Examining the Trump-gasm Phenomena

 

After all these decades it seems that much of the voting Christians still don’t get it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=055wFyO6gag

When Woodrow Wilson campaigned in 1916 his campaign theme was “He kept us out of war.” A few months later we were in a war that was completely unnecessary for US involvement. 

When FDR campaigned in 1932 one of his major campaign promises was to balance the federal budget. Roosevelt campaigned on the Democratic platform advocating,

“immediate and drastic reductions of all public expenditures,” “abolishing useless commissions and offices, consolidating departments and bureaus, and eliminating extravagances” and for a “sound currency to be maintained at all hazards.”

Very quickly Roosevelt not only did not balance the federal budget but he began a theretofore unknown Federal spending spree which began a new era of vast deficit spending. Campaigning as a fiscal conservative FDR broke all those promises to eventually begin the modern welfare state.

When FDR campaigned in  1940 he campaigned on the promise that he would not send American boys to war,

“I have said this before, but I shall say it again and again and again; your boys are not going to be sent into any foreign wars.”

This promise was made all the while that FDR was pursuing a course that was guaranteed to land us in the second unnecessary war of the 20th century.

In 1964 when “Landslide” Lyndon B. Johnson campaigned that his administration would not send ground troops into Vietnam. LBJ promised this all the while his administration was making plans to escalate war in Vietnam.

When George H. W. Bush campaigned in “1988” he promised,

And I’m the one who will not raise taxes. My opponent now says he’ll raise them as a last resort, or a third resort. But when a politician talks like that, you know that’s one resort he’ll be checking into. My opponent won’t rule out raising taxes. But I will. And the Congress will push me to raise taxes and I’ll say no. And they’ll push, and I’ll say no, and they’ll push again, and I’ll say, to them, ‘Read my lips: no new taxes.’

When Bill Clinton campaigned in 1992 he made a middle class tax cut a central plank in his campaign.  Clinton said h would raise taxes on people making more than $200,000, and use those revenues to fund tax relief for the “forgotten middle class.” Clinton never did provide the promised tax relief.

When George W. Bush campaigned in 2000 he promised a more humble foreign policy with no nation building,

“If we don’t stop extending our troops all around the world in nation-building missions, then we’re going to have a serious problem coming down the road. And I’m going to prevent that.”

How’d that turn out?

When Obama campaigned in “08” he said,

 “If you like your doctor, you will be able to keep your doctor, period. If you like your health care plan, you’ll be able to keep your health care plan, period. No one will take it away, no matter what.”

These are just the ones off the top of my head. I’m sure others could be recalled.

How many times does Lucy have to promise “I will hold the ball this time” before y’all realize that she is going to pull the ball away at the last second again so that Charlie Brown fails yet again? 

I like Trump’s Immigration promises but that is all they are is promises. What reason on earth do I or any of you have to believe the man? The system is rigged people. No white knight, as politician is going to show up to save your sorry derriere. Trump couldn’t be where he is unless the fix was in. What…. you don’t think there isn’t dirt on Trump out there that is known about that would destroy him?

Trump has a great immigration plan. However, even if elected he will never implement it. In point of fact, if the history above is instructive in the least Trump will do just the exact opposite.

Wake up and face reality.  If history teaches us anything, it teaches us not to be fooled again.

Before we end, let’s say a few things about hope. People will suggest that my observations here are a “giving up of hope.” Nothing could be further from the truth. It is just that my hope is not pinned on politicians who have a track a long and established track record of lying. My hope ultimately lies in God. After all,  Some trust in chariots and others in horses, but we depend on the LORD our God.

Second, there are different kinds of hope. The hope that I hear most people talking about when they invest hope in Trump is the hope of someone who walks off the ledge of a 10th story building, all the while saying, “I hope I don’t fall.” That is not “hope.” That is fantasy.  Legitimate hope is a hope that is based on previous evidence and given that standard, when I look at “the Donald’s” past I don’t see reason for a great deal of hope.

The reason I don’t see much hope in Trump, besides the lies of politicians past at this level and besides the track of Trump’s past with his financial support of Democrat candidates is due to the fact that Trump is an Economic Nationalist. One could even call Trump a supporter for “American Mercantilism.” Trump sounds so different because he is running against a slew of Republicans who are New World Order Economic Internationalists. There is an appeal in Trump’s Economic Nationalism but it is the appeal of the girl, who having been always jilted, is now being courted.  However, that log floating in Trump’s Economic Nationalism punch bowl is the reality of a Mercantilism economy. Economic Nationalism, does not deliver us from Centralized big government. Trump is merely saying, “let’s have a Mercantilism for our sake,” instead of the Republican field saying, “let’s have a planned economy for the New World Order’s sake.” Trump’s campaign slogan could well be,

“Trump 2016 — Because An Empire Ought to be Paid Tribute.”

But what of those who don’t want an Empire? What of those old line Conservatives who want to return to being a Republic and not an Empire?

Trump has said some great things. I am delighting in the Trump-coaster as much as anyone. I love it when he breaks the PC rules. I chortle when Feminism comes dashing on the rock of Trump. His promises on immigration are wonderful to hear.

But for those who are opposed to Empire and who are for limited Government he is not a man for whom one can cast a vote.



Author: jetbrane

I am a Pastor of a small Church in Mid-Michigan who delights in my family, my congregation and my calling. I am postmillennial in my eschatology. Paedo-Calvinist Covenantal in my Christianity Reformed in my Soteriology Presuppositional in my apologetics Familialist in my family theology Agrarian in my regional community social order belief Christianity creates culture and so Christendom in my national social order belief Mythic-Poetic / Grammatical Historical in my Hermeneutic Pre-modern, Medieval, & Feudal before Enlightenment, modernity, & postmodern Reconstructionist / Theonomic in my Worldview One part paleo-conservative / one part micro Libertarian in my politics Systematic and Biblical theology need one another but Systematics has pride of place Some of my favorite authors, Augustine, Turretin, Calvin, Tolkien, Chesterton, Nock, Tozer, Dabney, Bavinck, Wodehouse, Rushdoony, Bahnsen, Schaeffer, C. Van Til, H. Van Til, G. H. Clark, C. Dawson, H. Berman, R. Nash, C. G. Singer, R. Kipling, G. North, J. Edwards, S. Foote, F. Hayek, O. Guiness, J. Witte, M. Rothbard, Clyde Wilson, Mencken, Lasch, Postman, Gatto, T. Boston, Thomas Brooks, Terry Brooks, C. Hodge, J. Calhoun, Llyod-Jones, T. Sowell, A. McClaren, M. Muggeridge, C. F. H. Henry, F. Swarz, M. Henry, G. Marten, P. Schaff, T. S. Elliott, K. Van Hoozer, K. Gentry, etc. My passion is to write in such a way that the Lord Christ might be pleased. It is my hope that people will be challenged to reconsider what are considered the givens of the current culture. Your biggest help to me dear reader will be to often remind me that God is Sovereign and that all that is, is because it pleases him.

2 thoughts on “Examining the Trump-gasm Phenomena”

  1. Thanks for shaking the reality tree. It’s somewhat amusing to see Christians who should know better enamored by Trump, not realizing that he is but a modern day Pied Piper. Even if Trump were able to initiate drastic immigration reform, one has to wonder at what price? As Christians, we are to test everything. Trump has a vast record that we can test. How could Christians possibly believe that someone who has supported infanticide and typical America foreign policy suddenly be our guy? Trump is quite the entertainer. But at the end of the day, he is just a corporate stooge seeking to trade a global economy for national corporatism. And considering his four bankruptcies (how does a casino go bankrupt) he’s no even good at that.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *