Trump's Report Card: The Good, The Bad and the Ugly (Oct. 2018)

Say what you want about President Trump but the dude loves America, the American people and in a very big way.  I don't think that the American people ever felt so loved by any president and nobody is more overtly affectionate for them than Trump.  His commitment to Making America Great Again and/or Keeping America Great is solid even if there are legitimate concerns.  When it comes to strategy and tactics, the scrappy street fighting president excels and he seems to effortlessly crush his enemies, especially the Dems and the media.

THE GOOD

I know of no president who has accomplished so much so fast on the economic front.

On domestic policy, I give him an A for the tax cuts and reduced regulations that are propelling the Trump economy.  At the very heart of Trump's economic and tax policies is making America a great place to park and utilize capital.  Trillions of dollars in corporate profits that were sitting in foreign banks can finally be repatriated back to the US at a low tax rate.  This is CAPITAL, the life blood of market economies.  Major corporations want to do business and expand in America.  Now they can and they can do it with attractive tax policies and a reduced regulatory burden.  Low taxes and low regulations are what the Democrats view as a capital crimes.

The shinning crown of Trump's economy is the lifting of all Americans to better opportunities and prosperity.  Hispanic and African American unemployment are at historic lows and worker wages are rising.  What's not to love?

Trump has also renegotiated bad trade deals that hurt American workers and discriminated against American businesses.

On the foreign policy front, Trump scored big with the American people on his summits with Russia (Putin) and North Korea (Kim Jung un).  The American people don't want to be enemies with Russia and they definitely applaud Trump's work in working to achieve a denuclearized Korean Peninsula.

Domestic policy and the peace initiative summits were spectacular wins for Trump. The Dems and the media groaned, called Trump Putin's puppet and even attacked his North Korea confrontational strategy.  Bill Clinton gave NoKo $5 billion dollars and 2 nuclear reactors.  I'm sure that money was spend on producing nuclear weapons.  Trump on the other hand opted for the unthinkable - totally denuclearize the Korean peninsula.  Now, North Korea and South Korea are working together, along with China, to achieve peaceful and productive relations that will benefit the region.  It seems to be working and denuclearization is becoming a reality although it will take time.

THE BAD

Trump has always sucked on civil liberties and his commitment to liberty slashing legislation and NSA surveillance is troubling, especially considering that Trump himself was in fact a victim of surveillance during the 2016 campaign.  Fourth amendment protections and privacy have vanished in Police State USA but it also happened post 911 and long before Trump even thought about running for president. Still, there is little to zero motivation in DC to dismantle America's colossal electronic surveillance net that literally gobbles up everything in the electronic universe.

Trump could enormously benefit by ending the stupid War on Drugs or at least instructing his DEA to declassify marijuana, a scientifically valid medicine, as a Schedule 1 Drug (same as heroin).  The top 5 lobbies against marijuana legalization are: police unions, prison guard unions, private prison corporations, big pharm and the beer-booze industry.

For more information on this issue:

How Trump Can Win Millennials and Minorities on Marijuana

Moving on to other bad issues with Trump is the fact that he is surrounded by some dangerous neocons like John Bolton, National Security Advisor, Nikki Haley, Ambassador to the UN (just announced her resignation) and other warmongers.  Thus far, Trump has been reluctant to explode the world into more war but that hardly indicates a committed peace agenda.

THE UGLY

The ugly is really ugly.  Trump's raw and absolutely hatred of Iran should concern all of us.  I totally opposed his shredding of the Iran Deal known as the JCPOA (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action).  Iran agreed to NOT enrich uranium or build nuclear bombs in exchange for the lifting of sanctions.  Iran is in FULL COMPLIANCE.  It's NOT enriching uranium or building nuclear bombs. Trashing the Iran Deal was dangerous and foolish.  Meanwhile the US refuses to lift sanctions. We reneged on the deal and for no valid reason.

This feeds into the paradox of why do US presidents function as Saudi stooges because every US administration literally genuflects before the terrorist House of Saud and Saudi Arabia.  Let us not forget that 15 of the 19 911 terrorists were Saudi nationals. The Saudis expect the US to fight their jihad against its 1400 year old theological enemy - Shiite Islam - and we have no business even being involved.

It's time to set the record straight on Iran and we need to start with Islamic terrorism and who is really guilty. Neither Iran nor Iranians nor Shiite Muslims are responsible for any acts of Islamist terrorism. All Islamist terrorism has been committed by Sunni Salafist Wahhabists who practice the most vile, deadly and intolerant form of Islam ever to exist. Wahhabism was spawned on the Arabian Peninsula and is the religion of Saudi Arabia, here.

Americans desperately need to learn the truth about Islamic terrorism and Iran, a nation unjustifiably accused of terrorism.

Iran is NOT a terrorist nation. Saudi Arabia is the Kingpin of Islamist Terrorism.

Also, it's important to understand what the JCPOA is and isn't.

Trump, Iran and the JCPOA - What it is and what isn't it.

Obama's foreign policy legacy is mixed but mostly bad because he expanded US wars and interventions.

Obama was NOT a man of peace & he exploded the world into more wars

Still, Obama did 2 things that I liked.  He negotiated the JCPOA and opened the US Embassy in Cuba to facilitate a new era of improved relations with Cuba.

The issue of Iran isn't just a US-Iran issue.  It's an issue that holds the potential to explode the world into a global nuclear war.  Nuclear armed Russia and China side with Iran and Syria.  Everybody knows that the US is supporting jihadists, ISIS and Al Qaeda in Syria because we are puppets of Saudi Arabia who is using us to depose Assad.  Assad runs the most tolerant nation in the entire Middle East; Syria is where the Shiites, Sunnis, Alewites, Christians, Druze, Kurds and other factions actually manage to get along.  With the US helping the Saudis churn Syria into a Wahhabist cesspool of intolerance, hate and a Saudi styled jihad factory, any sane person would have to question the logic and motivations of American Saudi stooges. They are NOT on the side of America or American values.

Finally, if Trump really wants to Make America Great Again, he absolutely must ditch neocon foreign policy and forge a new foreign policy.   America has morphed into a global bully - do as we say or we'll bomb the shit our of you.  Of course the takeover of American foreign policy by neocons and the military industrial complex has bankrupted America and left Americans with nothing but a big pile of debt (over $20 trillion that can never be repaid).

Trump's best strategy would be to endorse free trade with all nations because peaceful trade always results in across the board prosperity for all people and that is the magical recipe for PEACE.  We need for peaceful and voluntary trade to replace a foreign policy of 'murdering for defense contractor profits'.

On the issue of Iran, Trump has not only erred grievously but he has missed one whopper of an opportunity for peace and peaceful trade.  At the heart of this nightmare lies our subservience to Saudi Arabia, a vile and evil terrorist nation that is NOT worthy of our respect, loyalty and blood.

It's not too late for Trump to change his foreign policy trajectory, be a great president and truly Make America Great.