Did a Tycoon Become a Tyrant?

It is difficult to keep up with how the Left describes Donald Trump.

He used to be a successful tycoon that contributed to many of their campaigns.

That changed when he announced he was running for the GOP nomination for President.

He was first described as a joke. He was then called a buffoon. He then became an idiot.

That was before he was elected President of the United States.

Since he was elected President he has been called a racist, a fascist and a danger to the entire world.

He has been described as unhinged and detached from reality many times as well.

That has evolved to Trump now being called a thug, a treasonous criminal and, most recently, a tyrant.

The tyrant description is contained in an article in The Atlantic by Eliot Cohen which has this title and subheader.

That was a new one for me. Trump is a tyrant? Really?

Let's look at the definition of a tyrant and see if that in any way fits Donald Trump.

Source: Merriam-Webster.com

Let's look at the facts.

In what ways has Donald Trump been acting unrestrained by the the law or the constitution?

When has he been oppressive or brutal? Let's be serious. Calling someone a name on Twitter doesn't count when we are talking tyrant.

When has he been a usurper of sovereignty?

Those on the Left would say to look at the various executive orders that Trump has implemented.

However, the fact is that most of those executive actions were merely reversing executive orders that were initiated by Barack Obama. These were actually returning us to the rule of law set forth based on the Constitution before Obama became President.

The Left would undoubtedly also point to some of President Trump's actions on immigration. However, the fact is that there are, and have been, laws on the books about immigration for decades that have not been enforced. Trump's actions have been consistent with enforcing the rule of law rather than circumventing the law.

There is no law on the books to allow Dreamers to stay in the country. Obama signed an executive order to do that. You could say he was unrestrained by the law in doing so.

Trump even challenged Congress several times to change the immigration law (including providing a legal path for Dreamers to citizenship) to update the law to current circumstances. Nothing happened.

Democrats argue that they would not agree to the deal because Trump wants to build a law (in order to enforce the law) and he will not agree to amnesty (for those who broke the law).

Who exactly is unrestrained by the law?

Trump's executive order banning immigration from countries with terrorist ties was immediately challenged in court and he deferred to the rule of law as the case was appealed. The Supreme Court ultimately approved his executive authority to institute a ban in accordance with his legal authority.

A tyrant? I don't see any evidence whatsoever to make that claim against Trump.

If we want to look a President who was unrestrained by the law look no further than Barack Obama.

Here is short list of some things you might have missed or forgotten about during the Obama administration. Credit to Thomas Wictor for this list.

(1) In the GM bailout, Obama illegally ordered the bankruptcy court to ignore shareholders and non-union members in order to restore union members.

Shareholders lost 100 percent of their investments.

(2) In Operation Fast and Furious, the Obama ATF allowed straw buyers to arm the Mexican drug cartels.

Hundreds of Mexican police and citizens were murdered as a result.

(3) Instead of deporting illegals, the Obama US Customs and Border Protection took them to bus stations in McAllen, Texas, bought them tickets, gave them payment vouchers, and turned them loose.

(4) The Obama Department of Justice used Operation Choke Point to illegally pressure banks to not do business with gun dealers.

(5) In order to implement gun-control measures, Obama illegally bypassed Congress using Executive Orders.

Trump rescinded the Executive Orders, thus reducing the power of the Executive Branch and returning to Congress, where it belongs.

(6) Obama illegally implemented the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), which is not any form of government rule.

He simply ordered that his administration carry out his wishes.

(7) Obama illegally ordered the Labor Department to delay the caps on our-of-pocket expenditures under ObamaCare.

The law was changed without legislation. Obama simply ordered it done.

(8) Obama illegally delayed the employer mandate of ObamaCare.

Again, that was done without legislation. Obama simply ordered it to happen.

(9) Obama illegally ordered the Office of Personnel Management to exempt Congress and their staff from the requirement that they get their coverage through ObamaCare exchanges.

(10) Obama illegally delayed the requirement that the public buy ObamaCare-compliant plans, and THEN he rejected House legislation that would have made his actions legal.

(11) Obama illegally ordered the IRS to ignore the requirement that tax credits be offered only for use of state exchanges. Instead, the IRS was ordered to offer tax credits for state, regional, subsidiary, and federal exchanges.

(12) Obama illegally ordered the IRS to profile political organizations. Formal guidelines were issued to "be on the lookout" for groups that had specific words in their titles or descriptions.

(13) The Supreme Court ruled against the Obama administration more than any administration in history.

In each case, the government's only argument was that federal power has no limitations.

(14) Obama illegally made recess appointments when Congress was still in session.

(15) Obama's Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights and Justice Department illegally sent out guidelines to speech on college campuses. The procedure denied legal representation, encouraged punishment before trial, and used a “more likely than not” conviction standard.

(16) Obama illegally ordered the Department of Homeland Security to issue work and residence permits to the so-called Dreamers.

(17) Obama's Justice Department illegally obtained recorded conversations from employees of the Associated Press.

(18) Obama illegally ordered the Boeing company to close a non-union plant in South Carolina.

(19) Obama fired Gerald Walpin-- Inspector General of the Corporation for National and Community Service--after Walpin reported that Obama friend Sacramento mayor Kevin Johnson used AmeriCorps funding to pay for political activities.

(20) Obama illegally met in secret with lobbyists hundreds of times, violating disclosure laws.

(21) Obama raided the guitar factory of a REPUBLICAN manufacturer for allegedly using illegal
wood, while the DEMOCRATIC manufacturer was allowed to continue using the same wood.

(22) Obama illegally appointed "czars," thus bypassing the requirement that Congress approve appointees.

(23) Obama illegally demanded payment for Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests.

(24) Obama illegally directed most of the "Stimulus" to union pension funds.

(25) Obama illegally exempted unions from most ObamaCare requirements.

(26) Obama lied about the Benghazi attack, claiming that it was caused by a movie trailer, when in fact it was a carefully planned al-Qaeda attack that involved over 150 men armed with gun trucks, mortars, and rocket-propelled grenades.

Of course, none of this even touches on the extent to which the Obama administration might have been complicit in covering up crimes of Hillary Clinton. It also does not consider the extent to which the Obama DOJ, FBI, CIA and others may have conspired to prevent (or remove) Donald Trump from the Presidency. That is still to be determined but it looks dangerously close to an abuse of power at a minimum.

I had many major philosophical and policy differences with Barack Obama when he was President. I wrote about them often in these pages. However, not once did I call him a tyrant, a thug or treasonous.

It is difficult to understand where the Left is coming from. In point of fact, Donald Trump is doing exactly what he said he would do as President. There was no curve ball. There was no bait and switch. 62 million Americans and, most importantly based on the rule of law and our constitution, 304 electoral votes (compared to 227 for Hillary Clinton) were cast for Trump.

Voters evaluated the candidates more thoroughly (though tv, radio, debates, social media) and extensively than any two Presidential candidates in history. By far! However, the Democrats just can't seem to accept that they lost.

Democrats and the media also seem to be confounded that Trump's approval ratings do not appear to slip no matter how much mud, muck and mendacity they try to spread to the voters.

Trump is not immune from losing the loyalty and faith of his voters. It could happen. It can happen to any politician given the right circumstances. However, I have seen nothing to this point that is a surprise compared to what I thought Trump was when I voted for him.

In fact, most Trump voters I have spoken with believe he has exceeded expectations to this point. Count me in that group. A number of those voters were reluctant Trump voters who were more motivated to vote against Hillary than for Trump. That is no longer the case. Trump has earned their respect and support in his own right based on his results as President.

Did the real estate tycoon become a tyrant as President?

You can decide. The voters always decide in our system. Or they are supposed to.

That is the only reason I can think of that the Democrats are so desperate right now. They are close to panic that the voters have not bought what they are selling. They keep ratcheting up the attacks and it seems to have no effect.

I wrote shortly after Trump was elected that the Democrats would make a lot of noise about the dangers of a Trump presidency and the dangers we would face as a country with him in office.

However, I pointed out that Democrats were not really worried about Trump failing. They were really worried that he would succeed.

SUCCESS.

That is how a tycoon becomes a tyrant.