* Whether it’s Jerry Springer bouncers, Duck Dynasty groupies or Rockefeller Republicans, they should all be able to agree on this. A President Donald Trump will be more of a problem internationally than domestically.
Thanks to the separation of powers, a president’s domestic reach can be reined in. Executive orders have their limits. Ask Barack Obama about gun control. Gridlock is the new normal in Washington. Even Trump can’t make it much worse.
But a President Trump would be notably problematic overseas. Foreign policy is not for the uninformed and the ego-maniacal. The scenarios are scary, as diplomats and elected officials are already indicating.
Internationally is where he would have a freer, xenophobic hand. That’s where it could get dicey.
Signs are manifest already that allies are alarmed, although cloaking their fright in ridicule, and adversaries will do what they do when being rhetorically assaulted by threats of military greatness. America’s standing in the world will drop below that of the arrogant, neo-con period.
And then, lest we forget, there’s the part about trusting an in-your-face, con-man, reality-TV celebrity with the nuclear codes.
* If Trump is nominated and chooses Chris Christie as a running mate, be prepared for signs aimed at the hypocritically clueless, evangelical vote. To wit: “TRUMP-CHRIST(ie).” Close enough.
* Mitt Romney slammed Trump last week by, among other things, calling him “a phony, a fraud.” Fair enough. But we also know how Romney, as supplicant, saluted Trump’s business acumen four years ago when he courted his presidential endorsement.
Two takes: First, in just four years Trump devolved from successful, principled endorser into a “phony” and a “fraud”? Second, that’s politics. Pragmatic, political compromise is merely a matter of degree.