“When it failed, I considered the possibility that a Freedom Caucus friendly replacement would have met the same fate if it came down to a vote – putting the President in a position of needing to perform his best Bobby Fischer impersonation…”
The night President Trump won the election and became our 45th President, I wrote Let’s Drain the Swamp: A Vow to Hold President Elect Trump to His Promise. Up to this point, I have been pleased with the President’s performance on trade, handling of the media, government spending, and police issues —and then out of the blue, we bomb a Syrian airbase. When Trump did what he adamantly promised he wouldn’t, it let me know it was time to be critical of the man I enthusiastically voted for. This is the pledge I made on November 7, 2016.
A lot of us came together behind this movement that Trump started. As someone who voted for him, I’m vowing that I will hold the man to his promise of “draining the swamp” of corruption. Both Democratic and Republican aristocrats got us into this mess. Yes, the Republicans won the House and Senate but I still expect him to butt heads with the establishment wing of his own party as he has promised to be a champion of the people, not the GOP. We need not worship at the altar of Donald Trump, but hold him to task for the improvement of our nation. This election was about improving the lives of the American people, after all. While it is ultimately our sole responsibility to strive to make our own lives better through our own actions, anything less than a distinct, practical, and effective effort to help facilitate improvement in the lives of blacks, whites, Hispanics, Asians, etc. is a failure. I will either cheerlead President Trump as the jobs are created and overtures to everyday Americans are made or I will criticize his efforts if they are not. Most of all, I will continue to pay attention with a watchful eye on those who effect the futures of my children.
The RNC did everything in their power to keep President Trump from getting the Republican nomination last year and their support from many Rhinos during the primaries was lukewarm at best. Anyone with eyes and ears could have seen that establishment Republicans would be a roadblock for the President from the moment he got elected. Then he won, and it became clear that the real war was only beginning.
I was fairly surprised to see Trump join forces with “frenemies” like Paul Ryan and Mitch Mcconnell to abandon the repeal portion of repeal and replace. When it failed, I considered the possibility that a Freedom Caucus friendly replacement would have met the same fate if it came down to a vote – putting the President in a position of needing to perform his best Bobby Fischer impersonation. In short, letting Obama take the blame for the collapse of the American healthcare system may have been his behind-the-scenes end game from the start. Still, that scenario didn’t require a public admonishment of the Freedom Caucus – a group whose supporters played a big part in him taking the Oval Office. The notching of wins in the jobs creation and stock market columns took a lot of the sting off and I’ll always have a soft spot for his support of law enforcement. For these reasons, up until the bombs were dropped, Trump was still clearly winning in my book.
Even in the post-Syria stage of the Trump presidency, I’m not off the train just yet. I don’t want to jump the gun too quick because we are simply not privy to all of the facts and circumstances that went into this decision. Yet, I can’t shake certain suspicions. One problem I have here is that another 15 years of war in the Middle East doesn’t seem to benefit the American citizens stateside in any conceivable way. We voted for Trump to keep us out of more of the same endless warfare and nation building that we’ve grown weary over the course of more than a decade. Let’s take a look at the 180 degree turn the agenda has taken as evidenced by the patented Trump “Twitter Trail”.
The Tweets from late August and early September of 2013 are in complete contradiction to what just happened in the real world. Sure, peoples’ stances can evolve – but one of the main ways Donald Trump distinguished himself from Hillary Clinton was by vowing to have all hands go on deck for America and let the Middle East sort itself out for a while. Where has that Donald Trump gone off to?
Some say Trump ordered the air strike to prove once and for all that he is not in collusion with Putin and Russia. Some say it was a power-move to show China and North Korea that Obama’s era of empty threats is over. On the other hand, there are those that say this is the watershed moment where the “Deep State” finally corrupted a President who ran on the basis of eradicating them from places of power in the political landscape. In addition to the Deep State theory, there is the idea that the sarin gas bombing was a false flag attack actually carried out by ISIS with the intent of framing the Syrian government, to in turn, pull strange bedfellows into the conflict. Two sets of circumstances make this theory at least something to consider.
One, the Syrian government has been largely in control of the war since Russia became involved — giving them very little reason to commit such a horrific act on civilians and children at this point. Two, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson all but declared that the US would be sitting this one out when he said “Assad’s fate will ultimately be up to the Syrian people”.
Why would Assad give the US a reason to feel like they must intervene fresh off the heels of a public showing of intent to play the permanent spectator? Which of the two sides, neither of who will ever be an American ally, had more of a plausible motive to commit the crime?
If the Deep State theory is viable, it helps to explain why the same main stream media that has made running propaganda against the President its sole reason for existence is now fawning over him. It also helps explain why his most ardent and influential supporters, all of whom decry the idea of big government and establishment politicians, are now criticizing the Trump Train’s direction and even jumping off all together. If you don’t believe the Trump base is currently splintering over 59 Tomahawk missiles raining down on a Syrian airbase, see what the coalition’s most influential voices are saying.
Laura Ingraham: Fox News Contributor and LifeZette Editor in Chief
1.43M Twitter Followers
Missiles flying. Rubio's happy. McCain ecstatic. Hillary's on board. A complete policy change in 48 hrs.
— Laura Ingraham (@IngrahamAngle) April 7, 2017
Ann Coulter
1.46M Twitter Followers
Trump campaigned on not getting involved in Mideast. Said it always helps our enemies & creates more refugees. Then he saw a picture on TV.
— Ann Coulter (@AnnCoulter) April 7, 2017
Those who wanted us meddling in the Middle East voted for other candidates.
— Ann Coulter (@AnnCoulter) April 7, 2017
Paul Joseph Watson: Info Wars Editor at Large
556K Twitter Followers, 897K YouTube subscribers
I guess Trump wasn't "Putin's puppet" after all, he was just another deep state/Neo-Con puppet.
I'm officially OFF the Trump train.
— Paul Joseph Watson (@PrisonPlanet) April 7, 2017
Tomi Lahren: Former The Blaze Personality
689K Twitter Followers
President Trump is sending a clear message: the apology tour is over. We fight when you rattle our cage. #syriaattack
— Tomi Lahren (@TomiLahren) April 7, 2017
Mike Cernovich: Independent Journalist who broke Susan Rice scandal
246K Twitter Followers, 31K YouTube subscribers
https://twitter.com/Cernovich/status/850216836587167744
My math is a little rusty, but the online audience commanded by just these seven individuals is substantial when you add it all up. The massive conglomeration of followers accounted for above does not even include the additional army of support generated by the media companies these people run and work for.
In the case of Paul Joseph Watson, Info Wars has over a million subscribers that will continually tune into his fierce criticisms that were once full-bodied support. The same goes for Laura Ingraham at Lifezette. Independent journalists like Mike Cernovich, Tomi Lahren, Stefan Molyneaux, and Ann Coulter all have massive growth potential regardless of the side they take in the Trump department because of their no-holds barred approach that people have been clamoring for.
While it remains to be seen whether the Trump base is damaged beyond repair, it certainly does appear split early into his first term. One thing is for sure, the MSM presently applauding him will be of no help when it comes time for re-election. President Trump should be doing everything he can to avoid another Iraq War in Syria and unify his base from this point on.
T.B. Lefever is an OpsLens Contributor and active police officer in the Metro-Atlanta area. Throughout his career, Lefever has served as a SWAT Hostage Negotiator, a member of the Crime Suppression Unit, a School Resource Officer, and a Uniformed Patrol Officer. T.B. is also a certified Field Training Officer. He has a BA in Criminal Justice and Sociology from Rutgers University. Follow T.B. on Twitter @tblefever.
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