THOMAS SOWELL
In a country with more than 300 million people, it is remarkable how obsessed the media have become with just one—Donald Trump. What is even more remarkable is that, after seven years of repeated disasters, both domestically and internationally, under a glib egomaniac in the White House, so many potential voters are turning to another glib egomaniac to be his successor. No doubt much of the stampede of Republican voters toward Mr. Trump is based on their disgust with the Republican establishment.
It is easy to understand why there would be pent-up resentments among Republican voters. But are elections held for the purpose of venting emotions?
No national leader ever aroused more fervent emotions than Adolf Hitler did in the 1930s. Watch some old newsreels of German crowds delirious with joy at the sight of him. The only things at all comparable in more recent times were the ecstatic crowds that greeted Barack Obama when he burst upon the political scene in 2008.
Elections, however, have far more lasting and far more serious—or even grim—consequences than emotional venting. The actual track record of crowd pleasers, whether Juan Perón in Argentina, Obama in America, or Hitler in Germany, is very sobering, if not painfully depressing. After the disastrous nuclear deal with Iran, we are entering an era when people alive at this moment may live to see a day when American cities are left in radioactive ruins.
We need all the wisdom, courage, and dedication in the next president — and his or her successors — to save us and our children from such a catastrophe. A shoot-from-the-hip, bombastic showoff is the last thing we need or can afford.
— Thomas Sowell is a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University.
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Dr. Sowell is an extremely wise man and has earned much respect on SBYNews and elsewhere.
ReplyDeleteI think it would be very ill-advised to disregard what he says, whether I agree with it or not. I rarely see anyone who is consistently as accurate as he is.
I have to admit I was beginning to lean toward Trump (mainly because he had started to look inevitable), but after seeing what Dr. Sowell and many other highly-respected conservative thinkers have said in recent days, I'm hoping for a better choice.
I'm hoping Ted Cruz can emerge from this cage match as the victor.
Could not have said it any better
ReplyDeleteYes maybe Cruz is the more conservative choice. Step back and look at what has been in power for the past Eight years. Do you think trump is worse than that. You want to compare trump to hitler. Do you really think Obama is better than trump. I am sorry folks trump is not hitler obama is alinski. Republican establishment is alinski
ReplyDeleteTo win our rights and safety back, "It is time to play the Trump Card". map
ReplyDeleteDr. Sowell is a very sage man. However, I am not so sure he is 100% right on Trump.
ReplyDeleteYou need someone who can beat Clinton. I do not think that is Trump.
ReplyDeleteWhat you need is a fiscal conservative who will shut up about abortion and gays. Keep attacking that, and you won't get the Independents' vote and you will lose.
Someone who will stand tall against foreign enemies, but be a statesman. Someone who will enforce immigration, not stop it altogether. Someone who does care about the environment, but won't crush business. Someone who will do something about this cluster-mess of a healthcare. And someone who will tell the Banksters and Wall Street (Hillary's buddies) to go to hell. Someone people feel like they can trust would be nice, but most people have about given up on that.
Good luck finding that someone. It's not Trump. These are the issues people talk to me about the most over coffee, regardless of age.
I much prefer Cruz over Trump. I understand Trump's populist appeal, but I think that Cruz is much more versed in the constitution, and has a firm belief in the ideals of our founders.
ReplyDeleteI am not at all sure he can be elected, because he is a Christian, whose beliefs are much out of favour with half the country.