Letter to columnist George Will

George Will is one of the patriarchs of conservative leaning columnists. While I do not agree with much of what he says in terms of degree, he is worth reading (and listening to) to get an informed view of conservative thought. In his recent editorial where he speaks of Donald Trump running again, he notes Chris Christie will be there to compete against him.

Yet, one of the things I take issue with conservative columnists rehashing the Trump term as president is they shortchange the length and breadth of his poor decisions and leadership to contrast the few good things he did for conservatives. Here is my letter to Mr. Will.

“Thanks for your recent editorial. As an independent and former Republican, I must confess my concern when Trump’s presidency is boiled down to a few good things he did for conservatives vs. his terrible behavior. It overlooks a great deal of policy and execution failures in my view.

His mishandling of the pandemic is high up on the list, where he endangered many Americans, including his most ardent base and more died as a result.

His roll out of the first travel ban was so botched it had to be pulled in two days. It served as a metaphor for other failures of his “chaotic and incompetent White House” as conservative pundit David Brooks called it. There is a reason his White House had the most turnover.

His transactional focus on dealing with other countries spit in the face of relationships built over time. These  relationships make us safer and, per the Nash Equilibrium, make the global economy better, including ours. Plus, tariffs hurt the consumers and disrupt established supply chains.

Announcing the exit from the Paris Climate Change Accord came the day after Exxon Mobil shareholders voted to require management to inform them on actions to combat climate change. We must be at this table and I am delighted Biden got us back in.

These are just four examples. His enfant terrible behavior is only a small part of why he should not be president. Then, there are the seditious and deceitful actions which should not be overlooked. It bothers me greatly my old party is rationalizing and white washing his bogus election fraud claims and the January 6 insurrection.

His running again concerns me greatly, as he could win again. What my Republican friends need to realize, he should not be allowed to be in a position of power ever again. Bob Dole, Jack Kemp, Ronald Reagan, et al he is not.”