"The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly"

                                                                   

                                                            Sydney M. Williams

www.swtotd.blogspot.com

 

Thought of the Day

“The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly”

October 15, 2025

 

“Before I go on with this short history, let me make a general observation – the test of a first-rate intelligence

is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function.”

                                                                                                                F. Scott Fitzgerald (1896-1940)

                                                                                                                The Crack-Up, 1945

                                                                                                                collection of essays, published posthumously

 

While the good, the bad, and the ugly seems to me an apt metaphor for Donald Trump, most people would find the title too broad, too encompassing. Either he is loved or he is hated. To his fans, he is, to use his own words, the “Greatest President Ever.” To his opponents, he is an incarnation of Hitler. He is certainly not a Nazi, as his opponents have termed him, and he was not “chosen by God” to lead the United States, as his ardent supporters have said. Hyperbole, so common among todays’ politicians and commentators, is a consequence, at least in part, of the hatred that divides our nation. 

 

I see the good in Mr. Trump in his condemnation of ‘woke’ policies that have corrupted politics, schools, universities, and social organizations – manifested in identity politics, where merit is sidelined by an emphasis on race and/or sex, and where gender is not a biological term. I see it in his signing of the “One, Big, Beautiful Bill” that made the 2017 tax cuts permanent. I see it in effectively closing the southern border, so that illegal migration into the U.S. has slowed to a trickle. I see it in his combatting inner-city crime, where victims – as well as perpetrators – are overwhelmingly people of color. I see the good in Mr. Trump in his abiding support for Israel, at a time when anti-Semitism has spread throughout much of the West. And I see it in the unprecedented peace that his plan for Gaza may possibly bring to the Middle East. I see it in his straight talk with our European allies who risk economic and social collapse, with their falling demographics, increased welfarism, an over-emphasis on “green” energy, declining defense spending, excessive regulation, wokeism, and high taxes. While he is what we used to call a motor-mouth, I see good in his availability to the press. And I see the good in some of his cabinet picks, like Marco Rubio, Scott Bessent and Doug Burghum. 

 

I see the bad in Mr. Trump in his support for tariffs, which have raised prices for U.S. consumers, and in his call for lower interest rates, which stroke speculation, discourage savers, and hurt the U.S. Dollar. I see the bad in his attempt to get the Federal Reserve to bow to his demands, and in his refusal to reach out to those who oppose his politics. I see the bad in his failure to increase legal immigration, to acknowledge that the United States is, and always has been, a nation of immigrants. I see the bad in Mr. Trump in his abandonment of conservative principles that call for smaller government, rule of law, less regulation, increased competition, to be accountable, and to encourage greater individual freedom. While I see the good in Mr. Trump’s singling out universities that foster censorship and which have disemboweled conservativism, I see the bad in him demanding adherence to his rules. And I see the bad in some of his cabinet picks, including his Vice President J.D. Vance, but also in Pete Hegseth, Pam Bondi and Robert Kennedy, Jr. (Vance has been a particular disappointment, so different from the decent and respectable advocate for personal responsibility depicted in his autobiography, Hillbilly Elegy, which I read in 2016.) 

 

I see the ugly in his financial self-dealing, including his support for cryptocurrencies and meme coins. I see ugliness in his ego and in his butchering of the English language, and in his proclivity to create chaos when harmony and mutual respect are needed.  I particularly see the ugly in his retribution, in using lawfare to go after those who for eight years used lawfare against him. Mr. Trump has doubled down on one of today’s ugliest political tactics. I recognize that Mr. Trump is nemesis to the entire Democrat establishment, and he sees himself as justified in retribution. But two wrongs do not make a right. On October 7 at Turning Point USA, the organization founded by Charlie Kirk, Vivek Ramaswamy spoke of turning the other cheek: “Their brutal tactics should never cause us to change who we are...when we lower ourselves to play according to their rules, when we concede the idea that might makes right, that we settle our disputes with force rather than debate, then we lose the very thing we were fighting for, and that is our identity as Americans.” Amen.

 

Nevertheless, with all his flaws (or at least as I see them), I voted for Mr. Trump three times and, given his opponents, I am glad I did. He is unique among Presidents I have witnessed, and there is much he has done that I support. However, one would be hard-pressed to explain his political philosophy, apart from the fact he is transactional. Keeping one’s opponents off-base may be a good negotiating tactic, but it can wreak havoc among allies and in financial markets. He brings out the extremism in all of us – he is loved and hated in equal measure.

 

It will not be until two or three decades after his death before an unbiased biography will be written, one which will explain the Trump phenomenon. Sadly, those my age will never see it.