Retaining our principles includes keeping our eyes on the big ball
Amid the endless media obsession with Trump scandal allegations, important policy issues are getting short shrift. Considering that the left is happy with the status quo — the autopilot advancement of statism — this can only please Democrats.
Based on the overwhelming trend of national and state elec- tions since 2010, the nation now firmly rejects liberal policies.
Whether or not Democrats get the message, they don't intend to move right to accommodate the electorate.
Rather, they will continue undermining the will of the people through the courts, administrative agencies, Obama executive staff holdovers opposing voter ID laws, and a perpetual motion narrative against President Trump involving scandalmongering, character assassination and ongoing demonization of conservatives. Given their assault on democratic processes, it's hard to take serious their professed anxiety over election interference.
Regardless of the merits of current claims against Trump, the Democrats planned to delegitimize him the second he won the election. Allegations of collusion with the Russians to influence our election were based on shards of half-truths designed to appear incriminating but ultimately lacking a credible evidentiary basis.
You might object, "Well, with the latest bombshells concerning Donald Trump Jr.'s illicit meeting with a Russian lawyer, we can see that Trump's accusers were right all along." Not so fast.
Apart from whether it was wrong or inappropriate for Trump Jr. to take the meeting, there is still no evidence of actual collusion or, I would argue, even so-called attempted collusion. We can't possibly know what he would have done with that information had it been forthcoming, because we don't know — and he doesn't know — what that information was supposed to be, much less what it was.
To collude, you have to collude to do something. By attending the meeting to hear the lawyer out, what was Trump colluding to do other than hear her out? Information may yet be uncovered that damages team Trump, but until then, while this story gives Trump critics juicy ammo and makes many uncomfortable, it does not vindicate nefarious Democratic efforts to destroy Trump since the beginning.
My purpose here is not to litigate Trump Jr.'s meeting. It is to underscore that Democrats have not been in good faith in their witch hunt against Trump, and that their actions are having devastating consequences on the nation. Let's not forget that former FBI Director James Comey informed them privately that Trump was not under investigation for collusion with Russia, and they nevertheless misrepresented to the public that Trump was the primary target.
Moreover, those operating under the illusion that the Democrats' misbehavior is only about Trump would do well
to remember their unconscionable behavior toward President George W. Bush. It wouldn't matter if Mother Teresa were president; Democrats would still be scandalmongering.
So, let's not be deterred from fighting Democrats for fear of being accused by Trump opponents on both sides of the aisle of "whataboutism" — diverting attention from alleged Trump scandals by blaming Democrats of similar misconduct. Don't worry. Any scandal allegations will be investigated and reported ad nauseam, so it would take more than a few spin doctors to pull that off.
No, diversion and rationalization are not my aims. I'm concerned about moving the nation back in the right direction, and that necessitates understanding the goals and tactics of the Democrats, who are pulling out all the stops to prevent such remedial action.
So, could we please recognize what we're up against and get in this fight instead of naval-gazing and always sprinting to assume the worst of those on our side? Could we, in the words of my colorful torts professor, keep our eyes on the big ball, even as we evaluate scandal allegations? The left wants to consummate its plan — greatly accelerated by President Obama — to fundamentally transform American into something the Framers wouldn't recognize.
Relative to that, have you seen Sen. Bernie Sanders' hysterical tirades about Republican policies? And no, Sanders is not merely some quirky extremist who's unrepresentative of the Democratic Party. This character might have won the Democratic nomination but for Democratic National Committee collusion with Hillary Clinton.
Referring to Trump, Sanders said: "It's not just temperament, and it's not just his stupid tweets. Do not forget for a second that the policies that he is proposing are the most destructive policies being proposed in our lifetimes. This legislation that he is urging Congress to pass would throw 23 million Americans off of health insurance." He later added that up to 28,000 Americans could die each year — "nine times more than the tragic losses we suffered on 9/11, every single year."
Right, Bernie, we are going to kill people by allowing them the freedom to not buy health insurance and by introducing market forces to improve access to affordable health care — not just health insurance coverage.
Democrats have accused Republicans of pushing grandma off the cliff for years. In their view, though they'll never say it directly, capitalism is heartless because it caters only to the rich. They'll play the good-intentions-despite-bad-results card as long as they're breathing, but a rudimentary knowledge of history reveals their stunning ignorance. You don't have to be Milton Friedman to understand that socialism is the world's greatest generator of poverty. Oh, how I wish we had better messaging and more confidence in the power of our ideas to counter their revisionism.
So, while I don't deny that President Trump sometimes gives Democrats and the media fodder they can use to try to attack him, and thus, any advancement of conservative policies, they will vilify any Republican who proposes legislation and lawful executive action aimed at even slightly retarding the socialist juggernaut as extremist — and when it comes to policy, Trump is hardly an ideological extremist.
Why else do you think Democrats like Sen. Elizabeth Warren, believed by many to be a potential presidential contender, rally their radical acolytes through calls of "resistance"? They are hellbent on resisting any effort to put the breaks on their tyranny.
So, no matter how much some of you dislike Trump or believe he just won't do, please don't get so preoccupied that you lose sight of the stakes. No, we must never abandon our principles or excuse any misconduct from our side. But my principles preclude a knee-jerk willingness to pile on Trump when unwarranted, and they include a steady focus on the gravity of what we're fighting for, as well as an unvarnished awareness that those we're fighting against are tireless, relentless and ruthlessly unscrupulous.
David Limbaugh is a writer, author and attorney. His latest book is "The True Jesus: Uncovering the Divinity of Christ in the Gospels." Follow him on Twitter @davidlimbaugh and his website at www.davidlimbaugh.com. To read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate webpage at www.creators.com.