The Trumpites seem to be getting quieter and quieter, as their hopes and dreams of “real change” fizzle, and instead Trump is being just another puppet of the “deep state” (ya know, the one he pretended to be fighting against?). Pushing for federal "gun control" (I guess he doesn't like the Second, Ninth and Tenth Amendments after all, huh?) is just the latest—but won't be the last—flip-flopping betrayal from the unstable narcissistic megalomaniac. Some of us are not at all surprised.
As I’ve pointed out before, the Orange Fuhrer never even pretended to be libertarian, and said damn near nothing about freedom during his campaign (while saying plenty about giving the jackboots more power). Nonetheless, via some extreme wishful thinking, even a number of supposed voluntaryists inexplicably got their hopes up over the prospect of “God Emperor Trump” (it’s so damn pathetic how many people said that not as a joke) holding the reins of power. (Apparently they believed that a crass, arrogant, obnoxious candidate must somehow be anti-establishment.)
The honeymoon is over for the dupes of the latest blowhard fraud, even if most of them still don’t want to come out and admit it. Those making excuses for his continuing pattern of authoritarian flip-flopping bullshit are getting weaker and quieter.
By why rub it in? Why not just let the disappointed dupes slink off into the shadows, hoping people don’t remember how thoroughly they fell for the same old tricks that politicians always use? “No, this time he’s really anti-establishment, and cares about the people, and will make real change happen!” How many embarrassed, humiliated dupes are remembering with shame saying such things? Why make them feel worse? Haven’t they suffered enough?
No, they haven’t. Not by a long shot. The fact that they fell for the Orange Fuhrer’s sales pitch in the first place shows that these people understand nothing about history, nothing about philosophy, and nothing about freedom. And that means that there is every reason to expect that, next time around, they will be cheering for whatever new pompous buffoon promises to be their Big Daddy Savior.
But more importantly, such people demonstrated that, if they think it will serve their own interests, they will eagerly cheer for authoritarian power and violence. If you actually believe in self-ownership and non-aggression, do yourself a favor, and remember which people so quickly sold their souls to the Orange Devil. Why the hell should you ever trust them again—their wisdom or their intentions? The “alt right” wannabe Nazis will be a flash in the pan, a trivial fart in history, but they are a very clear example of fear leading people to cheer for “government” violence and control. And that, whatever label it wears today (“liberal,” “conservative,” “alt-right,” “communist,” “moderate,” etc.), is the primary threat to humanity.
The people who eagerly voted for Trump are the same as the people who eagerly voted for Obama, and the same as the people who eagerly voted for anyone else trying to grab the reins of power. The particular flavor of statism isn’t the problem; the statism is the problem. And the Orange Fuhrer is every bit as much of a statist control freak as Hillary, or Bernie, or Obama, or Bush, or Clinton, or any of the other puppets or would-be puppets that have ever gotten anywhere near the throne. And if some people still won’t learn their lesson, after all these variations on the same stupid clown show, then when those same people pretend to believe in freedom, you should know better than to believe them.
Hilariously (or depressingly), the very people who cheered for someone who was openly an authoritarian, war-mongering fascist (look up the definition if you need to) complained and whined at those of us who kept advocating actual individual liberty, bizarrely calling us “purists,” as if that is an insult. They insisted that not selling our souls to the Orange Fuhrer would mean the end of the world, and that their own ability to be “practical” and “realistic”—their terms for throwing principles out the window and kissing the ass of the latest aspiring tyrant—showed how wise they are.
Personally, I would be very hesitant and reluctant to put any trust or faith in any supposedly “pro-freedom” folks who zealously pushed to get Trump onto the throne. If they fell for such predictable crap this time, even when so many of us were warning them at the top of our lungs, why is there any reason to expect that they wouldn’t fall for something just as stupid next time? The entire Trump campaign and presidency has been a sad example of how even people who ought to know better can have their brains melted by fear, and can fall right in line as cheerleaders for a new megalomaniac.
Don’t forget who fell for that. And don’t forget who didn’t.
