John Donegan’s Sept. 22 opinion (“Celebrity wisdom”) rambled on about his claim of the less-than-moral celebrities influencing the American political environment with progressive direction.
Mr. Donegan failed to address the behavior and life of celebrity and Republican Party leader Donald J. Trump. Trump spent years seeking and placing himself within the eyes and ears of the public at political rallies, on the Howard Stern Show, numerous other shows, and on NBC’s The Apprentice.
Trump—married three times, divorced twice, with numerous affairs—bragged in 1997 that his Vietnam War service was scoring with women without catching an STD and he’s bragged on TV that he could grab any woman by the genitals because he was a star. With more that could be said, he’s not an ideal morality leader.
In addition, Donegan was critical of CNN personalities but fails to address the short comings of Alex Jones, Rudy Giuliani, the late Rush Limbaugh, and Fox News and Newsmax pundits.
Buzz Kalkowski
SLO
This article appears in Oct 13-23, 2022.
When have you ever heard me singing the praises of Trump, or of any of the other characters listed? While Trump is not nearly as bad as you hysterical lefties depict, I am certainly no fanboy. And, I only mentioned flawed liberal celebrities because there are just so many more of them to choose from.
My column was not directed so much at the lacking morals of the celebrities, as at the idiots who follow their advice and examples. Unfortunately, many liberals have a predisposition to jump on board predictably disastrous causes because they are “all the rage” at the moment, and then worry about the effects too late afterwards. The “defund” craze which captured the left’s fancy comes to mind, with most liberals now denying that they supported such an obvious brainfart.
Trump was never a Republican except when it became expedient for his election. He supported abortion, DACA, donated to Democrat politicians and more. He governed as a democrat with his fiscal policies. He did nominate Conservative justices. Most Republicans don’t support him now and many of us didn’t in 2016 when he won election. I am a very Conservative Republican and don’t watch Fox, read Newsmax and have never seen anything from Alex Jones except for headlines about his trial. Rudy was an excellent prosecutor and mayor but sold his soul to be part of Trump’s sphere. If you had any integrity you would know better than to lump everyone together. An omission of critcism of anyone is not an endorsement of anyone.
We didn’t vote for Trump for his alleged moral rating. We voted him in, because he was the right man, at the right time, who knew how the business end of America should be run. All else, he learned on the job, and did a respectable job too.
Furthered peace in the Middle East. Established immigration protocols with Mexico. Dropped the disastrous NAFTA, and replaced it with US-Canada-Mexico trade pact, that opened a flood of new markets for farmers and brought back manufacturers to the US. He convinced Mexico to strengthen its southern border, easing the strain on ours, which saved millions of tax dollars that now could be used to build the wall….essentially, Mexico paid for the wall! He stared down, then shook hands with North Korea, and they didn’t shoot any more nuclear capable missiles while he was in office. Told NATO to start paying for their own military, rather than the many billions of US tax dollars. NATO countries complied, and are all stronger and better equipped than ever. For the first time, the US became a major EXPORTER of oil, leaving us energy independent.
But for 4 years, all the left knew about Trump, was a (now very proven) Russian collusion lie made up by the Democrat National Committee, and that he was once secretly recorded saying nasty things about women, things that can be heard in just about any men’s locker room around the world. Nearly anything word he spoke, the leftist media spun it into a racist, misogynist, or Hitler meme.
And still you need to lie, Buzz! He didn’t “…bragged on TV that he could grab any woman by the genitals because he was a star.” You KNOW that didn’t happen, but here you are, spewing hatred still. Everyone from the left, especially the Hollywood crowd, LOVED Trump while he was a billionaire playing in their sandbox. The moment he said he would run as a Republican for President, the claws of hate came out. Despite Trump being the ONLY candidate to have always supported gay marriage, he was quickly labeled homophobic. Despite the tidal wave of celebrity divorces and marriages, he was labeled as woman hating for getting not one, but two divorces (don’t tell Angela and Brad…). The left didn’t stop with Donald, as they attacked Melania with the ugly stick (despite being one of the worlds most beautiful and elegant fashion models), going so far as to piss on her choice Christmas decorations that would make a palace jealous. You leftists even gave us grief because Trump didn’t take a paycheck for being president! He took all your crap for free!
So, no, Buzz. All the left did, was to happily run the USA into the ground. Let’s hope that your “feelings” won’t cause New Times into shutting down, due to the high cost of doing business in America, now that our tax rates have skyrocketed under Biden.
Wow, you go SLO Ride. I love your passion. You must be incensed when you read the crap coming from Rinos such as Mr. Donegan and Mr. Ventimiglio. They are cowards that would never admit they voted for and supported such an uncouth character as Trump, yet you know they did.
Anyway, with the utmost respect, I have to disagree with almost all of your points on Trump’s presidency. With that said and admitting I would never vote for the man, I thought when he was elected he had the chance to make positive change. He failed on all counts. More about that at the end.
Let’s take it one at a time. “Furthered peace in the Middle East.” Sure, Trump plucked the low hanging fruit of a treaty between Israel and Saudi Arabia. They have a common enemy. You see, the Saudis are Sunni Muslims while Hezbollah, the cantankerous thorn in Israel’s side, is Shiite. They are supported by Iran, another sworn enemy of the Saudis. Trump did not, however, address the real issues such as the Palestinian question, the war in Yemen or the smoldering antagonism between the Saudis and Iran.
On immigration, I think Trump made it worse, although I agree the press blew much of Trump’s border policies out of proportion with all the film of kids in cages. In my opinion, he had a great opportunity in 2018 to pass comprehensive immigration reform by giving the DACA students a path to citizenship in return for $25 billion in wall funding. As his Chief of Staff, John Kelly, said, the compromise did not include enough for hard right wing senators such as Tom Cotton (who basically wants zero immigration to the U.S.).
On the USMCA, yes, it was an improvement over NAFTA, yet not much of a departure from it. While Trump did create about 400,000 manufacturing jobs on his watch, he subsequently lost over half of those with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Some of the best things about the USMCA, such as labor protections, were only included because Democrats such as Sen. Ben Cardin of Maryland insisted on them. Look it up.
The Wall. True, Trump did create or refurbish (mostly refurbish) about 450 miles of border wall with Mexico. To be succinct, I’ll borrow from the Cato Institute, “The Border Wall Didn’t Work.” You can read that article on your own.
As for Kim and North Korea, sorry to say it was all simply political theater. Trump got the spotlight as he kissed up to a vicious dictator during their summit in Singapore. But, not one thing changed for NK’s nuclear program. In fact, in 2020 while Trump was still in office, they were building new facilities to build long range ICBM’s.
As for NATO, so what, they spend more. Has it saved us any money? No, we still spend about $750+ billion on defense. And, we are now spending several more billion supporting Ukraine.
Energy independence. This is a complicated issue and it is true that Trump could boast that we achieved energy independence under his administration. However, the U.S. became a “net exporter” of oil during the Obama Administration. Why we export oil is beyond me, but both Obama and Trump did it. Anyway, the goal of “energy independence” had little to do with anything Trump did. As Forbes Magazine put it, “It is true that we achieved…energy independence…under President Trump. What isnt true, is that it was because of anything special that he did. His energy policies may have helped a bit, but the primary cause was a surge in domestic oil and gas production that occurred as a result of the fracking boom.”
As for all the crap about Trump’s misogyny and the disrespecting of his wife, I could care less.
Finally, as I said, when Trump became president, I had hopes that he might solve three big problems. First, was health care. Unfortunately, he hemmed and hawed about some miracle plan, but he never came up with one. Instead, Obamacare remains and has actually worked pretty well, despite constant Republican opposition. But, as the greedy health insurance companies continue to take a larger chunk of GDP, this issue will remain a problem.
Second, trade. While Trump rightly slapped tariffs on China, he never codified them with Congress (probably because there remain too many Republican neo-liberals in the senate).
Last was immigration. As I said, he had a great opportunity to take the incentive by giving a path to citizenship for DACA individuals and build $25 billion in wall (he eventually only built about $15 billion worth after borrowing from the defense fund). But, Trump seemed to have listened to the Steven Millers of the world who led him away from what would have been a major achievement.
Mr Smith, I always know someone has no leg to stand on when they use the term RINO, regardless of their political persuasion. Don’t confuse a Conservative Republican (which you don’t seem to know) for a lying Democrat. No, I voted for Evan McMullen in the 2016 General Election and John Kasich in the primary. In 2020 I held my nose and voted for Trump, the lesser of 2 evils. You see, I don’t need to lie about what I do. Never have, never will. You must on a regular basis though, to assume that other do.
“Conservative Republican”
Yes, I can recognize one. My father was one. Bob Lagomarsino was one. Barry Goldwater was one. Ronald Reagan was one. John Kasich, since you brought him up, is one. They believe in personal responsibility, class, optimism, the reality that if you work hard, this country will reward you, especially if you are an immigrant.
These individuals would have recoiled in horror over the things Trump pulled. Moreover, not one of them would have questioned a U.S. election.
Trump and his supporters are not “Conservative Republicans.” They are a rabble that would bring down everything this country stands for, if given a chance. That you would vote for Trump under any circumstances, is a shame. So, I rest my case.
Did you bother to read my original post Michael? I said he wasn’t even a Republican. I said that he was a Democrat. That’s what he was, always. The only Conservative part about him was his SCOTUS nominees. As far as the fixed election, IDK. Is it not a problem that here in CA as well as other states that proof of citizenship isn’t required to vote? Look at today’s news, The FBI is sitting on criminal evidence against Hunter Biden that reportedly also shows that Joe was knowledgeable? Would that information not have changed the election if released? What about the interference of social media and their censorship of conservative voices or the “old media” overwhelming prejudice in favor of Democrats? Would I have handled this like Trump has? Probably not, but, it’s time to address all of it. And by the way, let not confuse immigrants and those entering the country illegally . Regan, certainly fought against that and gave in to amnesty with the promise of border security from the Dems. He should have known better.
“The FBI is sitting on criminal evidence against Hunter Biden that reportedly also shows that Joe was knowledgeable?”
Hunter Biden should go to prison, according to evidence attained. Whether his father knew about his son’s activities is very questionable. If he did, then it’s obviously not good, but I wonder what it has to do with the administration of this nation. Nothing, in my opinion. Joe Biden has been accused of nothing. HIs son was not part of his administration.
But, good for you Tony and John and SLO Ride. Republicans will win the House and maybe keep the Senate at 50-50. To what end. Two years of investigations into what Biden knew or didn’t know. Trump will be the winner of that and will eke out an electoral college victory in 24 because the south will have kept thousands from voting.
And, then, poof, this great experiment in democracy will end as Trump puts his cadre of true believers into power.
Fine, I’m old and will die soon. Just hoping I won’t have to witness the concentration camps that will open for immigrants and others who disagree with Der Leader. We saw the precursor of that in 2017 when migrant kids were caged. I fear the next incarnation of that will be more extreme.
And, by the way, the mans name was Reagan, not Regan. That moan over the nation will be Ronald Reagan turning over in his grave if Trump is again elected. Get a clue.
Michael. you really didn’t refute anything I said, despite your somewhat condescending letter.
You didn’t mention the four, rather anti-Jew, middle east states that agreed to begin commerce trade and travel with Israel.
The wall was hamstrung by the left from the first day it was proposed. That so many miles were actually built is extraordinary, considering the lack of funding, and downright hostile attitude he faced. Oh, BTW, and I’m sure you must actually know, Trump didn’t build any “cages for children”. Those were all provided by Obama.
We were not energy independent under Obama, despite what he flat lied about. Obama nearly shut down production and drilling on federal lands, especially after the Deepwater incident. Now, here is where I think you have been misled: Obama shut down oil production, leasing, and drilling in FEDERAL waters and land (preferring to throw wasted tax dollars on Solindra type fiascos), forcing oil production to rise on PRIVATE lands, and outside of federal water boundaries. So, while the US did produce a lot more oil, it was despite Obama.
Trump also dealt with a hostile congress and house for his term. So changing or ending Obamacare couldn’t happen. While I agree about greedy health insurance companies, Trump did all he could to end the ban on interstate insurance, but the left denied all of us this economically logical move.
I think we agree on much more than what we don’t 🙂