I Hate Political Correctness
Donald Trump's Peculiar Integrity
I know that "integrity" isn't the word a lot of people think of when our current President is brought up. It isn't a word that I normally associate with him either. But, as I ponder the very mixed bag that is President Trump, it occurs to me that his peculiar brand of integrity really is, for me, his redeeming feature.
The first and popular meaning of the word "integrity" has to do with moral character, and that is the sense in which the word seems, even to me, ill-suited in its application to Donald Trump. I'll concede that in a heartbeat, and without argument.
But the second meaning of the word "integrity" has to do with its root in the Latin word "integer," and means "whole" or "of a piece." There's an implicit understanding that the wholeness of a person exhibiting this second kind of integrity springs from a solidness of character -- in that sense, it circles back to the first meaning of the word. But this idea of a person who is "of a piece," the same all the way through, is a useful idea in its own right, and one that I think can be applied to our current President.
Let me give you a couple of examples.
One: I believe that the nation's press has failed us through its consistent and inadvertently blatant bias. When ninety percent of all political donations by news organizations go to one party (that would be the Democrats), it is hardly surprising that journalists tend to put their mouths where their money is, so to speak, and slant the news. (What is less certain is that, by and large, they even know they're doing it.)
We needed a President willing to call out the press. We got that in Donald Trump. In a different man, we might have had someone willing to take on the press but not pick fights with every single critic, large and small. That would have been nice. But Donald Trump is Donald Trump: he picks fights with everyone, because that's his nature -- it's integral to who he is.
Given the choice (which I wasn't) between a man who would allow the press to remain unchallenged, and Donald Trump, I'd rather Donald Trump, because I think discrediting a corrupt press is that important.
Two: The United States has long recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, but it took the blunderbuss of Donald Trump to finally move our embassy there. He did it as he does most things, with little consultation and without the benefit of more seasoned diplomatic input. He just did it -- and about time, too.
We needed a President who would simply move our embassy, and we got that in Donald Trump. In a different man, we might have had the boldness to move the embassy but the introspection and caution -- the humility -- to get out of Syria in a sensible and responsible manner. We didn't get that. We got a man who decides and acts, for better or worse.
Three: The bureaucratic state is a bloated, overweening monstrosity, sticking its ugly snout into every aspect of our lives and polluting everything with its reeking and fetid breath.
Sorry, let me try again.
The bureaucratic state has grown too large, and is a drain both on the economy and the culture. President Trump, without apparent concern for the hyperventilating concern of the oh-my-G-d-the-sky-is-falling set, has been busy dismantling large swaths of the regulatory apparatus, seemingly with the intent of returning us to the dark ages of, oh, 1980 or 1990, perhaps.
That dismantling includes pulling us out of the Paris climate boondoggle, reining in the rabid dogs of the EPA, telling the federal government that it does not get to decide who uses which restrooms in America's public schools, and nullifying some of the worst excesses of the previous administration.
We needed a President who didn't care much about precedent, about not upsetting the precious apple cart of entrenched bureaucracy. We got that in Donald Trump. In a different man, we might have had a more judicious disrupter, one who gored the noxious oxen but left basic civility intact. Alas, President Trump isn't that man of nuance and discernment.
I want half the disruption Trump brings, and I want it more than I dread the other half of the disruption he brings. He's disruption all the way down: that's his peculiar integrity. On balance, I far prefer to have what he brings -- all of it -- than not to have the part I think we needed.
Maybe, in 2024 or 2028, we'll get a man with a different kind of integrity, with the assertiveness to take on the sacred cows of the left while respecting more of the norms I value. But right now, we have Donald Trump. I'll take four more years of that.
-Hank Racette
I know that "integrity" isn't the word a lot of people think of when our current President is brought up. It isn't a word that I normally associate with him either. But, as I ponder the very mixed bag that is President Trump, it occurs to me that his peculiar brand of integrity really is, for me, his redeeming feature.
The first and popular meaning of the word "integrity" has to do with moral character, and that is the sense in which the word seems, even to me, ill-suited in its application to Donald Trump. I'll concede that in a heartbeat, and without argument.
But the second meaning of the word "integrity" has to do with its root in the Latin word "integer," and means "whole" or "of a piece." There's an implicit understanding that the wholeness of a person exhibiting this second kind of integrity springs from a solidness of character -- in that sense, it circles back to the first meaning of the word. But this idea of a person who is "of a piece," the same all the way through, is a useful idea in its own right, and one that I think can be applied to our current President.
Let me give you a couple of examples.
One: I believe that the nation's press has failed us through its consistent and inadvertently blatant bias. When ninety percent of all political donations by news organizations go to one party (that would be the Democrats), it is hardly surprising that journalists tend to put their mouths where their money is, so to speak, and slant the news. (What is less certain is that, by and large, they even know they're doing it.)
We needed a President willing to call out the press. We got that in Donald Trump. In a different man, we might have had someone willing to take on the press but not pick fights with every single critic, large and small. That would have been nice. But Donald Trump is Donald Trump: he picks fights with everyone, because that's his nature -- it's integral to who he is.
Given the choice (which I wasn't) between a man who would allow the press to remain unchallenged, and Donald Trump, I'd rather Donald Trump, because I think discrediting a corrupt press is that important.
Two: The United States has long recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, but it took the blunderbuss of Donald Trump to finally move our embassy there. He did it as he does most things, with little consultation and without the benefit of more seasoned diplomatic input. He just did it -- and about time, too.
We needed a President who would simply move our embassy, and we got that in Donald Trump. In a different man, we might have had the boldness to move the embassy but the introspection and caution -- the humility -- to get out of Syria in a sensible and responsible manner. We didn't get that. We got a man who decides and acts, for better or worse.
Three: The bureaucratic state is a bloated, overweening monstrosity, sticking its ugly snout into every aspect of our lives and polluting everything with its reeking and fetid breath.
Sorry, let me try again.
The bureaucratic state has grown too large, and is a drain both on the economy and the culture. President Trump, without apparent concern for the hyperventilating concern of the oh-my-G-d-the-sky-is-falling set, has been busy dismantling large swaths of the regulatory apparatus, seemingly with the intent of returning us to the dark ages of, oh, 1980 or 1990, perhaps.
That dismantling includes pulling us out of the Paris climate boondoggle, reining in the rabid dogs of the EPA, telling the federal government that it does not get to decide who uses which restrooms in America's public schools, and nullifying some of the worst excesses of the previous administration.
We needed a President who didn't care much about precedent, about not upsetting the precious apple cart of entrenched bureaucracy. We got that in Donald Trump. In a different man, we might have had a more judicious disrupter, one who gored the noxious oxen but left basic civility intact. Alas, President Trump isn't that man of nuance and discernment.
I want half the disruption Trump brings, and I want it more than I dread the other half of the disruption he brings. He's disruption all the way down: that's his peculiar integrity. On balance, I far prefer to have what he brings -- all of it -- than not to have the part I think we needed.
Maybe, in 2024 or 2028, we'll get a man with a different kind of integrity, with the assertiveness to take on the sacred cows of the left while respecting more of the norms I value. But right now, we have Donald Trump. I'll take four more years of that.
-Hank Racette
