December 2014, SLL posted an article: “Can’t Wait For That Next Election.” The article argued the positions of the two front-runners at that time—Jeb Bush and Hillary Clinton—were virtually indistinguishable.
Other than which campaign contributors get paid off, there would be very little difference between the potential presidencies of Jeb and Hillary. Commentators and opinion organs masquerading as news outlets will champion their guy or gal, and hyperventilate about perceived sins of the other side’s gal or guy, but when you get right down to actual policies, there has been little difference between Republicans and Democrats for many years; they are both the parties of government. It gets bigger, spends more, piles new programs on top of failed old ones, sticks its nose anywhere on the planet it sees fit, makes more promises, and goes deeper in debt. None of that is going to change—Jeb or Hillary—and the permanent Washington oligarchy and its dependents are fine with either one.
The first of the article’s two closing sentences was spot on, the second dead wrong.
The prospect of a Jeb-Hillary election should put the body politic in the same frame of mind as a restless teenager, ready to do something rash, dangerous, and destructive, just to relieve the tedium. That, unfortunately, is giving the body politic far too much credit.
A year-and-a-half later, critics denigrate Donald Trump as restless teenagers’ car keys and beer. Even those more sympathetic to Trump’s candidacy have identified emotional factors as the primary basis of his support (see “Much More Than Trump,” SLL, and “‘Dilbert’ Creator’s 6 Reasons Why Trump Will “Win In A Landslide” In November,” by Scott Adams). That’s not incorrect, but Trump has dramatically altered the terms of debate on the playing field that all right-thinking, civic-minded Americans believe that elections should be waged: the issues. Support or oppose him, Trump has performed a public service, mentioning the unmentionables that our minders and keepers would rather avoid (for the good of the people, of course).
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