Column #457       May 31, 2024Trump and Reagan

Style: The way in which something is said, done, expressed, or performed.
Action: Organized activity to accomplish an objective.

I grew up watching Ronald Reagan as host of General Electric Theater and later as the host of Death Valley Days. He was a joy to listen to and he always made good common sense. Often I found his introductions to be one of the reasons for tuning in. He had class and his style was most assuring. In 1966 he quit acting for good to run for governor of California. After his first run for the presidency, which he lost, he won over Jimmy Carter in 1980 and assumed the office in 1981. The rest is history because his actions were as good as his style.1 2

Watching Trump over the years was totally different from watching Reagan. Trump was always a boyish, brash, egotistical, likely to exaggerate, flamboyant, boom and bust kind of guy. He skirted on the fringes of bankruptcy more than once and famously left Atlantic City a mess. Yet in the late 1980s I remember the times I marveled at the sight of his 282-foot Trump Princess yacht docked in Fort Lauderdale. It was an impressive ship—especially for such a young man.3 4 5

With Trump’s reckless playboy image in mind one can understand why lots of folks have Trump Derangement Syndrome similar to actor Robert De Niro. This week that aging actor gave a Biden-promoted presser in front of the Manhattan courthouse where a kangaroo lawfare court was in progress. He’s so deranged he screamed that the “only way to preserve our freedoms and hold on to our humanity is to vote for Joe Biden. Trump poses a unique and growing threat to our fundamental rights and our freedoms, our very democracy, and our economy.” De Niro, who showed up wearing a face mask (a trademark of left-wing socialists), obviously belongs in a loony bin.6

Trump was never a politician or polished speaker for sure. He earned his stripes by being a shrewd, international, New York-based businessman. He amassed a considerable net worth by developing and retaining lucrative high-end properties around the world. What’s amazing is that he kept his business private. If he had built a public company like Amazon, Google, or Microsoft, his net worth could have been valued at multiples of annual earnings rather than based on the net value of property appraisals. But that is his strong suit. He knows what it takes to be successful because each one of his impressive properties is another “small” business.

There’s no question that Trump knows all about debt and how to manage it. He knows about the  financial burden and lost opportunities associated with layers of government regulations. He knows what it means for governments to tax profitable enterprises and then waste the money with corruption and mismanagement. He knows about the threat lawfare is to freedom. He fully understands that building things is better than destroying things in wars. He knows how to negotiate. For certain he has an ability to connect with the common man.

On the other hand, professional politicians rarely have Trump’s same abilities because they’re into politics for the money—from under the table. As for Biden, he has been schmoozing people with double-babble word salads for decades and has never had to meet a payroll. He has been a disaster on foreign policy his entire career. And for certain his presidential record of the past three plus years has been mostly hypocritical lies and bungled decisions.

We saw Trump in action from 2017 through 2020. For certain he was not perfect. But he was outstanding for a newbie to Washington. Unlike most presidents, he had to fight a four-year running gun battle with the opposing party that did everything in its power (even violate laws, weaponize agencies, and spread falsehoods via the MSM) to discredit him and remove him from office. In spite of that he accomplished many good things that were swiftly reversed after Biden took over.

●    Trump built a border wall that Biden opened and sold parts off for pennies on the dollar.
●    Trump cut the flow of illegal immigrants to a trickle. Biden’s open border allowed in more than ten million illegals and gotaways including criminals and terrorists of all kinds.
●    Trump encouraged oil and gas production and Biden has restricted it.
●    Trump lowered taxes and Biden increased them.
●    Trump cancelled many government regulations and Biden increased them.
●    Trump avoided new wars and Biden embarrassed our nation by deserting Afghanistan and goading Russia into invading Ukraine.
●    Trump supported Israel and Biden is now condemning Israel for attacking Hamas terrorists.
●    Trump condemned DIE and Biden promotes it in the government, private businesses, and schools.
●    Trump did not issue decrees forcing business and individuals to build or buy certain goods and services. Yet like a dictator Biden decreed that auto manufacturers shift to 50% electric vehicles by 2030 and people mustn’t buy gas appliances.
●    Trump emphasizes religious ties while Biden embraces debauchery and crime.
●    Trump worked to bring industries back into the United States and Biden has only given it lip service.
●    Trump’s administration did increase the national debt, but nothing like what Biden has done—during an economic recovery!
●    Trump donated his salary back to the government while Biden and his family ran an influence peddling scam to gain under-the-table money from foreign actors—including citizens of China and Russia.
●    Trump strived to support current laws while Biden has ignored Supreme Court rulings, laws of the land, and weaponized government agencies in lawfare against not only Trump but any US citizen he decreed as an enemy of the state.
●    Trump was fearless in his openness with the press while Biden has been the least transparent president in the history of the country.
●    Trump strived to unite the country under the singular idea that we are all Americans. Biden has divided the country with race baiting tactics while angrily declaring that conservatives are enemies of the state.
●    Soon after initiating the COVID shutdown Trump was encouraging states to reopen. On the other hand, Biden ordered unconstitutional vaccine mandates, discouraged reopening, made the wearing of a face mask a Democratic trademark, and forced people out of their jobs if they didn’t comply with his vaccination dictates.
●    Trump was a strong sponsor of police suppressing crime. Biden has a been a strong supporter of treating criminals with leniency and defunding police forces.
●    Trump says he will pardon Jan6 rioters that were abused by the justice system which Biden treated far more severally than the BLM rioters of the summer of love were treated.
●    Trump spent four years suppressing Iran while Biden has spent 3.5 years helping Iran—become a nuclear power.
●    Trump spent four years putting America first in all of his decisions while Biden has put America last.

What’s appalling is that this list, which compares presidential actions, is incomplete. How could Biden take the country so far off track? And where are the previous presidents. Don’t they care about the direction of the country—or are they all elitists that want to control the world?

For me, these differences in Trump’s actions compared to Biden’s actions speak way louder than words. Historically, I see Trump as someone who learns from his mistakes and, instead of pushing forward with a losing hand, he prides himself in changing his tactics in order to have a positive outcome. As a politician, Biden doesn’t know how to actually solve problems—especially those that he makes. He only knows how to spend (and give away) other peoples’ money, buy votes, and divide and conquer.

Looking ahead I agree with John F. Kennedy, Jr. regarding his comments at the Libertarian Party convention regarding our country’s response to COVID.

He attacked Trump and Biden for not respecting the U.S. Constitution when the country faced the COVID-19 pandemic. He said “I don’t recall any part of the United States Constitution where there’s an exemption for pandemics.” He did note that even though Trump was reluctant to impose lockdowns early in the pandemic, he eventually capitulated, and “many of our most fundamental rights disappeared practically overnight.”

Trump allowed health regulators to impose social distancing norms, thus violating the First Amendment right to freedom of assembly. RFK Jr. noted that the lockdowns were imposed without any due process, no notice, and no public hearings. After Biden took office, the “assault on the Constitution intensified,” he said, citing multiple censorship cases.

RFK also emphasized that the Founding Fathers knew all about pandemics. Yet there were no exceptions written into the Constitution and Bill of Rights for pandemics, wars, or other events.

Looking back, I’m sure Trump realizes that the bureaucrats at the CDC worked against him and the entire country just like the Democrats generally, the FBI, CIA, and other agencies during his entire tenure as president. I also believe that Pense, who headed up the White House Coronavirus Task Force along with help from Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, made matters worse because they totally believed Fauci and Birk over private sector experts telling them a totally different story. The odds of Trump allowing something like that to happen again is not likely.

As for embracing more deficit spending, I hope Trump draws the line and slashes government spending with the elimination of pork, worthless unconstitutional agencies, and the out-of-control military budget. He’s in a similar position as was Reagan when Reagan first became president. In 1980 the financial structure of the country had been undermined. Today’s huge deficits that continued after all businesses were allowed to reopen post COVID is why prices for all goods and services are still rising. In order to avoid a depression similar to 1932 to 1932, the government will have to get out of the way of businesses while allowing poorly capitalized businesses to fail. That process may take a couple of years but the country will be much stronger afterwards than if the recession is papered over with more debt like it was in 2008.7

Additionally, I expect that if Trump wins, the radical left will riot like it has never rioted before. The leading Democrats will do everything in their power to make his election appear as a domestic disaster. For sure they have stacked the deck with literally thousands of undocumented illegals. And since Democrats seem to have no moral moorings as to following the laws of the land, we can expect the leftists to actually promote terrorizing America just like they support Hamas in terrorizing Israel.

So far, nearly 50% of the American electorate is more concerned about perceptions of style than they are the consequences of actions. Their derangement puts the entire nation in peril as they seek good feelings rather than the patriotic actions that have really positive consequences for all—but require sacrifices rather than “free lunches.” They just don’t understand that two very different people, such as Reagan and Trump, can both be great Americans and very good for America. In Biden’s case, he’s not only a demented slime ball but he’s bad for the country.

To your health.

Ted Slanker

Ted Slanker has been reporting on the fundamentals of nutritional research in publications, television and radio appearances, and at conferences since 1999. He condenses complex studies into the basics required for health and well-being. His eBook, The Real Diet of Man, is available online.

For additional reading:

1. Ronald Reagan from Wikipedia

2. General Electric Theater from Wikipedia

3. ‘Good Riddance’: How Atlantic City Celebrated The Trump Plaza Implosion by Will Yakowicz Forbes Staff

4. Inside Donald Trump’s Lavish 86m Superyacht Trump Princess by John Taylor 4 July 1989 | republished on 28 March 2024

5. Donald Trump's Life Story: from Hotel Developer to President by BBC

6. Is "Trump Derangement Syndrome" a Real Mental Condition? by Rob Whitley, Ph.D. from Psychology Today

7. Martenson Fears "The Great Taking" Is Imminent by Greg Hunter from USAWatchdog.com