Trump and Obama: Why They Aren’t All That Different After All
by 
I will admit, even I have been swept up in the “Trumpmania” because he has said some things that really resonate with people who are angry about the way our country is headed. And, let’s face it, he can be pretty entertaining to watch.
I really had high hopes for Trump. I really did want to like him. I really liked the issues he was bringing up and his aversion to being “PC.” I was intrigued by him as a presidential contender.
But, when you get down to the core of things, The Donald is far from conservative and really not all that far removed from President Obama in the way he acts and treats others.
On The Issues – Now, Not In The Past
I am the first to admit that people’s views on things change over time. They mature and grow, and so do their positions. Goodness knows I do not hold the same views I did 10 years ago or 20 years ago. I have lived life more. I see things differently. My views on certain subjects have changed – some drastically. It’s called being human and growing up.
So, when someone says a candidate did this 10 years ago, or said that 20 years ago, I totally get that their views could be different now. That being said, let’s concentrate on things that Trump did and said, not 10 or 20 years ago, but more recently. Like in the past few months. That’s pretty darn recent. That’s a true test of where he stands at this point and time.
And, one doesn’t have to go far to get an idea of where he stands on certain issues. Just last Thursday night, at the first Republican Primary Debate, millions of people got a front row seat to both his temperament and his views on politics.
Influencing Politicians
He stood on that stage, less than a week ago, and freely admitted to buying politicians over the last several decades. The idea that he “bought” them in order to come to his wedding is preposterous, and everyone knows it. Yet, Trump supporters are willing to overlook this little fact.
Come on, people. We all know he was buying favors and concessions from politicians, not a wedding guest list. He is a businessman and he needs certain policies to go in his favor. You know that’s what goes on up there, as wrong as it is, and so does he.
During the debate he said:
I gave to many people, before this, before two months ago, I was a businessman. I give to everybody. When they call, I give. And do you know what? When I need something from them two years later, three years later, I call them, they are there for me.
Then he goes on to say that makes for a broken system. Whether he now thinks it’s broken or not, it’s a system that he obviously has no problem exploiting and using to his benefit, as long as it’s in place.
What does that say about him as a person? Obviously no moral confliction there if he does it because everyone else does.
So what if he has his own money and “can’t be bought,” as both he and his supporters likes to say. Doesn’t that just mean if he gets in office it will be him who is king?
If anyone thinks narcissistic, blowhard, media savvy Donald Trump isn’t in this for the power, but rather for the good of the “little people,” they are blinded by the reality TV show he has going on across America called “Trump for President.”
Health Care
He still thinks the idea of a single-payer health care system is a good one. This is a position he has had since 2000. Yeah, I get that was 15 years ago, but the thing is, he still believes that it works. He thinks that it works in Canada and he thinks that it works in Scotland. Just last Thursday night, when asked by Bret Baier at the debate about it, he said:
As far as single payer, it works in Canada. It works incredibly well in Scotland. It could have worked in a different age, which is the age you’re talking about here. What I’d like to see is a private system without the artificial lines around every state. Get rid of the artificial lines and you will have yourself great plans. And then we have to take care of the people that can’t take care of themselves. And I will do that through a different system.
The problem is, single-payer in Canada isn’t working. According to a study done by the Fraser Institute on wait times in Canada for healthcare, it found people waited on average 18.2 weeks (that’s over 4 months, people!) to see a specialist after seeing a general practitioner. Wait times like that can mean the difference of life and death for some patients and some conditions.
Regarding Scotland, which also has a single-payer system, Avik Roy of Forbes wrote that if you are diagnosed with breast cancer in the U.S., you have an 84% chance of living for five years. In Scotland, it’s 71%. Colon cancer patients in the U.S. have a 60% change of surviving five years. In Scotland, it’s 46%. Prostate cancer? U.S. 92% and Scotland 48%.
But, Trump still states that he thinks it works for them. On what planet do these numbers show that it is working for them?
Abortion and Planned Parenthood
I am still not sure just where he stands on Planned Parenthood, the purveyors of abortion on demand and baby body part sales meisters.
I know in the past he was pro-choice and has more recently flipped his position, to a certain degree, on that. Was that for political expediency or because he truly believes it? I have a hard time believing the latter, but I will give him the benefit of the doubt.
In July he made a statement to Dana Loesch, in an interview with The Blaze, where he said Planned Parenthood should be defunded.
But, less than 24 hours ago, he backed off his earlier statement about defunding Planned Parenthood in an interview with Sean Hannity on Fox News.
He stated that Planned Parenthood “does good things that aren’t having to do with abortion” and surmised that abortions are only a small part of what they do.
So he’s against abortion now, but not against defunding the largest provider of abortion in our country.
Mmmkkkaaayyy.
But…But…He Has Good “Talking Points”
Listen, I get that people are mad. They are angry at Obama and his lame policies that have done nothing but destroy our country. They are mad at the GOP establishment that hasn’t done what they said they would do to help change things. They are angry at the liberal progressives and their never-ending barrage of political correctness and social justice BS.
They like where Trump stands on immigration and border fences. They like that he is willing to tell other countries what they will do (as if that is really going to happen). They like that he is appealing to their frustrations, when it feels like no one else is listening.
I get that, okay. I really do.
But, let’s face it, Trump is feeding into all of that anger for his own gain. Let’s not forget that’s what he does. He knows what people want to hear. He is a TV ratings superstar. He is turning the primary election into reality TV. He knows how to get ratings and he is transitioning his know-how for that into a run for the highest office in our land.
But, if you are really looking for a conservative candidate, if you are looking for a candidate that cares about the Constitution, if you are looking for a candidate that has some actual ideas on fixing this mess – instead of the same 10 talking points I have heard from Trump over and over again – you are deluding yourself in thinking Trump is the answer and the best choice to represent you.
Don’t forget that there are at least a dozen other potential candidates sharing that arena with him that fit that bill better than Trump does.
Different Party, Same Attitude
I love that he is getting people talking and fired up about issues that they need to be fired up about. I love that he has them engaged and tuning in by the millions to a TV debate. But, didn’t Obama do that too back in 2007? While I am not a liberal progressive, I remember tuning in just to see him talk. He was a “rockstar” and drew in the viewers.
But, after the show is over, Trump as President would be just like having Obama as President is. We would have another stompy-foot, cry baby sitting in the Oval Office who thinks the world revolves around them and they can do no wrong. Oh, and that everyone who doesn’t happen to share the same views as them is stupid, too.
We would have another President who thinks the media is “out to get them” and therefore says “I won’t talk to them anymore.” We have seen it from Obama, and we have now seen it from Trump.
The party in power may change, but the mentality won’t. I would much rather have a grown-up in that office myself, instead of someone who acts like a child when presented with some hard questions that fall outside of their predefined talking points or prewritten teleprompter speech.
And, frankly, if I hear the words “I’m worth a fortune. A big fortune. A tremendous fortune.” again, I think I am going to puke. We get it. You’re rich. You’re uber-rich. Get over yourself.
Sorry, Donald. You and your fortune have absolutely no idea how people like me, my family, and my friends live in the real-world. We don’t have bought and paid for politicians at our beck-and-call. I wanted to like you. I really did. But, you just aren’t really all that likable after all.
