Why I Am A Proud Trump Republican

by Rebecca Bynum (May 2014)

The center of political gravity has shifted. The Reagan-Bush era of the Republican Party is over. The standard bearers of the old party are variously in mourning or enraged, but regardless of their feelings, what seems certain is that Donald J. Trump is going to win the nomination and is destined to redefine the Republican Party for the future.

It’s time for the party to accept the country as it is now. The social issues of abortion and gay marriage have been fought and lost. The Roe v. Wade decision was in 1973 and there is absolutely no chance of it being overturned. Yet the Republican Party trots out the abortion issue during every election as though electing some pro-life Congressman would make any difference in the law as it stands – it won’t. Furthermore, I agree with Donald Trump on at least having exceptions for abortion in the party platform. Very simply, we are not going back to the time of back-alley abortions and the Republican Party needs to adjust to this reality.

We are living in a time of increasing libertarianism on a whole range of social issues – gay marriage is another. Although I am concerned about the slippery slope toward polygamy, the marriage of two loving partners of the same sex really doesn’t worry me too much.  And despite the hysteria from Senator Cruz and other conservatives, the rare occasion when a woman might meet a transgender man in the ladies room will not cause that woman to lose her composure nor will it signal an incipient societal implosion. Although I personally feel sorry for people who cannot accept themselves the way they were born, I definitely don’t think they should be ostracized either.

Likewise, conservatives generally do not support marijuana legalization, but, as on LGBT issues, the country has become increasingly accepting of it. Mr. Trump wants to allow the states to decide all these things on a local level and if this is allowed, we will adjust to these new realities as we always have.

These are societal changes we can live with. What we can’t live with is an open borders immigration policy coupled with a free trade policy which is destroying our standard of living and even what it means to be an American. Mr. Trump understands that our generation has a primary obligation to pass along to our children and grandchildren the precious nation we inherited from our parents who fought WWII in order to bequeath it to us. This seems elementary, but both Republicans and Democrats have treated America as if it were a grab-bag full of goodies meant for the entire world for a long time – think of the Republicans flying over mountains of cash to give the ungrateful Iraqis and the Democrats encouraging the entire Third World to come live here. Enough.

Concerning foreign policy, during both the last Bush Administration and the Obama Administration there has been a noticeable effort on the part of “the experts” to capitalize on tensions with Russia in order, it seems, that the foreign policy experts’ expertise would become relevant again. The Soviet Union collapsed twenty seven years ago. We live in an entirely different world today and Russia should be brought into a new sphere of alliance with the United States so that together we might be able to stabilize the Middle East and contain the quickly spreading Islamization in Africa – and Europe. Today, the entire civilized world is faced with a deadly hydra-headed foe. New strategic alliances must be formed which will work with moderate leaders in the Middle East, such as General Sisi in Egypt and King Abdullah of Jordan to squash ISIS and then to manage the natural fissures between ethnic and sectarian groups to form more permanent nations beginning with Kurdistan. Eventually, the Sunni powers centered in Egypt and Saudi Arabia will find their balance against the aggression of Shi’a Iran, just as they have in the past. Democratic reforms should be gradually encouraged, but sudden regime change with the inevitable chaos to follow (and opening the door to Islamist takeover) should be strictly avoided. This has been Dr. Walid Phares’ argument for many years.

Although some sort of low-level conflict in the Middle East is never likely to completely subside, in this context, minorities can be protected through semi-autonomous regions in alliance with stronger Middle Eastern neighbors. The forces of extreme Islam may not be defeated in our lifetime, but they can be diminished, demoralized and contained. Then the influx of refugees flooding into Europe may be returned to their homes and stability can be restored for both Europe and the Middle East.

If Donald Trump will build the wall on our southern border, renegotiate international trade deals, begin the work of rebuilding our infrastructure, rebuild our military, take care of our veterans and begin the process of stabilizing the Middle East, then America will be on the road to recovery. Will it make America great again? I don’t know, but I do know this is exactly the prescription needed to give Americans a sense of renewed purpose and to restore our slumping national pride.

Donald Trump’s priorities and the direction he wants to take our nation are the right ones. That is why I am a proud Trump Republican.

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Rebecca Bynum‘s latest book is The Real Nature of Religion, published by New English Review Press.

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Rebecca Bynum contributes regularly to The Iconoclast, our Community Blog. Click here to see all her contributions, on which comments are welcome.