"If You Don't Stand For Something You'll Fall For Anything." - Alexander Hamilton
Remember the 1950s and '60s quiz show To Tell The Truth? Three contestants would appear on an elevated stage, and a panel would have to determine which one was the real person named and who were the two imposters. The identity would be divulged when the moderator said, "Would the real …….. please stand up."
You are not just your legal identity but who you are at your core: your values, vision and what you stand for. I was thinking about Donald Trump. What does Trump actually stand for? We know he launched his 2015 presidential campaign with the meme Make America Great Again (MAGA). While the definition of greatness is debatable, the tagline was a great selling point that still resonates with his hardcore supporters.
Part of MAGA, in Trump's own words, was that he would "drain the swamp", "lock her up"––meaning Hillary Clinton,–– and "Mexico will pay for the border wall". As it turned out, he admitted he had no intention of making Mexico pay for the wall and that the idea of locking Clinton up was just for show.
Trump has flip-flopped repeatedly on abortion; at one stage, he thought a woman who aborted a fetus should be prosecuted, then at other times, he was pro-life. He repeatedly stated he was the most pro-life president in history with his Supreme Court picks that overturned Roe v Wade. Then, he criticized Republicans who were pro-life as to why they did poorly in the mid-term elections.
He also appears to have wavered on Israel.
"What's happening to Gaza is unbelievable", he says. No mention of the unprovoked carnage against men, women, children and babies by Hamas. Then, of course, he has to make it all about himself.
One thing Trump hasn't flip-flopped on is the Covid vaccines.
Trump renews praise for Covid vaccines, 'one of the greatest achievements of mankind'
He has also repeatedly stated how the vaccines have saved 100 million lives. Specifically, he used the "I" word. Tell that to the families of thousands of dead and vaccine-injured people, which is established beyond a doubt.
Perhaps Trump should watch the new "Shot Dead" movie if he's still unconvinced.
In a Fox News interview, Trump said he was "surprised" to hear Biden thanking his administration for beginning the vaccine rollout.
"I'm very appreciative of that — I was surprised to hear it," Trump said. "I think it was a terrific thing, and I think it makes a lot of people happy."
So, who is the real Donald Trump at his core? It may be as simple as it's all about the show.
As far as candidates...we'll get stuck voting for the lesser of two evils...as usual. They all suck!
I think you've hit the nail on the head here.
The die-hard Trump supporters have an explanation for all of it, of course.
But explaining things away as being because "people need to really see what the Deep State is doing" or "DT knows it would cause civil war" can only take you so far - and that point was reached years ago.
It's still arguable whether DT would be better or worse than Joe Biden - but if these two are the best that America can offer, then any sane person should be looking to find a way to leave the sinking ship before it goes down completely.
Australia is not much better, not with our political "leaders" (or rather, clowns) - but at least we do have a few who tirelessly speak out (eg Malcolm Roberts, Senator Antic, Babet, and even Pauline Hanson).