Trump on O'Reilly

I must say that I was impressed with Donald Trump's responses to Bill O'Reilly's questions about where he stands on the issues of the American day. He was passionate and assertive as usual (he 'loves this country') but fairly grounded and sensible apart from his his over-proud rant that "I am a smart man, I went to the best universities, etc." Most of his responses were unsurprising for a man of his stature (it only takes a few episodes of the Apprentice to get a rough sense of what his world view might be). For instance, he wants to deregulate Wall St. because "guys in Hong Kong and Switzerland can do it easier." He stated plainly that "he wasn't a regulation kinda guy". There were some surprising responses however. For instance, he wants to get the troops out of Afghanistan because 'there they put up a school, blow it up, then put up another one--but we can't put schools up in Alabama and Louisiana? Its terrible". So developing things at home is his program. On abortion he said he was pro-life, because he knows people who weren't sure whether or not to go through with their pregnancies and they did and they love their sons and daughters. (they still exercised choice in the matter...and whether or not people are happy with the way their kids turned out is completely negligible) But he said that it was a position subject to change. To Bill O'Reilly's question "Is there a Muslim problem in the world?" Trump said that yes, just turn on your t.v.--they're blowing everybody up! But also that most muslims are 'good' people (he knows several) and that it was a case, like so many today, of the minority ruining it for the majority. But he was viciously critical of the people who put up a mosque near ground zero, saying that it was tasteless
One thing I noticed about Trump after watching the third segment with O'Reilly is that he is always talking about the 'good people' he knows--he celebrates his connections. It came up when they started talking about trade unions (he grew up in New York and knows several union leaders, and they're great people apparently) and also when they started talking about Iowa (I forget the reason, probably because O'Reilly thinks Trump might not care about so remote and undeveloped place)...when he said "I love Iowa and its people" and spewed a bit more nationalism. Also interesting--instead of deporting illegal aliens he proposed to review their resumes and decide whether or not they should be deported based on their work ethic, Americanness, and what their references say. (and not simply kick them out, as his republican brethren might push). Oreilly pointed out that this case by case assessment process would take a long time and would be inefficient, and Donald replied that there was no other way. On gay marriage he said he was against it because he 'didnt feel good about it'. O'reilly actually played devil's advocate here and said that they think its their right as American citizens, and Trump said it was a complicated issue but ultimately he didn't feel it was right.

But if The Donald ever becomes president I think there are at least a few reasons to be concerned, and many of those who are familiar with him will start their critique of his potential presidency with paragraphs like this one.
-He wants to deploy troops to wherever the oil is in the world (Libya and other places), occupy that territory, and harvest the stuff as if it was buried in the Gulf of Mexico (and tell OPEC to fuck off).
This is realpolitik at its finest, though he will hate the academic reference if it is ever applied. It's reminds of Buckley's lament following the Vietnam war--something like "we didn't have the guts to go in there and do things right." It is founded on the suspicion that "if we don't do it, somebody else will" and it is fueled by a vigorous patriotism that sees the United States as the best nation in the world and therefore justified in occupying foreign territory to satisfy its interests. So Trump is advocating what many strong-hearted Americans advocate too, but has the guts and the plan to actually carry the mission out.

-what's wrong with Trump's aggressive realpolitik? it can't be attacked on real world grounds. But we can bring up the issue of the environment, an issue that is radically applicable to everybody that has ever existed--maybe this is even an understatement. 'We' have become separated from the environment. Not only in a physical sense (our living spaces, the man-made things that occupy our lives, etc.) but also in a deeper, spiritual sense. And since this is an ethical leap, or perhaps a personal one, it is difficult to bring into the sphere of politics, a sphere that applies to everyone. We can't, it seems, tell people what to do with regard to their spiritual selves, and encouraging people only serves to anger them, as they get defensive about their way of life that has forgotten the environment...
-we can, tho, convince people that 'we are all in this together' and that if people like Trump get in, just like Bush a few years ago (but the stakes are higher as the years go on) the earth is in danger. It is as Heidegger said (his sentences are beautiful) "the forgetting of being sets humans on a wild dash to dominate the earth--hold it for themselves"