A FRIEND SETS ME STRAIGHT ON DONALD TRUMP'S PLACE IN HISTORY

Daniel Lenz

Daniel Lenz and I have remained friends despite some obvious political and viewpoint differences as our recent Facebook interchange illustrates.

Responding to a statement by John Bolton, Trump's former National Security Adviser, who described Trump's 2024 campaign for president as "poison" and predicted it would "continue to go downhill, I commented as below and Daniel responded:

Barton:  I just wish Bolton and others had spoken up sooner about Trump's obvious inadequacy.

Lenz:  Please tell me you are not taking advice from Mr. Coups d'état and War Monger, John Bolton. Talk about Poison, LOL

Barton:  My point is that Bolton's words ring hollow after the fact, just as those of others who left the Trump administration without sharing how dangerous they knew Trump to be, like Defense Secretary James Mattis, Chief of Staff John Kelley, National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster, Scaramucci, Ty Cobb, Rex Tillerson, etc. All of them later told stories about Trump's incompetence but kept silent while he was in office.

Lenz: First of all, I am not supporting a Trump 2024 election bid. As far as all the people you name, a few of them were/are War Mongers, and when they and the rest did not get their way with Trump they turned on him. 

Same can be said for Bolton (a self proclaimed regime change idiot) who had an extra motivation, selling his book! 

Remember, not one new war was started under Trump, and peace in the Middle East was being delivered through his Administration. 

But hey, Trump has his flaws, but everybody turns a blind eye to Trump's accomplishments because they just don't like the man (very sad).

History will tell a different story than the lies the media puts out today. Unfortunately, people such as yourself, believe all the propaganda/spin against Trump by the media and can't recognize for a second all the good he did. 

But as I said, History will eventually tell a different story, you and I might not be around to witness it, but it will come. 

In the meantime, since I consider you a very smart person, look for yourself at Trump's accomplishments (Nato Funding being another one) and put the rhetoric aside for a minute.

When you do, you will not have to wait for History to get it all right, it's all there for you to see now.

Barton:  While I appreciate Daniel's perspective, I don't think all the men who worked in the Trump administration, but left critical of his performance as President were war mongers.

That's not my perception of Defense Secretary James Mattis, Navy Secretary Richard Spencer, Chief of Staff John Kelley, National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Special Representative Kurt Volker and others who served in the Trump administration, but left describing him as unsuitable to hold the office.

My own political leanings are non-partisan.  I've attended both Democratic and Republican Cameron County meetings and listened dispassionately.

In high school I carefully followed Republican Barry Goldwater, finding him a "straight shooter," but his statement about "tactical nuclear weapons" scared me off.

I listened carefully as Trump announced his campaign for President in 2015, not with high-minded words calling for unity, equality, but with overt racism.

"When Mexico sends its people, they're not sending their best. . . . . They're sending people that have lots of problems and they're bringing those problems with us(sic).  They're bringing drugs, they're bringing crime. . . .They're rapists.  And some, I assume, are good people."

Trump was likely not a rotten-to-the-core racist himself (I understand he even employed undocumented aliens in his businesses.), but he was using racist buzz words to appeal to a core constituency, largely poor, white, rural and uneducated, people who may have felt overlooked and feared losing jobs to minorities and immigrants.  

Trump, not noted for a particular religious inclination, now awkwardly held up a Bible, posing as devout with an evangelical bent.

The TV preachers ate it up like hog slop, and, almost universally became Trump advocates.

Both tactics played well to Trump's base, and just as Trump had insulted Mexican Nationals, he now insulted 16 other Republican candidates for President, topping it off by claiming Ted Cruz's dad played a role in the Kennedy assassination.  

It was dumb stuff, but just what his core constituency loved hearing.

Trump's popularity seemed to grow with every lie, untruth and insult including the claim that Obama wasn't born in the U.S., the repeatedly debunked "birther" theory.

Trump may have not been a racist, serial liar or Bible thumper, but he was playing one on TV and his base was devouring it.

More significant than any of the above is Trump's choice of White Supremicist Stephen Miller as presidential advisor and speech writer, someone who shaped Trump's immigration policy including the travel ban.  

To Miller, "diversity" was a bad word, a false religion and that view influence policy.

Presidential Advisor Steve Bannon, the publisher of Breitbart News, contributed to the racist image of Trump and the party, with his news outlet admittedly featuring "Western values" and "White identify."

Then Trump added Sebastian Gorky to the mix, a man with Nazi connections, and you get the picture.

So, if Trump and his supporters have been tainted with racism, I've tried to carefully explain how that occurred.

Does that mean all Trump supporters, all Republicans are racists?  Certainly not.

I certainly don't view my friend Daniel in that way.  In fact, in my small circle of friends, several are Trump supporters, but none are racists in my view and, hopefully, friendships will continue to supercede political views.