The Patriot Post® · Measuring Trump

By Burt Prelutsky ·
https://patriotpost.us/opinion/51463-measuring-trump-2017-09-30

I have a friend who tends to get a little upset whenever she feels I am being too critical of Donald Trump. Because I shall be eternally thankful that he kept Hillary Clinton out of the Oval Office, I wouldn’t anyone to think I’m an ingrate. However, assuming that others may feel as she does, I’ll share my recent explanation:

“I am probably more skeptical of the president than you are because I don’t hold any politicians, including Republicans, in particularly high regard. I’m certainly happy that Trump won the election, and I even suspect I’d like him if I knew him personally, but I confess I’m uncomfortable with the fact that his two closest advisors are his daughter and his son-in-law, a pair of Manhattan yuppies who, however admirable they may be in other ways, I suspect, would have voted for Hillary Clinton if their father/father-in-law hadn’t been the GOP nominee.

"Furthermore, I have to question his judgment. Otherwise, how is it that his first eight months in office more closely resembles a merry-go-round than a presidential administration that knows which end is up?

"Just consider the turnover: Michael Flynn, Sean Spicer, Steve Bannon, Reince Priebus, Anthony Scaramucci. This was all in the wake of going through campaign managers Corey Lewandowski and Paul Manafort before winding up with Kellyanne Conway. Then, for good measure, he waited months before firing James Comey, the utterly corrupt bureaucrat who should have been gone before the sun had set on Inauguration Day.

"For someone who prides himself on his executive ability, it’s a pretty shabby record.

"And when you consider the fact that he hasn’t pushed Attorney General Sessions to conduct an investigation into Benghazi or Hillary Clinton’s private server or even the bribes made by foreign entities to the secretary of state and laundered through the Clinton Foundation, aren’t we getting the message that some individuals, like some banks, are simply too big to fail?

"I grant that if Trump is to be measured by the low bar that has been established over the past 30 years by the Bushes, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, Trump clears it with inches to spare. But, as the descendants of Washington, Jefferson and Madison, are we now expected to settle for mere adequacy?

"Fortunately, Trump has more than three years in which to prove himself. But, I don’t believe we can claim to have the best interests of America at heart if we aren’t willing to acknowledge that there is plenty of room for improvement.”


Having laid my cards on the table, I do give Trump and his wife credit for ridding the White House of some of the royal trappings that the Obamas brought to it, starting with the fact that whereas Michelle had a personal staff of 24, probably because she had heard a rumor that Queen Elizabeth makes do with a staff of 23, the current first lady has a staff of five, thus saving the American taxpayer $5.1 million a year. In total, Trump’s White House staff is costing us $22 million a year less than Obama’s. The mere fact that we are no longer picking up the tab for the housing and feeding of Valerie Jarrett should be cause for celebration.


Someone sent me another of those lists of political comments that regularly surface on the Internet if you know where to look.

  1. “Democrats won’t fund a border wall to keep illegals out, but they expect you to fund sanctuary cities to keep them in.”

  2. Another showed the masked antifa mobsters rioting in the streets: “We covered our faces so our parents wouldn’t ground us.”

  3. The third showed an Hispanic male carrying a sign that read: “Not my president.” Next to it was a picture of Trump saying: “Not our citizen.”

  4. A picture of Bernie Sanders was captioned: “Cutting carbon emissions by just 32% by 2030 would prevent up to 3,600 premature deaths each year.” Next to it was copy that read: “Cutting abortions by 32% would prevent over 200,000 premature deaths each year.”

  5. “What’s the difference between an illegal alien and E.T.? E.T. learned English and wanted to go home.”

  6. Illustrated by a picture of Barbra Streisand, the copy read: “I want open borders, but I spent years fighting to keep Americans off the public beach in front of my home.”

Which reminded me that Ted Kennedy was a very vocal proponent of renewable energy, but successfully prevented windmills intended to provide power for the area from being placed anywhere near his oceanside home on Cape Cod.


George Stephanopoulos took exception to Donald Trump referring to Kim Jong-un as “rocket man,” asking Nikki Haley in a very disapproving voice if she considered it appropriate for the president to use such an insulting term about a world leader. Our ambassador to the UN not only thought it appropriate but shared the fact that other members at the UN had begun using it among themselves.

Isn’t it funny how much more upset leftists in the media get when Donald Trump dares to demean the demonic dwarf than when that very same dwarf threatens to nuke the United States?


Meanwhile, while interviewing Megyn Kelly, who admitted she would love to have Donald Trump appear on her show, Ellen DeGeneres said she wouldn’t have him on hers, explaining “Because he’s not only dangerous for the country, but for me, personally, as a gay woman.”

With liberals, you get two lies for the price of one. First off, DeGeneres would kill to have President Trump on her show because even lesbians are all about their ratings. Next, she knows she’s in no danger. Even in her heart of hearts, she knows that Trump poses no threat to the LGBTQRSTUVWXYZ community. He is, after all, a New Yorker who, for the previous 20 years, has had one foot in real estate and another in show business, where I can assure you he has worked closely with hordes of homosexuals.

The other safeguard available to Ms. DeGeneres is that she is a member of America’s most protected class — the super-rich!


As if we haven’t already heard far too much nonsense coming out of Washington this year, Rep. Keith Ellison, a black Muslim, has stooped to comparing the Dreamers to the Jews in Nazi Germany. I’m only guessing, of course, but I believe it’s safe to assume that, given the option, the Jews would have jumped at the chance to be deported to Mexico.

Speaking of the Dreamers, I keep hearing politicians speaking up on their behalf, making them all sound like a combination of scholar, saint and a patriot serving in the military. But whenever I see them on TV, they’re either screaming in the streets, demanding rights they’re not entitled to, while waving flags of nations they’ve never even visited, or they’re shouting down elected politicians, including those, like Nancy Pelosi, who have spent years pandering to illegal aliens, all in the hope of garnering their votes on election day.


Which reminds me that I recently learned far more than I had ever even guessed about jellyfish. It seems that the strange translucent creatures who are 90% water lack brains, hearts and spines. What’s more, its mouth also serves as its anus.

I suppose it’s too late for the Democrats to give up the donkey as their historical symbol, but if they ever decide to make the change, they couldn’t do better than the jellyfish.