Today's LA Times, Op-Ed: I voted for Trump. I feel betrayed.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

By Justin Raimondo

I voted for Donald Trump because he promised to pursue a new foreign policy. As he said in December, “We will stop looking to topple regimes and overthrow governments. Our goal is stability, not chaos, because we want to rebuild our country.” He vowed to appoint those with “new approaches, and practical ideas, rather than surrounding myself with those who have perfect résumés but very little to brag about except responsibility for a long history of failed policies.”
After decades of disastrous interventions, Trump inspired me. But less than 100 days into his administration, I’m feeling the sting of betrayal. In recent weeks, Trump and his surrogates have abandoned virtually every foreign policy stance he took during the campaign.
He launched missiles against the regime of Syrian strongman Bashar Assad — mere months after telling the New York Times: “I thought the approach of fighting Assad and [Islamic State] simultaneously was madness, and idiocy.” Now Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is saying Assad must go, a clear indication that the Trump administration is “looking to topple regimes and overthrow governments.”
In another interview with the New York Times, Trump declared NATO “obsolete,” explaining, “When NATO was formed many decades ago we were a different country. There was a different threat.” Now we are told that “NATO is no longer obsolete.” Stay tuned for the Trump administration’s campaign to bring back Betamax.


The whole thing: http://enewspaper.latimes.com/desktop/latimes/default.aspx?pubid=50435180-e58e-48b5-8e0c-236bf740270e
(The link takes you to the LA Times and then the article loads.)

[JI7]

1. didn't people use to post his stuff on du for a long time ?

He is an idiot fir trusting trump

[CaliforniaPeggy]

2. Could be--I don't recall seeing his name before. He IS an idiot, for sure!

[QC]

16. Possibly--he was very outspokenly opposed to the Iraq War,

as most of us here were.

I always thought he was a bit too inclined toward drama, so I didn't care for him.

[Squinch]

18. For that AND "decades of failed policies?" Only ONE party has decades of failed policies under

its belt. The other one has had some nice successes and keeps us moving forward.

[oberliner]

42. Yes, he was very popular here

His site is called "antiwar.com" so I guess that fooled people.

[Vinca]

3. One by one they're beginning to accept reality: they were had.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

4. Yes! Too bad it didn't happen before the election.

[Lotusflower70]

5. Lol

Reality bites for the clueless. I said repeatedly that he was pandering and people said no he is an outsider. Lol. I don't know what rock these people have been living under but he has been using a d abusing the system for years. Did they think he was just going to suddenly wake up and do right? He said what they wanted to hear in order to get the job. Now he has the job, his voters are all on their own.

[Achilleaze]

6. special message for supporters from the republican Draft-Dodger-in-Chief, Comrade Casino:

[JenniferJuniper]

7. don't feel betrayed

Feel stupid

[frazzled]

11. Well, imo, anyone who describes himself as a ""conservative-paleo-libertarian"

is at best severely confused. (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Justin_Raimondo )

It seems his main interests are extreme isolationism and libertarianism. "During the 1992, 1996, and 2000 presidential elections, Raimondo supported the campaigns of Pat Buchanan, both as a Republican and in the Reform Party." ... "In 2004 he supported Ralph Nader for President. ... In 2008, he frequently wrote admiringly of Ron Paul's Presidential campaign, and has also expressed support for Dennis Kucinich." Then Trump, of course: I still wonder how anyone could have listened to that man for more than three minutes and thought he had a coherent idea about anything.

I think we've seen this sort of paleo-libertarianism here over the years: people so far to the right they also see themselves as being far left, and lecturing the rest of us, and berating the Democratic Party. Hmmmmm.

[JHan]

23. too far east is west

[greymattermom]

8. Everything Trump does needs to have the Trump brand

so folks can understand it. Trump Care, Trump Swamp, just keep naming it and they will finally get it.

[still_one]

9. The guy is an Ayn Rand, Libertarian asshole. Sorry, no sympathy for his bullshit

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Justin_Raimondo

[cwydro]

10. K and r.

Sadly, however, many of the folks I see out in the red county where I work are still firmly behind him.

Perhaps not as rah rah as they were, but they're still behind him. It blows my mind.

[Charles Bukowski]

13. If their enthusiasm is already waning, that's a positive

sign.

[Charles Bukowski]

12. Trump said he'd

bomb the shit out of ISIS and put nukes on the table (as a pre-emptive strike). He threatened to dismantle the Iran deal - - a massively distabilizing move. Was this libertarian asshole too busy cursing the Civil Rights Act to pay attention?

Trump also vocated:

-taking Iraq's oil (a war crime).

-killing the family members of terrorists (a war crime).

-torture methods worse than waterboarding (you guessed it, a war crime).

Where did these libertarian right-wingers get the idea that Trump was an isolationist peace dove? His foreign platform was contradictory and incoherent, sure, but at its heart, it was extremely hawkish.

[mcar]

14. Thanks Peggy

I've got no sympathy for these fools. Still, good to see the mea culpa.

[tanyev]

15. He could have graduated Magna Cum Laude from Trump University.

[Aristus]

17. My response to Justin:

I voted for Hillary. Fuck you.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

19. Thank you, my dear Aristus! I'm with you! n/t

[jrthin]

32. That about sums up my response. nt

[lpbk2713]

20. A rethug voter didn't expect deception and betrayal from a rethug candidate.

Priceless.

Call me. I have some prime waterfront property
in the Everglades I would love to sell you.

[Doodley]

21. He says he was "inspired" by Trump. I doubt anyone can be inspired by Trump if they pay attention

to what he does and says.

[kysrsoze]

22. Betrayed or stupid? Seriously, they expected a selfish liar to be different?

[ProfessorGAC]

24. Shame On The LA Times

That guy's claptrap has no place in a major market newspaper
And, what's with that jerk quoting all those know-nothing conservabots? Sheesh!
BTW: Hey Peggy!

[CaliforniaPeggy]

25. I'm sorry, but I disagree!

I think it's useful to see what people like this man have to say. I don't always want to just hear stuff I agree with.

Hey back atcha!

[malaise]

26. Ah well you were warned

Fugg Off!

Hi CaliforniaPeggy

[CaliforniaPeggy]

27. True dat!

Good to see you, my dear malaise!

[Thinkingabout]

28. All proof Trump was unfit to serve as president, he does not understand the governing

Branches, president is not in full control, he is one third of the branches. All of the thingsvhecwas going to get done on Sat one has failed.

[MontanaMama]

29. The fact that Dump's betrayal

is just dawning on this deplorable tells me that he's a fucking moron. That is all.

[enid602]

30. Go figure

And yet, it doesn't seem to bother the author that tRump is doing his damnedest to take away health care, cut SS and privatize Medicare. Go figure.

[Phoenix61]

31. I will never understand how anyone thought he was successful

At anything. He declared bankruptcy over and over. He stiffed his contractors over and over. And yet, people are surprised he lied to them. Really? Talk about dumb as a box of rocks.

[Ilsa]

33. Good God. DT has been showing the world who he is for the last 48 years

with his bankruptcies, unlawful treatment of minorities, cheating contractors, taking credit for other people's generosity, and generally screwing over his wives and other women.

He's 70. He ain't changing. Who he was is who he is and always will be.

[Vogon_Glory]

34. No sympathy for this guy

I have no sympathy for this guy. There was more than ample evidence of the Donald's character and more than ample evidence of the weight of the Donald's say-so before the election to make an informed decision. Any self-described writer with the time and resources for even a MODEST amount of research into the character of the fellow who replaced President Obama in the White House and his trustworthiness or lack of same who then voted for him has no business whining about betrayal. Mr. Raimondo suckered himself before he even cast his ballot.

Mr. Raimondo, you had a solemn obligation to your fellow Americans, to the Constitution, and to posterity to pick a candidate of character and comptence. You screwed up--BADLY.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

35. Thank you! I could not have said it better. n/t

[Vogon_Glory]

37. I half-remember taking a civics class back in High school

I remember taking a civics class back in high school. I admit that it was a private school, that the teachers were as bit more liberal than the students, but hardly red or red-and-black banner waving committed Marxist-Leninists. But I didn't think that the ideology of rational, responsible voting was that far out of line with the ideology prevalent in Republican North Dallas at the time. I still believe I practice it, even though my beliefs led me away from what the Republican Party was becoming with the rise of Ronnie what's-his-name a couple of decades ago.

Until November, I still believed that there was a plurality of people with similar attitudes over in Club Pachyderm and that they'd outnumber the crazies, the lazy, and the irresponsibles. That is a major reason I found the 2016 election such a nasty shock. I don't believe that there are enough responsible, foresighted people in the Republican Party any more to keep it sane.

[geek tragedy]

36. Raimondo is a hardcore libertarian nutter nt

[MicaelS]

38. Fuck this kook.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Justin_Raimondo

Raimondo argued in a 2003 Antiwar.com column that Israel exerts a dominant force in the formulation of American foreign policy. Raimondo also believes the United States was led into World War II through lies by President Franklin D. Roosevelt and that the U.S. deliberately provoked a war with Japan through economic sanctions. Raimondo has also written that Israeli intelligence operating in the U.S. had advance knowledge of the September 11, 2001 attacks.

Raimondo believes the government should refrain from adopting laws that would prohibit discrimination against homosexuals. He also is against the legal recognition of same-sex marriage and instead favors marriage privatization, both mocking the idea that gays should adopt a heterosexual model of sexual and emotional relationships, and noting that as a libertarian he opposes "State incursion into such private matters." Raimondo has debated the issue of same-sex marriage with journalist Jonathan Rauch, who supports it.He also has written that after years of persecution by the state, LGBT rights activists seek to "use the battering ram of government power" to actively intervene on behalf of homosexuals.

[dalton99a]

39. Kick.

[Bengus81]

40. Aw shucks...another guy who finally woke up to the CON game Trump plays....

Well bub,it's not like no one was telling you what cloth Trump was cut from a YEAR ago. Oh yeah...he LIED to you about how he would never have time for golf if elected.

[Sculpin Beauregard]

41. What a fucking, fuuucckkkiiiing idiot.

Trump would have said he'd personally peel everyone's grapes while fanning us with a palm leaf if he thought it would get him elected.

A candidate's CHARACTER (must have high integrity)is the first, most basic thing to judge them on. Then, if they pass that test, judge them on everything else, like suitability, experience and issues.

Any goddamned idiot should have seen that Cheeto failed that first, most basic minimum standard. Now look where we are. We will be lucky to survive this.

Take your fucking apology and fucking choke on it, you fucking idiot. Fuck off.