Above all, he insisted that he was a man of peace. I never hunkered down to listen to the collected speeches of Donald Trump on Youtube(!!), but I discovered that Fox News showed clips of the most relevant parts of his speeches, in some sort of context.
And, David, herein lies the problem. What Fox edits out is the batshit crazy stuff the rest of us see and here. I do not have a problem with folk who are Pro Trump. I have a problem with their arguments that are base only upon the edited bits that Fox shows. Now I know about this in some considerable detail because I share a house with a person who has become a Trump fan. Its a cohabitation I would like to terminate precisely because of the Trump issue. She relies on YouTube, mostly Fox for her information about Trump.
So far this year I have listened to 23 audiobooks on Trump and a further 15 on pertinent political history. Aside from that I have listened to, read and watched god knows how many podcasts, articles and YouTube video clips. I openly confess a left of centre bias, and I admit my sources are so aligned. But the accusation that all other news and opinion outlets other than Fox and a handful of rightwing internet sites are part of a socialist conspiracy to defeat Heroic Trump is a step too far.
This is not mere disagreement between two people with opposing political POVs. This is, I am told, a case of a vast conspiracy against a heroic figure who is irrationally hated by pawns and dupes of an awful left wing conspiracy. The alleged Democrat and left wing conspirators include former intelligence, FBI and Dept of Justice prosecutors, lawyers and law academics, mental health specialists, political scientists, historians and senior members of the US Military [now retired] - an so on. That list includes current and former Republicans.
In fact the people who ardently oppose Trump as POTUS represent a substantial component of credible senior members of the US public and military service. The proposition that these people are part of, or dupes in, a sinister socialist/Democrat plot is ludicrous.
Its one thing to be pro Trump, but another to buy into the insane notion that those who oppose him belong to a sinister plot to destroy America. I am not suggesting you belong to that resistance. However, if you are not fully aware of it you risk being tarred by the same brush that coats the looney fringe faithful in the colour they deserve.
The reality is that while polls show the general population marginally in favour of impeachment and removal the attitudes among the US civil servants and the military is likely closer 90%. Of course that can't be measured. I base my assessment on being a long term civil servant in Australia and knowing the language I hear. Plus I have read a number of books on just how catastrophic Trump has been public services. One book is entitled 'Its Even Worse Than You Think'. That book made sense to me because I have worked in a sufficient variety of agencies to get a vert good grasp on public policy over what I have just realised is 50 years.
Trump may have identified issues about US policy, foreign and domestic, that resonate. I agree with many. But you don't have to be a genius to know there's a problem. Figuring the solution is where the talent is required. Trump does not have that talent, as any examination of his business management and deal making history will show.
My friend demands I tell her why, if Trump is so hopeless, he is so rich. He has a certain genius for self promotion and self enrichment. I am in awe of the ability. It is stunning. But it is always at the cost of others. There is a reason why no US banks will lend him money., They got screwed often enough over his failed businesses.
The Russian interference in the 2016 elections was confirmed in a bipartisan report from a Senate committee [dominated by Republicans] and yet Trump persists in denying it happened. This whole Ukraine mess is partly driven by an effort to prove that it was the Ukraine and not Russia that meddled in the 2016 election. That ship has sailed and yet Trump cannot let it go.
Likewise the Biden allegations. Trump has been told that they are BS and he persists, because they are his best hope of beating Biden, who will not, it seems, be his opponent - if he survives, which is less and less likely as each week advances.
There is no doubt Trump saw some things that needed fixing, and that he was more forthright in expressing opinion. He has had a consistent political line since the late 1980s. But the fact that people see problems others do not does not mean they are best placed to solve them. There's a reason we go to doctors when we feel sick. Trump did not say "I see these problems and I will engage the best people to address them.' He said, and continues to say, that he knows how to fix things by consulting himself.
I agree withTrump on some things and deeply disagree with him on others. But I do not think he is fit to be POTUS on any score. He has had no prior experience in the public sector. He has a history of failed businesses while enriching himself.
George Conway - husband on Kellyanne Conway, a prime Trump enabler - wrote an article in The Atlantic {
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/10/george-conway-trump-unfit-office/599128/] arguing that Trump was unfit for office. Conway was a co-signiatry to a letter of [I think] 19 prominent US lawyers urging the Democrats to get on with impeachment.
You have to ask yourself, when 51% of the US is in favour of impeachment and removal from office at this early stage stage of proceedings that are likely to start around the end of November and go through to Christmas [Mitch McConnell's estimate] whether there's no a serious cause for concern.
The question is whether Trump is up to being POTUS. Even those who like him have to be honest and say he is not. Its not a question of politics or policy, just management capacity and character - and nobody who knows anything on this subject would say he is up to the job. In the assessment of many he is actually a danger to national security and should be removed as soon as possible.
That, David, is the current state of play outside Trumpworld.