ON TARGET COMMENTARY

11/24/16    by Dave Gunn

Good, Bad, Ugly, or Just Mediocre?

     Much to the chagrin of Dirty Harry Reid, Space Cadet Nancy Pelosi, and traumatized liberal snow-flake college students all over America, Donald Trump will be the next president of these less than United States.  But what kind of president will he be?  Will Trump be a great president?  Does he even have it in him to be a great president?

     At this point Trump is a true moderate – one with both conservative and liberal affections, in an almost even balance.  A couple of years ago Trump was a liberal, but ran as a conservative/populist in the election.  Since the election he has moved back toward the middle, irritating many of his supporters and making some even livid with his backpedaling on promises made.  Where will he ultimately land?  Perhaps not even Trump himself knows.

     I would suggest that if Donald Trump wishes to be a truly great president, one who will be revered in the same manner as Ronald Reagan, and perhaps even more so, he will adopt a true conservativism.  To do this, he must know what really is a conservative, for most Americans, and even many of those who identify as conservatives, don’t know that which marks a conservative.

     It would serve Donald Trump well to read the book by Russell Kirk, The Politics of Prudence.  Kirk was one of the greatest conservative minds in the 20^th Century, and defined conservativism not as a list of political positions or ideologies, but as a single minded attitude.  To Kirk, a conservative was one who believed in and had a deep desire to preserve, or conserve, that which was good and wholesome in his society.  The conservative believes in an enduring moral order, which must be maintained.  This does not mean that the conservative is against all change, but that he is careful, or prudent, in making changes.

     The enduring moral order of our republic is found in the principles set forth in the preamble to the Declaration of Independence, which announced to all the world that man’s ultimate authority is the God who created him, and that his Creator God had granted to him the rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.  For Donald Trump to be a great president, he must restore and uphold these inalienable rights.

     As to life, Trump must be unswervingly pro-life, restoring to the citizens of our nation who are awaiting birth the protection of their lives by government.  To this end he should discontinue, by executive order, all government paid abortions for military personnel.  He must also appoint Supreme Court justices who will overturn Roe v Wade, which had made the womb of the mother a killing ground.  He must insist that Congress defund Planned Parenthood, so that no taxpayer money is sent to fund the operation of their abortuaries.

     In further support of life, Trump should use his influence to urge the states to adopt the death penalty for murderers as the ultimate expression of the worth of the life of the victim.  Capital punishment for murders should be swift and sure.  It is a horrible injustice that murderers live decades longer than their victims.

     As to liberty, Trump should stand firmly for religious liberty – the right of the people to express their religion in their places of worship, in the public, and in government settings such as schools and city council meetings.  Further, no person should be forced to violate their conscience in supporting the perversion of another.  Burdensome regulations should be lifted from businesses and the people.  It is an outrage that the federal government has regulations concerning our lightbulbs and toilet tanks.  It is also an outrage and an infringement on our liberty for the federal government to mandate that we must have health insurance.  And those who own property or operate businesses should have the right to refuse to do business with anyone for any reason or no reason at all.  The idea that a business exists to serve the public is a communist idea and anti-American.  A business exists for the gratification of the owner.  That will usually involve serving the public, but service to the public is a means to an end, not the end in itself.

     As to the pursuit of happiness, Trump should promote the pursuit, not a guarantee to happiness as liberals try to do with their fairness laws and diversity policies.  Let our governments, universities, businesses, and all other concerns seek excellence and diversity will take care of itself, for excellence can be found in all races and ethnic groups and in both genders.

     To do these things Trump will need the cooperation of the House of Representatives and the Senate, both of which are now in Republican hands.  Trump should lead both houses to restore true Americanism and  if they will not join him, should go over their heads and straight to the American people to hold their feet to the fire.

     If Donald Trump will follow the path our Founders laid out for us, America can once again become one nation under God, enjoying the fruits of liberty. As for Donald Trump, he can go down in history as the man who led our people to restore the American dream.  The only question is: Does he have what it takes?

[Dave Gunn is the nom de plume of Dr. David E. Gonnella, Pastor of the Magnolia Springs Baptist Church in Theodore, Alabama.  The opinions expressed are his own, and do not necessarily reflect those of the church or its membership.]