MAGA Republicans Just Don't Make Sense

Despite my father's often stated claims that I am a liberal or socialist or that I  am just one of those who want to "take this country down" or to put the country on the track of the "gay agenda" I am in fact more conservative than liberal and would definitely classify myself as more Libertarian than anything.  

He and his wife are definitely what I would classify as ignorant, gun toting, selfish, MAGA Republicans who worship at the altar of Donald J Trump.  My dad isn't someone who would be on the glass half empty or glass half full sides, he'd be firmly in the glass half stolen camp, demanding who stole half of the contents of his glass.  He sees the worst in everyone, thinks everyone is out to screw him over or put one over on everyone, probably because he would do the same given half  a chance.  He's all about money and self first, and frankly has been a shining example my whole life of how NOT to be.  He believes climate change is a farce, that we will never run out of oil, and could care less about the good of the planet as long as he's paying less than $3 a gallon for gas, yet still bitching about any prices over the $0.50-$0.75/gallon of his youth.  He cannot comprehend the economic concepts that drive the free economy beyond thinking that taxes are too high and the government needs to get out of his business.  

I'm fully convinced that he would never lift a finger to help someone else unless it would benefit him in some way to do so.   The concept of doing something simply because it is the right thing to do, without any expectation of getting anything in return is completely foreign to him.  Yet somehow he successfully puts up this facade of being an okay guy who's good to everyone.  This seems to be the common theme amongst MAGA Republicans.  They are myopic and don't see much further than their own wallets, bibles, or gun collections. 

I've asked many times why he thinks Donald Trump was such a great president (The greatest this country has ever seen in his estimation) and most of it centers on him supposedly going after the corruption in the swamp.  How he was the first president to go after toe corruption in Washington, doing the job that Reagan was afraid to do.  

I don't see it.  Trump took every opportunity to insult other world leaders (tossing a handful of starburst at Angela Merkel and saying "Don't say I never gave you anything"), profit from his presidency whenever possible (holding summits on properties that he owns, anyone?), and was more obsessed with ratings than with doing the right thing.   He didn't go after corruption in the government, just the facets of government that were inconvenient for business and made it harder to make a dishonest buck for a corporation or billionaires.  He just put a New York City flair on the corruption. 

I had no problem with is assertion that the members of NATO need to start picking up a more fair portion of the tab for that protection, there's no reason that America should be defending the countries of Europe 90% on our dime.  A mutual defense pact should include mutual sharing of the costs involved.   And he's right, the world has far too long taken the US and our deep pockets for granted, spending money on their internal matters instead of taking care of their international treaty obligations.

I also won't hesitate to be the first to point out that his taking on the CCP was the right thing to do.  Obviously they hid the fact that they are simply a viper in the grass for too long and their continued unchecked ambitions are harmful to the world in general and human rights worldwide specifically.  

But I also feel that Trump is the wrong man for the job in 2024.  We need someone in the white house that isn't going to be afraid to shine the spotlight on the inefficiency and corruption in government.  We need a leader who isn't afraid to get his hands dirty and overhaul the crippling level of regulation and duplicate oversight of the many government agencies.  We need a leaner, meaner and more effiicient and effective government in this country.  We need to take a new look at the laws on the books and overhaul, revise, or repeal the ones that have served their purpose and have outlasted their usefulness.   Someone who isn't afraid to do something simple enough that will prop up Social Security for a while yet while looking into a way to fix the broken system that is complicated by the fact that the boomers just didn't have enough children to support them in their retirement with Social Security alone.   I'm talking about removing the cap on taxable earnings for Social Security.  This costs the system billions of dollars every year that could be shoring up the fund.  There is no cap on taxable earnings for medicare, so why does Social Security have this cap?  It's obviously outdated and even if they don't remove the cap, they need to increase it beyond the $150K where it currently sits.   Unfortunately, with trump being the only one with an ego big enough to override political fears of being unpopular and let him say the hard truths, even though he intends to do nothing about the problems that exist unless they fit into his own agenda, he's the only candidate who is going to speak to the majority of conservatives who see the broken system and are simply willing to vote for him because he has the guts to even talk about the real problems that are poisoning the system.  

In effect, I'm speaking to you, Nikki Haley, step up to the plate and show that you have bigger balls than everyone else on the slate.  Speak the hard truths, show them you can cut through the bullshit and talk about the systemic illness that is the federal government.   End the war on drugs, look to Portugal's solution for something that is proven to work.  Trim the fat.  Stop subsidizing things to the point that they are actually harming the economy by propping up products that are unsustainable otherwise simply because they placate certain multinational mega corporations.  Let corporations stand on their own merits and stop subsidizing them as well beyond the minimum to make it more attractive to do business domestically rather than shipping jobs overseas.   Admit there's merit to the climate change argument and that there is a benefit to taking religion out of politics.  Get the government out of people's bedrooms and healthcare decisions where it doesn't belong and take on the corporations who are fleecing the american people so that they can subsidize cheaper prices for everything internationally.  Show us a new kind of Republican.  One that's not a member or fan of the Billionaire Boy's Club, and show the liberals that there really is such a thing as a compassionate conservative who believes that science and religion can coexist.

Knock that ball out of the park.  You'll get enough votes from both sides that are tired of the status quo in Washington.