By Scott Tibbs, April 28, 2011
Donald Trump is trying to rally conservative activists to him, capitalizing on the "birther" nonsense to bring headlines to himself. But let me say this well in advance of the 2012 Republican nomination battle: If Donald Trump is the Republican nominee, I will not vote Republican in 2012.
Let's not fool ourselves here. Donald Trump has no ideological foundation other than his love for himself. This race is not about what is best for the nation; it is about Trump's ego. The fact that he has latched on to the "birther" nonsense is proof positive of that. Trump knew that the "birther" conspiracy theory - the notion that Barack Obama was actually born in Kenya - would grab the most headlines. If he were serious, he would be talking about public policy.
Let's not fool ourselves here. This has nothing to do with what is good for the nation and everything to do with Trump's massive ego. His flip-flopping on abortion provides more than enough evidence for that. After decades of supporting abortion rights, Trump is suddenly "pro-life" just as he is running for a nomination he knows he cannot win as a pro-choice candidate. No one is fooled, Mr. Trump.
As conservatives embrace the Tea Party movement, standing for individual liberty and limited government in the face of a massive expansion of government power, we should not forget that Trump is no friend of the freedoms protected by the Constitution. Trump has a history of attacking the Constitution for his own personal greed.
Both Robert VerBruggen and Michelle Malkin pointed out last week that Trump has a history of using government to muscle private property owners out of their homes so he can line his already large bank account. Trump's effort to get government to steal for him represents the worst of corporate greed and crony capitalism, and is exactly the opposite of what we need in our next President.
Trump even supported the damnable Kelo v. City of New London decision in 2005, where the "justices" on the Supreme Court ruled that the Fifth Amendment allows government to steal land for use by private developers. Is this the kind of candidate that conservatives really want? Do Republicans really want the standard bearer for our party to be someone who advocates that government steal from the poor at the point of a gun, in order to give to the rich?
I have often said that a government that ignores the rule of law is far more dangerous to our liberty than any terrorist or foreign aggressor. It is inconceivable that the men who pledged their lives, fortunes and sacred honor to defend liberty would approve of Trump's vision where government acts as the enforcer for the super-rich to steal whatever they want. Trump's vision is profoundly anti-American and raises serious questions about his patriotism.
If we need any more evidence that Trump's candidacy is about his inflated ego instead of principle, consider that he said he would consider running as an independent if he failed to win the Republican Party nomination. This foolish move would hand the Presidency back to Obama. Republicans should not even consider voting for someone who will not respect the nomination process and will torpedo any chance of limiting Barack Obama's disastrous agenda to one term.
The bottom line is this: Republicans do not need an egomaniac with no principles other than his own ego, and we certainly do not need another nominee who is openly hostile to our Constitutional rights. I will not even consider voting for Donald Trump under any circumstances. Let Trump feed his ego elsewhere, perhaps with another appearance at WrestleMania. Leave public policy to people who are actually serious.
