10/22/16, "EDITORIAL: Donald Trump for president," Las Vegas Review Journal
"These are turbulent times.
More
and more Americans express frustration and disillusionment today with
the political institutions that govern the nation. They clamor for an
alternative to the incestuous and pernicious atmosphere dominating the
capital. They see a vast array of lobbyists, elected officials and
entrenched interests manipulating the levers of power for their own
enrichment at the expense of ordinary citizens.
The discontent
isn’t confined by ideology or political philosophy.
As Donald Trump
confounded the pundit class in ignoring convention and protocol on his
way to securing the Republican presidential nomination, a long-time
socialist generated throngs of enthusiastic supporters on the left and
almost derailed the Democratic coronation of Hillary Clinton.
“Change is in the air,” activist Marianne Williamson wrote, “as old patterns fall away and new energies are emerging.” And so it is.
History
tells us that agents for reform often generate fear and alarm among
those intent on preserving their cushy sinecures. It’s hardly a shock,
then, that the 2016 campaign has produced a barrage of unceasing vitriol
directed toward Mr. Trump. But let us not be distracted by the social
media sideshows and carnival clatter.
Substantive issues are in play
this November.
Our allies on the world stage watch nervously as
America retreats from its position of strong leadership leaving strife
and conflict rushing to fill the void. The past eight years have pushed
us $20 trillion into debt, obligations that will burden our children and
grandchildren. The nation’s economy sputters under the growing weight
of federal edicts and regulations that smother growth and innovation.
Obamacare threatens to crash and burn. The middle class struggles. An
administration promising hope and unity instead brought division.
Yet
Hillary Clinton promises to lead us down the same path. She’ll cuddle
up to the ways and perks of Washington like she would to a cozy old
blanket.
Mr. Trump instead brings a corporate sensibility and a
steadfast determination to an ossified Beltway culture. He advocates for
lower taxes and a simplified tax code, in contrast to his opponent’s
plan to extract another $1 trillion from the private economy in order to
enlarge the bureaucracy. Mr. Trump understands and appreciates the
conditions that lead to prosperity and job creation and would be a
friend to small business and entrepreneurship. Mrs. Clinton has spent
most of her adult life on the public payroll.
Of particular
importance is the U.S. Supreme Court. The next president may be charged
with filling multiple vacancies, shaping the court’s direction for a
generation. Mr. Trump prefers nominees who recognize the Constitution’s
checks on federal authority as a bulwark against tyranny. Mrs. Clinton
would be a disaster in this regard.
Protections enshrined in no
fewer than five amendments in the Bill of Rights could be eliminated or
diminished under a progressive high court. Mrs. Clinton has already
expressed support for empowering censors to regulate political speech —
and even ban movies and books — by rewriting the First Amendment under
the guise of campaign finance reform. Count on this to be a litmus test
for her high-court nominees.
Expect the Second Amendment to fare
no better. The individual right to bear arms would be a likely casualty
of a Clinton presidency. In addition, it’s not hard to envision a
liberal court further eroding the Fifth Amendment’s restrictions on
government confiscation of private property and simply pulling the plug
on the Ninth and 10th amendments, which have long been on life support.
Make
no mistake, a Hillary Clinton administration would indulge the worst
instincts of the authoritarian left and continue to swell the bloated
regulatory state while running the nation deeper into the red in pursuit
of “free” college and health care.
Yes,
Mr. Trump’s impulsiveness and overheated rhetoric alienate many voters.
He has trouble dealing with critics and would be wise to discover the
power of humility.
But neither candidate will ever be called to
the dais to accept an award for moral probity and character. And we are
already distressingly familiar with the Clinton way, which involves
turning public service into an orgy of influence peddling and
entitlement designed to line their own pockets — precisely what a
disgruntled electorate now rises up to protest.
Mr. Trump
represents neither the danger his critics claim nor the magic elixir
many of his supporters crave. But he promises to be a source of
disruption and discomfort to the privileged, back-scratching political
elites for whom the nation’s strength and solvency have become
subservient to power’s pursuit and preservation.
Donald Trump for president."
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