Law, Political Commentary, Social Commentary

Donald Trump

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…and the Lost Lamps Of Israel.

As the article mentions, Trump may not be aware that he’s got several items from Israel’s national treasures collection in his boxes of stuff from his presidency. If you want to blame the White House staff, that’s fine, but recall that Trump regularly boasts that he only hires “the best people.” No, he doesn’t. He hires sycophants of dubious competence, gets rid of anyone who tells him things he doesn’t want to hear, and then later complains about how poorly served he is.

I can hear some reader out there scoffing, asking why anyone outside of Israel should care about these lamps. Besides the all-too-easy rejoinder, “it belongs in a museum!” — this situation vividly demonstrates the habitual attitude of Trump and his staff toward rules, regulations, the law, and how they choose to treat other people.

At heart, Trump is a scofflaw. He doesn’t think any rules apply to him, and unsurprisingly, those who work for him pick up this habit and philosophy. They’re sloppy, disorganized, and careless about other people’s stuff. Even if you don’t care about a couple of ancient lamps, those lamps matter a great deal to the Israeli Antiquities Authority, and sending the lamps here was an act of faith and trust. Through sheer carelessness, Trump and his team violated that trust. It’s not just about the lamps themselves, it’s about demonstrating respect for other people and what they value.

He really is a garbage human being. I hope that (somehow) he is not the nominee, and that (as a consequence) he doesn’t try to run independently.

25 thoughts on “Donald Trump”

  1. I view the Republican Party as the greatest example of a dysfunctional family in our time. His appeal to a solid 30% of the party with primary polling even higher. I feel it’s an example of revenge porn not so much policy going forward. And yet do I look down on that 30%? No I don’t. They want leadership, understanding and some help. What they get from Democrats is a kick in the teeth and told to shut up. There are some good people in the Republican Primary that deserve a closer look but the media won’t go there. They absolutely love Trump because he fits their boogeyman narrative so well. The lawfare needs to stop and to allow the electoral process to work it out. If you lose faith in the American people to best decide their fate you no longer have a Republic. We are moving towards a Socialist system where the legal system controlled by the political party in power decides who can run for office. Their choice is really no choice.

    2. The current Administration has done everything it could to reverse every policy from the previous Administration benefiting the State of Israel. But the current Adminstration would not have lost the lamps.

      A garbage human being? The years from his inauguration until the COVID hit were a veritable Golden Age. Please gimme another helping of garbage.

        1. “That is a separate issue, and perhaps orthogonal issue from being a good president…”

          Okay Rand if Trump is a garbage human being what would you say about Joe Biden and his corrupt crime family? Said family associates including first crackhead hunter and the rest of them. Seriously on the take to the tune of north of 40 million dollars and counting from multiple different foreign countries protected by a ridiculously corrupt FBI/Justice department/DNC/Mainstream media etc?

        2. “Consider the possibility that they are both garbage.”

          Don’t think there even in the same category of garbage There is nothing that Trump has done that even remotely compares to the level of corruption enabled by the system and that’s the only reason why they’ve gotten away with it. The democrats the Biden family the media the FBI/Justice department have succeeded in corrupting the system in their zeal to get Trump (and of course stay in power anyway they can) far more so than anything that Trump has done. So if Trump is garbage then Biden and his protecting ilk are bull excrement left in a hot Texas sun.

          1. “There is nothing that Trump has done that even remotely compares to the level of corruption enabled by the system ”

            Well except trying to be the first person in American history to claim the Office of the President without being elected. but then you must prefer a monoarchy and a king rather than an elected democracy.

            Hunter Biden may be a criminal but hardly the biggest and the amount of money is peanuts compared to some of the wall street scams for billions.

            trump is a sexual predator and a professional criminal and always has been one.

    1. But they don’t like orange man, bad -but CNN wants to get him elected or they need ratings {which the same thing}.
      What part of the destructor , does Rand not like?
      As in, what of the governing is the issue.
      It seems on simple basis if Intel community doesn’t like him, I want him.
      George Bush in lets make homeland massive bureaucracy, seemed to be a far worse President.
      Trump didn’t get us into a war. And Bush gave us two impossible wars.

  3. Ha’aretz is a garbage company inherited by limousine leftists and kept afloat largely by its English edition, which is carefully designed to appeal to foreigners who hate Israel.

    National Review is a garbage company both for not telling readers this and for all but plagiarizing the Ha’aretz article.

  5. “There is only 1 party in power, the Uniparty.”

    That is properly called the Socialist Progressive Uniparty, SPU, pronounced “spew”.

    Same outfit as in Australia and New Zealand.

  7. “He hires the best people he can, but still – they need to be fired sometimes.”

    “He can” is the key, there is a massive effort made to make sure that it’s understood that anyone who works for Donald Trump in any capacity is forever tainted by the association. For example right now Trump struggles to get competent legal representation because there is a left-wing organization dedicated to having disbarred any attorney who represents Donald Trump; this is corruption in the extreme.

      1. “That sounds like a RICO violation.”

        Yes and then some. I’m sure we can count on the Biden Justice department to get on top of investigating that It’s called the 65 project. The same way that the Biden Justice department is investigating hunter Biden and the Biden family’s criminal activities.
        They’ve been at it for 5 years and yielded nothing the republicans investigated it for 6 months and they’re already releasing key documents proving criminal influence peddling

  8. RS: “..Trump and his team violated that trust. …it’s about demonstrating respect for other people and what they value.”

    Works both ways, no?

    People I respect continue to not live by their own standards.

    We’re all fallible. Holding others to standards you don’t hold yourself to is kinda lame.

    “…respect for other people and what they value…”

    1. So you are saying there is that “due diligence” thing? Mr. Trump’s reputation was not some great state secret.

      Israel got the US embassy moved to Jerusalem, the Abraham Accords, not unnecessarily provoking the Russians in Syria with whom the Israelis had worked out a deal regarding striking back at factions attacking Israel with rockets, and furthermore, a hard line on Iran. Expecting the prompt return of particularly valuable lamps, however, may not have been reasonable given the “stuff show” of the Trump White House.

      Israel could have held back its best lamps for this ceremony, and the Trump White house would have not known the difference, let alone taken any offense?

  9. I don’t read National Review anymore, nor Jim Geraghty, mainly because of their perpetual butt hurt over Donald Trump. But, Rand posted this and the premise, ancient ceramic lamps that are Israeli national treasures, was sufficient to lure me back to learn more.

    Shame on me. What a waste of my time. After reading the article I did take the time to peruse the list of recent articles Geraghty has posted on the NR site as well as the NR home page. Solid confirmation of my biases against that writer and that publication.

    I certainly am grateful for the perspectives that Rand and this group bring to broaden my knowledge and awareness of so many subjects, that is why I visit TM daily, but it is gonna take an epic post to lure me back to NR or Geraghty at this point.

  10. As flawed as he is, Donald Trump is the only candidate that WANTS to deal with the deep-state. All others ARE the deep-state.

    If Trump stumbles or the election it rigged (again) Biden will be selling us out to the Chinese Commies and poking the Russian Bear trying to start WW III.

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