Here's an interesting take on Trump as president. I disagree with the authors (and apparently given the last paragraph, they disagree with themselves). But nonetheless, it's worth reading, as a fully-developed version of an argument I've heard put forward a few times in recent weeks. To wit, Trump being a nuclear bomb that basically forces a re-set of the entire political system, which is (they'll say) more important at this moment in history than what policy positions he holds.
http://quillette.com/2016/06/05/the-...-will-publish/
Quote:
These problems truly are cancers to our democracy, and a President Trump might be potent, if rough, medicine. There’s little question that his incompetence, inexperience, impetuousness, and incivility would cripple both the effectiveness and reputation of American politics for as long as he held office; and the embarrassment to the American citizens, if it were to elect him, would be almost unbearable. Our relationships with many, if not most, other countries would deteriorate, our economy would struggle (if it didn’t crash outright), and many of our problems would either multiply or fester.
Such pains, though, may be the metaphorical equivalent of what chemotherapy does to its unfortunate patients. The question to our minds, then, isn’t whether a Trump presidency would be bad for America—it unquestionably would—but whether America might survive the medicine and come out better for the noxious treatment.
|