Telling It Like It Isn't

"He fights! He knows things! He's a political outsider!"

Please stop.

It's important to know what Donald Trump is actually about, and not what he claims to be about. If one were to actually follow his ever-changing party allegiance, collusion with the government, and his history of business follies, his fraudulent and corrupt approach to life is not difficult to find. He continually tells us what we want to hear, and presents himself as a no nonsense straight-shooter. Let the record show that he is duping us all. It has been nothing short of astonishing to see our fellow freedom lovers, people who champion the rights of the individual above all else, embracing the rhetoric of a madman that hijacks Ronald Reagan's campaign slogan and follows it with proposals that would have made Reagan puke. This man does not believe in freedom, and never has. 

Let's face it: we are all busy, and don't always have the time to dig deep, when it comes to researching even Presidential candidates. Some of us don't even want to, if a candidate seems so genuine(re: Barack Obama, circa 2008). The majority of Americans do want a better economy, and protected gun rights, among other things. If you're a reality TV star, though, and have made a living out of fooling people like Trump has, you'd know exactly how to make the masses feel like giddy little school girls, asked out by the dickhead captain of the football team. You'd promise these things, talking up your success and stances. You'd promise to "make America great again".

But anyone who even digs just a little into Trump's past, will find some pretty deplorable, unsuccessful behavior.

The most common perception of Trump is a lie: that he is a self made, successful businessman. From birth, Trump has always been rich. His father, Fred Trump, was a successful real estate mogul, and eventually Donald inherited at least tens of millions from him (though it's possible the inheritance was in the hundreds of millions). This is not a crime, but it points out that his father's success set him up, and even made it possible for Donald to mess up a few (well, not just a few) times in the business world. Not only did he rack up billions of debt in the 1980's, but Trump essentially had the government alleviate most of that burden: the sort of textbook crony capitalism that is abhorred by almost all Americans, both right and left.  He bankrupted 4 different hotels & casinos--rin spite of the great odds casinos afford their owners. Additionally, Trump has a slough of failed business ventures under his belt, including Trump vodka, Trump Steaks, Trump Mortgage, Trump: the Game, Trump Ice, GoTrump.com... There are more, but I bet you get the idea by now. Though, don't forget about "Trump University", which is both playing out to be a scam, and a failed business attempt.

It wasn't just his father's money that propped Donald up all these years, however. Since the beginning, government officials have had a hand in his protection, passing laws and making moves for him. Ask elderly widow Vera Coking if she thinks Donald Trump would combat the corporatism we all hate. Donald Trump started using eminent domain to his advantage, and then successfully lobbied the state to achieve the  Kelo v. City of New London ruling he was looking for. The ruling class enabled action against citizens who refused to sell their land to make room for commercial developments. Trump was instrumental in destroying one of our most fundamental rights: the right to do as we wish with our own property.

 Add to this, the fact that on numerous occasions, Trump's projects employed the same illegal immigrants he is now blaming for all of our problems. It sounds cliche, but it is reminiscent of one Adolf Hitler, a man who wrote the book that sits on Trump's nightstand. No, that wasn't a joke.

What we'll find in a Trump presidency is the compounding exacerbation of everything we despise about 2015 America. He is a crony capitalist who would evolve into a fascist, and he has never, even once, taken the side of liberty in the arena of ideas. The snake would further the picking of winners and losers by the most corruptible and powerful people in the country. The effect would be stifled competition, larger firms getting even larger, and all the while, Trump would be filling his own pockets (which aren't as full as he claims, either--throw that into the perpetually rising stack of Trump lies). This is precisely why he says he wouldn't take a presidential salary. Instead, he'd be making billions more, serving corporate America, at your expense.

Any moron who inherits tens of millions of dollars, and makes good friends with government officials can be a billionaire despite making a lot of stupid choices. This is the lesson here.

At this point, if you're still on the Trump Train, is it just because you think he can win? If so, what good is that when he will obviously facilitate the same kind of corrupt government we have in place right now?  Especially because he'd rather bash conservatives than one of the most corrupt families in the country--the Clintons. He voted for Hillary and Bill in past elections. Not only does he ignore the numerous scandals they have been involved with, but he has even given hundreds of thousands to the Clinton Foundation. Yes, the same Clinton Foundation being investigated for wrongly claiming tax-exempt status. Perhaps this shouldn't surprise anyone, since Trump didn't even register as a Republican until 2011 (and has changed parties at least 5 times since the 1980's).

This is when his multiple changes of heart come into the argument. The examples above are just a couple of his flip-flops. For instance, before his candidacy, he was very much for an "assault rifle" ban, and he was against the War on Drugs. Though he claims the opposite now. He has flip-flopped on abortion so many times, I don't think anyone is even totally sure what he thinks. On healthcare, he has talked up Canada-style universal healthcare until very recently--now he claims it might be bad for our country. However, just a month ago, he proclaimed the opposite on 60 minutes.

Furthermore, Mr. "Successful Businessman", used to support Occupy Wall Street-like tax plans. As in, one that will essentially make competition and innovation extinct. His new plan sucks a lot less, but there is still little to celebrate over it, due to subjecting individuals, who actually aren't that well off, to inexcusably high tax rates. It doesn't take an economist to know that has some disadvantageous effects on the market (and Rand Paul's tax plan is infinitely better). Trump also altered his stance, for the worst, on social security. Not too long ago he urged the privatization of the program (Chile benefited greatly from doing so). However, now he does not want to change the overburdened, government-run system. To call Trump inconsistent seems like a gigantic understatement.

You should be terrified of what the Trump administration's foreign policy plans are. As far as President Donald Trump attempting to negotiate with our allies, and win against our enemies, you can rest assured that he has no idea how to accomplish desired outcomes. Desired outcomes being cooperative, trusting relationships with our allies, and the decimation (or irrelevance) of evil. Instead of smoothing over relations with trade partners, he would create a hostile trade environment to attempt to sabotage Russia, China and Mexico--killing jobs and raising business costs for everyone in the process. He would then incorporate his insane wild west tactics, and TRY to seize as much oil as possible, all over the world--creating even more enemies, and depressing our export market. How imperialist, and dangerous. Mexico will then scoff at him, as he repeats "I'll have Mexico build a wall" batshittery. Yes, he's talking about the wall which mostly already exists.

...And don't get me started on his comments denigrating a former honorable prisoner of war. That's not something that a future Commander in Chief should ever do. A future Commander in Chief shouldn't compare his or her time in expensive military school to our troops' time in the service in the actual military, either. Trump actually did that.

Let us all remember that actions speak louder than words. Donald Trump is a man of many, many words, that voters mistakenly classify as truthful and genuine. Remember all the instances in which Trump has proven that he is no more than a politician--a politician who has done his fair share of politicking, even without having the experience of serving in office. How does that make him more qualified than, say, a governor who has shown they can successfully oversee a government organization? Or a senator with a  consistent voting record and better economic policies?

 If the facts presented in this piece do not sway even the most staunch Trump supporters, one should fear for this country. We have already had a cult-like following behind a presidential candidate, especially in the last 8 years, and one can see how well that turned out. Spoiler: it didn't exactly help to try and keep our constantly growing, crony capitalist government or officials in check.