Donald Trump's Marriage of Convenience
- Fred
- 1 day ago
- 5 min read
We are a Libertarian-leaning website here at Beacon of Speech, and, unfortunately, we have to point out that fact often.
Why is that important? Because Donald Trump is running out of allies.
I was not a fan of Ronald Reagan's. My Uncle was an air traffic controller and he was fired from his job by the president, along with 11,000 of his co-workers, back in 1981. After that, I always thought of Reagan as kind of a scumbag.
But when Reagan ran for re-election in 1984, our social studies teacher encouraged the class to talk to other students to get a variety of different opinions on the upcoming election. So, one day at lunch, I took a straw poll of who was voting for Reagan vs. Mondale at our high school lunch table.
13 votes for Reagan
1 vote for Mondale
The other kids howled in laughter, they, universally, proclaimed that Reagan as the greatest president of the century. What was my problem with Reagan?
"He fired my Uncle." Their reply? No one cares about your Uncle.
"He invaded Grenada." Their reply? We're the godd*mn United State, we can bomb whoever the f*ck we want.
"Reaganomics won't work." Okay, apparently I was wrong about that one.
Editor's Note: It was about that time that I got into punk music.
What's my point?
During Reagan's 2 terms, the U.S. Military was everywhere.
In 1981, we were in El Salvador.
In 1981, we were in Libya.
In 1982, we were in the Sinai Peninsula.
In 1982, we were in Lebanon.
In 1983, OPERATION URGENT FURY, we were in Grenada. In hindsight, you have to admit that was absurd.
In 1984, we were in Honduras.
In 1984, we were in the Persian Gulf.
In 1986, we were in Libya.
At the end of Reagan's Presidency, there were multiple operations in the Persian Gulf:
In 1988, the U.S. Military, despite having not declared war on Iran, shot down Iranian Air Flight 655. Yes, you read that right. "Within a day, government leaders in Washington were working to influence news media coverage of the incident. Admiral William J. Crowe made an initial announcement that there had been a terrible accident but stressed that Flight 655 was flying outside of the commercial air corridor and was descending toward the Vincennes. Both statements were false. Vice President George H. W. Bush was assigned to give a speech to help cover the incident. He stressed that the Vincennes fired in defense of merchant ships that had been under attack, another untruth. The cover-up fell apart when a lawsuit in international courts forced the U.S. government to admit that the Vincennes was operating in Iranian territorial waters, although the United States continued to maintain that the Vincennes was acting in self-defense. In 1996, the United States paid compensation for the Iranians killed in the incident. The government paid $68.1 million for the loss of life BUT REFUSED TO PAY FOR THE COST OF THE AIRPLANE ($30 million). The amount was paid upon the agreement by Iran to drop the lawsuit in court concerning the incident."
Have I even mentioned Iran-Contra? I have not. According to AI: "The Iran-Contra affair was a secret political scandal during the Reagan administration in which senior officials illegally sold weapons to Iran to fund the anti-government Contra rebels in Nicaragua. The arms-for-hostages deal defied a congressional ban on funding the Contras, created a complex international network of covert operations, and involved securing the release of American hostages held in Lebanon."
During Reagan's 2nd-term, there were rumors of his mental decline. Ron Reagan Jr. speculated he had early onset Alzheimer's as early as 1984. Linguist studies suggested major Alzheimer's symptoms by 1986. But Republicans circled the wagons and any rumors of Reagan's mental challenges were quickly quashed as mean-spirited and Democrat hate-mongering. But you know who the number one defender of Ronald Reagan was? Nancy Reagan. At every turn, Nancy protected Ron in the press, on-the-record, and lit up his aides off-the-record. And loyal Republicans who lined up behind Reagan basked in re-election after re-election. H.W. Bush parlayed his loyalty to Reagan into being elected President.
Today? Donald Trump has threatened to invade Venezuela.
And Columbia.
And Greenland.
And Panama.
Right now, Trump's approval rate is at 36%.
In 1986, before Iran-Contra broke, Reagan's approval rate was 68%.
Donald Trump's, arguably, biggest supporter in the media has been Alex Jones. From last week: "I am seriously inches away from not supporting Trump anymore."
In congress, Trump's, arguably, biggest supporter was Marjorie Taylor Green. From last month: "Let me tell you what a traitor is. A traitor is an American that serves foreign countries and themselves. A patriot is an American that serves the United States of America and Americans like the women standing behind me now,"
I googled Melania Trump quotes and found a couple of vague, uninteresting quotes from a decade ago. But other than her 2024 autobiography Melania, not too much from the first lady in the second term.
From Amazon's own promotional material for the book: "Melania Trump's story is one of resilience and independence, showcasing her strength and unwavering commitment to her true self."
So as Republicans turn the screws on Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, for bombing a Venezuelan fishing boat, twice, you know what I learned about America?
When you're popular, you can bomb whoever the hell you want. You can do your own research of all the military entanglements from, Bush, Bush II, Clinton, Obama, and Biden, and you'll notice that it's about 1 per year.
Donald Trump would have to bomb 10 more countries to even approach what Reagan did.
What Donald Trump doesn't have is an unfailing support from his wife, party, or press. Donald Trump is running out of faithful allies. Who has Trump's back? Lindsey Graham?
Again, I'm not saying it's right, I am saying that U.S. presidents have all been operating under the same set of rules for the last 40 years. The Venezuelan Fishing Boat bombing was suspiciously close to where Ronald Reagan invaded Grenada.
I don't see a scandal, I just see history repeating itself with a different president that didn't get his political ducks in row.
Just a few weeks ago, Ollie North married Fawn Hall.
Yes, you read that right. I thought that was strange too.