Viewpoint by Donald A. Collins
WASHINGTON – After a week of the Republican National Convention, the widely reported comments of the nominee the morning of 7/22 about Ted Cruz and his family must be quite confusing to Trump’s supporters as it is to many other undecided voters who are thinking about voting for him.
And clearly things in America are not as dire as Trump’s acceptance speech postulated.
Terrorism has long been with us as Columbine (e.g., the Genesis of the current terrorist surge?) proved, but this onslaught of religiously or otherwise motivated kooks does not mean we should give up our civil liberties, which could well happen if we go down the road of enforcement suggested by Trump’s remarks.
The pundits are saying he needs to broaden his appeal beyond those wildly cheering his nomination in Cleveland.
Obviously there are many large anti-Trump voting factions which will be continuing to attack Trump. It is likely that their financial power and their likely voting power puts heavy pressure on his chances of winning in November. It now seems, Hillary’s unpopularity to the contrary, that the demography of our population ethnically altered by decades of major immigrant arrivals is stacked against his winning.
Based on the bizarre course of the campaign so far, one is left to wonder if Trump really wants to win in November. Or even whether running, which seemed so outlandish when announced in June 2015, and now by winning the nomination of a major US party might not have been his goal all along!
Certainly after his immigration views propelled him past his combatant fellow candidates and his candidacy blossomed into reality perhaps Trump came to understand that winning meant he would have to DO all the things he claims he will do.
Trump is a very smart man and surely knows the difficulty of accomplishing what he claimed he would do in his Cleveland acceptance address.
In short, by not winning the November election, Trump would not have to serve and thus his claims of what he would have done if he had won would never be verified.
As one who has long felt the immigration mess urgently needs a return to the rule of law, I regret deeply that such an urgently and worthy goal seems to be getting lost in his expanded rhetoric and may not lead to obvious solutions.
Clearly the nation has been badly harmed over several decades by the runaway addition of over 100 million aliens who have come here since 1965 legally and illegally. While I am pro immigrant and well pleased with their many contributions, there have simply been too many for us to absorb, taking our tax dollars and jobs and sense of comity and cultural continuity.
This has been possible because for decades both parties failed to adhere to and observe our precious Rule of Law. An increasing number of Americans of all political persuasions are aware that both our major parties’ elected officials were co-conspirators with special interest groups who sought to reap the benefits of cheap and compliant labor and thus making additions to growing political, ethnic and religious tribalism.
BTW, has being a two language country helped Canada?
Ergo, these bi-partisan forces have succeeded in hurting the poorest among us and in toppling our Middle Class with their immoderate greed.
I am surely not counting on improvement in the woeful immigration record of the Obama Administration which can be expected to be continued in an even worse Hillary Presidency. If the urgently required reforms are not made soon, our republican form of government could be destroyed, as the destructive unfairness of our immigration policies continues.
So here is Mr. Trump, a man who has all the money he could ever want, a wonderful family who report he walks on water, a trophy wife who obviously likes him, a huge jet airplane with his name plastered on it and his name prominently displayed on a bunch of his other material possessions.
I am an avid golfer and know he shares my addiction, having owned and built many wonderful courses which he doubtless would enjoy visiting more.
If Trump wins, when would he have the time to enjoy these precious possessions? Reading long policy position papers is not his forte it is reported.
If he loses, he can enjoy his life and still have the honor of having been the presidential nominee of a major party. Talk about the penultimate personal trophy!
Could it be that his endless parade of outlandish statements has meant he has been spoofing us all along?
If Trump loses, he doubtless will have the pleasure of criticizing what will become increasingly more obvious, the Hillary administration’s likely disastrous immigration policies.
Fore, Donald! [IDN-INPS – 27 July 2016]
* Donald A. Collins, a freelance writer living in Washington, DC, is CoChair of the National Advisory Board of the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR). However, his views are his own – and do not either reflect those of the International Press Syndicate Group. This article first appeared in The Progressives for Immigration Reform.
IDN is flagship agency of the International Press Syndicate.
Photo: Donald Trump is greeted by President Ronald Reagan at 1987 White House reception. Source: Ronald Reagan Presidential Library. Credit: Wikimedia Commons.