diminish him and splinter the pack.

Later he signed the pledge to support the republican nominee.

[Boardwalk]

Will the gop support Trump when he is the nominee is the question?

[onyx]

Just noticed this thread got BUMPED off of the side bar, actually. Not sure how it got there in the first place.
Jim has led in role modeling civility in these Trump take down threads. The same for Trump's supporters.
CW incites and runs. I've been amazed by the bitterness there. Very telling, and confirms impact by TRUMP, and how Trump is blowing the field out, sending many over the cliff.
Never mind the barking about who donates to FR, so they expect a free field to slander Trump and supporters too. I don't quite get that.
If TRUMP goes, their guy sure doesn't stand a chance, whoever he is, unless he becomes GOP of course. This is the splitter business at work.



I read through all the posts until I got to this one #283, (LOL) so that I would know what you were speaking to when you wrote,

"Just noticed this thread got BUMPED off of the side bar, actually. Not sure how it got there in the first place."

- - - - - - - -


Like Jim Robinson, my choices are TRUMP and CRUZ and I will be happy with either. I can't name a third choice; except draft Sarah Palin.

I find it extremely upsetting and totally immature whenever 'fights' affect or threaten to affect donations to the very forum wherein the fights are taking place. I don't get it. Cruz and Trump are not fighting. At least "not yet." "If you can't take the heat, stay out of the kitchen."

As for Cincinatus' Wife, she almost always posts replies after posting her articles and, (to the best of my knowledge), she is NOT a paid poster by any GOP affiliate! I hope that everybody who's talked about her has remembered to ping her.

All of us need to have faith and we need to keep praying for one another, our families, for our Republic and for our candidates and our brave military. I try to imagine what they must be pondering ...

OH, BTW ... don't miss this ...
In Poll After Poll Trump Beats Clinton - And That Scares The Hell Out of GOPe Globalists...




GO Mr. Donald Trump!

[Boardwalk]

She? What is your proof?