20 Jan The Past Has Passed
As of this moment, Donald J. Trump is President of the United States. Again.
While I let that sink in, let me make an announcement: Effective today, I am going to give the man a fresh start. My basic approach to Trump 2.0 will be to relegate Trump 1.0 to the past. This requires moving on from the two impeachments, January 6, his campaign activities, his social media history, and everything else he said and did prior to noon Eastern Time on January 20, 2025. I will comment on President Trump’s presidential words, deeds, and conduct with as little prejudgment as I can humanly muster.
What I mean by that and why will be my topic today.
Can You Be Unbiased?
When a jury is being selected, the trial judge often asks potential jurors whether they can set aside their personal experiences and attitudes – along with anything they have heard previously – so as to render a verdict in the case based solely on the evidence and law presented in the courtroom. The judge really is asking the ultimate question: “Can you be unbiased?” Our system of trial by jury depends on unbiased jurors to evaluate the guilt, innocence, and (or) liability of the defendant.
So, too, does our political system depend on an unbiased press to evaluate and communicate about political leaders and the policies they advance.
The framers of our federal government created a constitutional system featuring a democratic republic, with a free press being another essential element. Whether they had twenty-first-century bloggers and podcasters in mind when they passed the First Amendment, I can’t be sure. But I do know there is a dire need for objective, nonpartisan analysis and fact conveying from our media today.
Part of this observation is self-serving, as I want to be perceived and respected as impartial. My rationale is that, in the long run, if I am just another political hack with a keyboard, nobody will believe what I tell them – that is, unless they already believed what I tell them before I even tell it.
With respect to President Trump in particular, I also don’t want to repeat the leftist media’s prior mistake of going crazy about each and every comment he makes. I never want to be a boy who cries wolf or a little chicken clucking that the sky is falling. That conduct reduces one’s credibility, as we learned again in the 2024 election, when nobody paid any attention to the so-called “news” presented by the traditional media.
Like integrity, my credibility is very important to me.
Moreover, as I will explain below, I truly want President Trump to “Make America Great Again” (in any way it is not great already). If I am predisposed to criticize everything he says and does, just because it was him who said or did it, I will not be doing my part to further the interest of our country and our citizens.
He Is Our President
Love it or hate it, Mr. Trump won the 2024 election and is taking office as we speak/publish/read. It is his much-anticipated “Day One.”
He has said a lot of things about what he will do today and soon. I, for one, am not going to speculate about his intentions for Greenland, the Panama Canal, the Gulf of Mexico, or even Canada. I am not going to pontificate about the potential consequences of potential tariffs, taxes, or deportation.
It is not my goal to antagonize Donald Trump or his supporters. Not to taunt him. Not to ridicule him, nor dare or bait him. But it is not my goal to cover for him, either. (Although any of the those options no doubt would bring Principle Based Politics more attention.) My plan, instead, is to report the truth about his future deeds. I also will continue to provide you my objective analysis of how they comport with the principles I have articulated here for the last four years.
What I am going to endeavor to do is give our new president the benefit of the doubt and to construe his actions in the best possible light. Why? I want him to succeed so that our country will succeed.
Written by Quentin R. Wittrock, founder of Principle Based Politics.
Look for his timely posts, as this blog will explore and promote the idea of principle in politics, both as to individual elected leaders and our federal government as an institution.
Principle Based Politics does not endorse or support any particular political candidate or party.
Trudy Johnson
Posted at 17:34h, 20 JanuaryGood for you! Even though not my choice, I will always respect the office. Sure am disappointed as I’m listening to his speech though, that he has the opportunity to unite, but, once again, he refuses to even try. Wish he was taking on a different tone…His ego is SO hard to stomach. UGG – nothings different!
Quentin
Posted at 17:37h, 20 JanuaryIt seems like his campaign speeches.
Annette Beseman
Posted at 18:41h, 20 JanuaryA wise person shared this advice, which is what I have already implemented to some degree by managing my news intake including avoiding cable entertainment news commentary. Since the election I read my news intake the Wall Street Journal. She said three things that really make sense: (1) don’t react to what DT says, react to what he does: (2) let the news settle for a few days before engaging; (3) focus on the big picture, specifically, are the Constitution and democracy being upheld. My goal is to live a godly life, be informed, but keep politics and specifically DT out of my head.
Quentin
Posted at 18:48h, 20 JanuaryI agree completely. I’m going to wait and see what he actually does, then I will analyze it using my principles.
Darren Knight
Posted at 19:33h, 20 JanuaryYes, let’s proceed with a fresh start and give the new Orange Prez the benefit of the doubt. His speech had too many boastful statements in it–which is typical for him. Let’s watch the actions of his administration–which were–on balance–fairly positive and libertarian/conservative in his first administration. Indulge me with one last look back at the corrupt fool who is leaving–(ignoring lefist historians–which are most of them)–Biden’s presidency will be remembered as one of the worst ever. Biden was never the “public servant” or “good man” that the dems and the media portrayed. Biden was and is a parasite on society–the man was never worthy of being elected dog catcher. As Trump is being sworn in, Biden is pardoning family members, etc.–who were engaged in bribery games all over the world, leveraging our government, via Biden and his son, to launder money. In Wash DC, a place full of serial braggarts and embellishers–the biggest BS boy of all for 50 years–was Biden. Good riddance Biden–a stain on society–let’s not speak of you anymore. And to voters–without regard to party–we need to elect better people. Good luck USA.
D. Phish
Posted at 20:30h, 20 JanuaryGlad to see your post Quentin; hoping it’s the first of many more in 2025. Always a treat!
Mike Madsen
Posted at 04:33h, 21 JanuaryDarren – what planet do you live on? Sure, Joe is too old and has a blind spot for his son and has made many unwise choices on his behalf. He never should have pardoned him – if nothing else, the optics look terrible. That being said, characterizing him as a “corrupt fool” is simply ludicrous. If he is such a fool, why was the US economy far better than any other first world economy post COVID? Are all EU Prime Ministers’ even bigger and more corrupt fools? To even imply that Biden is more corrupt than Trump is utterly laughable. To suggest that he (or any politician of the modern era) is a bigger “BS Boy” than Trump is pure nonsense. Trump has taken lying and venality to an entirely new level – nothing compares.
You may live on a planet; it just isn’t earth…..
Steph Getty
Posted at 18:36h, 21 JanuaryTrump will never have a clean slate with me. The most corrupt individual to ever step foot as a resident in the White House. I’ll leave it at that.
Jeff A Newell
Posted at 22:05h, 22 JanuaryDonald Trump is easy to dislike, that’s for sure. His ego is, in his description, HUGE. I’m certain I’ll shake my head at many of the things he says over the next four years. But consider this, he’s been around professional wrestling and boxing for years and I believe he long ago adopted the arrogant, cocky attitude from those two sports (Muhammed Ali also created his persona at the suggestion of an all-star wrestler). Whatever the reason for his behavior I do look forward to a President that can think and speak for himself and not hide. Our national debt is, in my opinion, the biggest problem we face. But the debates never spent any time on the debt and our media barely mentions it. I was overjoyed to learn that DOGE was created to actually work on reducing spending to chip away at our debt. I hope he can get a lot accomplished without too much embarrassment!
President Biden was kept away from the media and it was obvious that he was just a puppet for the people behind the curtain. Yes, the deep state does exist. The powers of the Democratic party pushed him in as their nominee for 2020 because they knew that he was failing mentally and they could control him. The other (more viable) democratic candidates could think for themselves and it would have been more difficult to control them. How many times did we hear Joe say, “I’d better stop talking or I’m going to get into trouble”. The Democrats and media stated that he was the sharpest guy in the room but he was deemed unfit to stand trial because of mental decline. I never thought I’d see this in our country and I’m relieved it’s finally over.
On his way-out Joe warns of oligarchies but a few days prior gave the Medal of Freedom to billionaires Michael Bloomberg and George Soros. Mr. Soros, in my opinion, is a pathetic human being and IS a real threat to democracy. Joe’s pardon of his own family, and a ridiculous number of people that had not even faced charges, was outrageous. If these people didn’t do anything wrong then why are they being pardoned?
Veronica Schmidt Harvey
Posted at 13:00h, 23 JanuaryHis clean slate in office didn’t last long.
Gary Russell
Posted at 16:40h, 23 JanuaryThere should be no mystery or surprises, and I doubt there will be any sort of “reset” between 1.0 and 2.0. This has all been telegraphed and communicated. Some see it as dangerous/wrong and others see it as refreshing. While many things are about to change, this dual perspective will likely be the same for awhile. We are just divided on how we view each action as well as the words. We’re also about to see where the limits of our constitution take us through the courts. The voters will be able to weigh in again soon.