I wrote an article
called “Will Obama Have His Cake And Eat It Too?” after he got elected to his
first term. I was skeptical but hopeful in giving him the benefit of the doubt.
I wrote: “The question obviously has
to do with the way he will work with the Democrats controlling both houses of
Congress. This may seem like every politician’s dream fulfilled, but it may
also very well work against him. In other words, he certainly has a good chance
of pushing his agenda through Congress (whatever it may be), but he might also
be compelled to concede to the far left ambitions of influential Democratic
members of the House and Senate. Will he stay true to those middle-of-the-road
promises that gave him an edge or will he sway back to the more liberal
platform from where he came which calls for an American version of socialized
health care, labor reform which could jeopardize the already feeble job market,
more government subsidies and spending and thus inflation, trade restriction
and even a tax hike which are just about the worst things to do in an economic
crisis.” And I argued: "it is clear [to me] that disastrous far-left
policies will mean a certain fall from his meteoric rise to the presidency".
With the complicity of his pre-mid-term Congress, and later an affine Supreme
Court, he wreaked major havoc. And he never stopped in his tracks, after all, he
needed not mind an antagonistic Congress and simply threw a tantrum of
executive orders, surrendered to terrorists and tyrants, and turned his back on
his country´s allies.
His extreme,
intransigent and abusive positions not only leave a tainted legacy, but a
country more deeply divided between those who were charmed by his elegant
populism and the other half of the 99% who were systemically persecuted by the tyranny
of everything that is politically correct.
Also by means of populism, though unrefined and abrasive, Trump has placed
himself in a similar position. And in another contrast with Obama, he seems to
have some of the right ideas, though he is dead wrong on protectionism and
trade restriction as a means to grow the economy and create jobs. Perhaps the
most important and certainly most difficult lesson that should be learned is
that wanting Trump to fail (the same way some sought Obama to fail) only works
in self detriment. Maybe the U.S. is divided beyond repair. Maybe it will take
more imposition than persuasion to undo much of the damage that that obdurate
glutton caused. Maybe the grand old party´s grasp on near absolute power, all
too enticing for politicians, will yield comparable outcomes in terms of their
extremism, with some of the main dissimilarities being a voracity for
protectionism and mercantilism in lieu of socialism, exacerbated moralism, nationalism
and interventionism instead of their predecessors´ disdain of traditional
values and an appeasing, complacent and weakened moral standing in the world.
Or maybe, my some
miraculous fortune, they might just pass on some of that cake … and get it
right.
Entradas
