Anyone doesn’t mean ANYONE
Measured against the likes of Cincinnatus and George Washington, Trump is certain to be found woefully lacking in ability, character, and temperament. However, neither Cincinnatus nor Washington will be opposing Trump on ballots in 2024. If alive today, it is doubtful that either of those historical figures could live up to their own legends.
Many Trump “supporters” extend their support and their votes reluctantly. They are not so naïve or delusional as to believe that Trump is an ideal candidate or leader. His problems in managing his own life are themselves the stuff of legend. What Trump does offer is an alternative to a fate, which non-statists deem more threatening and potentially disastrous than a single rogue “politician.” To them, Trump represents the perceived lesser evil. He represents an alternative to a weaponized bureaucratic state and to a bloated and ineffective government. An unrestrained state is entirely inconsistent with individual liberty, and an unfettered government is incompatible with personal freedoms.
The legacy parties each present their contests as battles between inherent good and evil incarnate; however, Republicans and Democrats today are best described as opposite sides of the same coin. Almost all within the political classes are statists to one degree of another. In fits of hubris and in demonstrations of arrogance, they have expanded consciously and deliberately the reach, power, and scope of the federal government. That government has expanded well beyond the confines of the Constitution. Their proposed courses are ultra vires and inconsistent with the limitations of that venerable instrument. Their resulting actions are illegitimate. They seek to use government to do their bidding. They are as parasitic as they are symbiotic.
Politics rarely presents win-win propositions. When both devils are well known, one tends to pick the evil most likely to impose the least harm upon himself or upon the section of the electorate, to which he most closely identifies. Almost every benefit conferred by government upon one party or group must be offset by sacrifices and costs, which are presumably imposed upon some unrelated party or disfavored “others.” Disadvantaged parties are unlikely to voluntarily participate in relationships and transactions, which are adverse to their own interests. Therefore, potential beneficiaries eagerly seek to use the coercive and compulsory powers to the state so as to force reluctant parties to engage in unproductive relationships and unprofitable transactions. The outcomes are tantamount to institutional theft and indentured servitude.
Few have the luxury of sitting on the sidelines. Eventually, persons must choose sides or be content to subjugate their respective will and to submit their individual lives to the demands of the collective. Democrats, for whom Biden serves as the figurehead if not posterchild, have told the “deplorables” that, in refusing to conform and comply, they are unworthy and excessively “privileged.” Statists and neo-socialists feel emboldened to take what they want by force (of law). They act with a perverse moral certitude, which they mistakenly believe can be derived from their number. Many would-be “revolutionaries” act like barbarians laying siege to a successful city-state. They stand prepared to burn it to the ground and to destroy all that is within its walls unless their self-serving demands are met. However, it is impossible to placate the attackers. Conceding to their demands only assures that future demands will be even more unreasonable, and it encourages other self-identifying “victims” to follow suit against the targeted “oppressors.”
Trump is the most conspicuous target of Democratic attacks. Undoubtedly, some of the attacks are warranted just as some of his behaviors are clearly self-destructive. Nevertheless, Trump serves to represent throngs of “deplorables” and disfavored “others,” who with reason feel that they are next to be targeted by a leftward lurching government. To them, Trump is not so much a messiah or savior, as he is the first line of defense. The hope is that the attacks against him will delay future attacks against the “others” and that, through repeated and protracted battles, the strength of opposing forces will be somewhat depleted. Trump’s “supporters” will allow him to be the standard bearer so long as they feel that Trump is or will be successful in deflecting heat and attacks from them (or at least more successful than other GOP alternatives).
