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I recall having doubts when Donald Trump’s locker-room talk was broadcast before the 2016 presidential election. I found it to be crude and couldn’t (and can’t) see how that kind of talk sits easily with enjoyable conversation. I have never been in a Sydney rugby league change room, maybe. However, on reflection, I decided it didn’t make Trump a bad person and that, in any event, it had nothing to do with the main game; which was (and is) to push back against the latter-day communists who now occupy all corridors of power and influence.
It’s simple really. Do you prefer destructive polices which undermine, and which will eventually destroy, Western civilisation rather than put up with bad language? Of less significance than presidential elections though it is, the case of Mark Latham is instructive. So far as I could tell he brought his good and relatively lonely fight to protect children in schools from sexualised content to the airwaves via Sky News. A valuable service in the interests of vulnerable children in the hands of monsters. He is now banned from Sky News because of a graphic description of male homosexual activity. So far as I know, the description is not inaccurate; though, clearly, it would have been better not said. But, what about the children? Latham uses unfortunate language; children go to hell seems to be the view of Sky News. Where is perspective? And it’s perspective that brings me to yet another piece on Trump by Greg Sheridan.
How does Trump remain electable, queries Sheridan in the Weekend Australian. Ironically, Sheridan’s article explains why, as does everything he writes about Trump. He doesn’t like Trump. That’s fine. There’s a personality clash at work. For example, I think Sheridan finds it offensive that Trump slings personal and demeaning barbs at his political enemies. On the other hand, I wonder whether a mirror isn’t in order. I seem to recall Sheridan referring to Trump as a “despicable human being”. Pretty personal and demeaning. Still that’s his view, so be it. But what’s Trump’s demeanour got to do with the price of eggs; to wit, the future of Western civilisation?
Apropos Western civilisation, Sheridan writes: “Trump was right to argue the ideological left had blighted schools. He was right to champion communities left behind by globalisation, right to want to secure borders. There were also many things he was wrong about.”
What “many things”? Please tell.
What things of substance did Trump do that were wrong? Getting NATO countries to stump up more for their own defence? Moving America’s embassy in Israel to West Jerusalem? Here’s some more things that apparently Trump did right according to Sheridan: creating a booming economy pre-COVID, calling out China and imposing selective tariffs, increasing US defence spending, the Abraham Peace Accords and “appointing three brilliant judges to the US Supreme Court.”
Why wouldn’t people vote for Trump if they read of his achievement’s in Sheridan’s many articles, supposedly decrying Trump. Professor so-and-so has a very brusque and crude manner and even though he is on the brink of discovering how to commercialise nuclear fusion, we can’t possibly have him on the faculty. Hmm? If you can handle a bit of Trump’s rough and tumble language, it’s all gravy from there on.
Can we all please, on the right side of things, get with program. There’s a crisis and it ain’t a climate crisis or a cussing crisis. In Australia, schoolchildren are being abused as we speak; subjected to perverted sexual content; to nonsensical scare stories about the climate; and to myths about white settlement and the subsequent treatment of Aborigines.
We have governments and courts kow-towing to land-grabbing, power-grabbing, Aboriginal activism; making foreigners, among others, of the descendants of those who fought and died for Australia. And then there is Chris “Blackout” Bowen, who isn’t uniquely deranged. Scott Morrison signed up to net zero and his troops fell into line. Too many immigrants, too many culturally clashing immigrants. Too little defence spending. It goes on.
Suppose Peter Dutton became somewhat foul-mouthed; became insulting of his opponents on Twitter (X); revealed a womanising past; ate Big Macs; lied about his weight; and took on a rather grandiose view of himself. Yet, at the same time if he promised, and not idly, to take us off the road to perdition and onto the road of saving Western civilisation; of rediscovering and preserving traditional Australian values; of ditching net zero.
I don’t know if he’d get Sheridan’s vote but he’d certainly get mine.
Many thanks Peter Smith, yours is the voice of sanity and light.
I have to disagree! Donald is no vulgarian.
We need more Alpha males like him.
He is gloriously upfront, unique and funny. He says what has to be said and I love him for it.
His colourful turn of phrases are masterful and I for one cheer him on when he says what needs to be said to wake the world up from their stupor.
It is one of the reasons he has been so successful.
Donald is single handedly doing what has to be done to save Western Civilisation. No less.
His job is not for the faint hearted.
The hatred of the anti-Trumpians bemuses me.
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At a function in a pub, 10 of us sat at a long table with me at one end opposite the sister of a very close friend (RIP) and we were talking privately, well as privately as you can in a crowd, and she leaned forward and said “I really like Trump” (not quite as endeared as you are!).
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A man I know, who claims not to be “a Lefty” and never to have voted Labor, who had never met the woman and was not involved in our conversation, was seated at the other end of the table and on hearing that jumped up, said “I’m not going to sit here and listen to this” and stormed off.
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Good riddance!
I presume it was in petty annoyance- a huff perhaps!
Of course the leftie had to leave as the next question to him would have been “Tell us exactly what Trump has done that displeases you as opposed to the idiot Biden?” They can’t answer that question as they either know there is nothing or the response would be another lefte lie.
I find that the “Trump Derangement Syndrome – Find a Cure” ribbon is a simple response online.
Agree Edwina. I find Trump entertaining. And his kids clearly love him. A good sign. Vulgarian wasn’t my choice of word in the title.
Peter Smith
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I have to agree with you and your children.
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If I wanted to have dinner with someone I’d certainly pick Donald Trump as a guest well ahead of Joe Biden or Greg Sheridan.
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Come to think of it Greg Sheridan and Joe Biden would be a good pairing for a dinner party – but one I wouldn’t want to be part of. Just imagine how boring that would be. And it would be even more boring if Joe Biden was able to remain awake.
I meant to say I agree with his children. Sorry about that.
I think Trumpie is a big huggy bear of a man and I am sure his wife thinks the same.
Which one–first, second, or third? Trump is far preferable to his Democratic opponents, but that does not mean that his faults are not still faults. Washington, Jefferson, and many others managed to be statesmen without making public jokes about filthy behaviour (and then refusing to ever admit that such talk was wrong). “Fools make a mock at sin: but among the righteous there is favour.” (Proverbs 14:9).
There are so many reasons to love Quadrant, but this article about Donald Trump is NOT one of them!
Trump is not just a vulgarian who likes feeling-up “pussy” because he is famous, and he can — he is a flim-flam man who thought he could overthrow the American Constitution and get away with it. In fact, one of the great con artists of the 20th and 21st centuries.
Trump-lovers justify their addiction by comparing him with Biden. An odious comparison, indeed! How is it, that in a country of some 330 million + people, Americans cannot come up with two better candidates than these two? Something is American politics is broken, and as a consequence, the rest of the civilized Western world lives in trepidation — because the power of American military and industrial innovation has been the bulwark against the autocratic evils that confront us since the 1950’s!
Trump is an isolationist! If he was re-elected, do you feel that the American partnerships with Australian military would be respected? Or do you think that the narcissistic buffoon would cosy up to the two dictators he so admires — Putin and the little fat man from North Korea?
Be very careful what you wish for!
“How is it, that in a country of some 330 million + people, Americans cannot come up with two better candidates than these two?”
My thoughts exactly!
Competency is a much devalued virtue these days. This is largely due to the woke fad of diversity. Once upon a time we would have hired someone because they were competent. Now we are expected to hire someone because they are diverse.
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Diversity, the reasoning goes, gives us a variety of opinions from which the optimal solution to a problem may be found. In the past we might have relied on a competent person to identify the optimal solution to a problem. Now we are expected to rely on an argumentative committee. A large number of politically motivated “studies”, using dodgy statistics, supports this approach. And yet I wonder, would even the most Woke choose a surgeon who qualifies as diverse over one who is competent?
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During the budget processes I used to be part of, capital acquisitions used to be categorised as must have or nice to have. In the case of an American president, I would categorise politeness as nice to have, but competence as must have.
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that’s a useful distinction
Sheridan ended his article with “But he undeniably has this strange, inexplicable
chemistry with millions of voters”.
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“Inexplicable”! Commenters on the article tried to explain it to Sheridan, I understand it and share the feelings of those (tens of) “millions of voters” and while I don’t presume to speak for Peter Smith, I’d bet “London to a brick” he does not find Trump’s appeal to voters “inexplicable”.
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https://todayspaper.theaustralian.com.au/infinity/article_popover_share.aspx?guid=65788f5c-4d64-4141-9b5c-a052b09f162c
As if Sheridan wasn’t getting enough attention?
Compare Trump’s speech in Poland with Obama’s in Cairo.
More attention to the sensible policies that worked, put in place under President Trump, and less attention to picking apart every minor action for imagined faults, would be far fairer and much more democratic. The MSM have been absent in the former and playing hard at the latter.
President Trump made America energy independent and ignored the climate hysterics. For that alone, he should get a medal. As for his self-endorsing brashness, I can live with it in his rallies as he gees up the troops who love a scallywag and a showman. Greg Sheridan, lighten up. I am sure that at a dinner party with a properly set table President Trump would be as civilised and well-behaved as any other person. Locker room talk is just that; men being silly. Many men of a previous generation are prone to a bit of boasting of prowess; sorry it’s such news. They can also be strong family men, as Donald Trump shows himself to be with his children. Locker room talk has nothing to do with normal behaviour.
President Trump recently gave some straight talk: he would like to end the killing in Ukraine and to remove sexualised content from children’s schools. He also wants to improve the lives of Blacks and Latinos in the US and has a track record in trying to do so. I can’t see anything badly behaved about any of that.
If someone leaves a table because they can’t stand his name, then the problem is with them, not the man named Trump who deserves now the honorary and respectful title of President, which is by custom due to him. He does not deserve the confected lawfare to which he is subject right now, degrading the Presidency, while at the same time Biden is genuinely degrading his Presidential position and has been doing so for years as a Senator and Vice President. I hope Mr. Trump becomes President again.
Loved every word of your comment Elizabeth.
On that note , Peter , I don’t think I’ve disagreed with one word you’ve ever written !
Yes Elizabeth , nice post . Trump’s children are the direct opposite of Biden’s sorry brood , and this should not be ignored . To pillory him over (honest) locker room talk , the one thing that galvanised the fem/dem/left is ludicrous , considering Biden’s endless crude gaffes and behaviour. That he’s still there , propped up by a corrupt and compliant media is a terrible indictment on our society .
Family life includes marriage, not just children. In the former, Trump has a poor record (depending on how you look at it, I suppose). So did Reagan (though hardly to the same extent); but the matter should not be simply ignored.
And locker-room talk of the kind in which Trump has at times engaged is MORALLY wrong in a locker room; when it is used in a public forum (such as on a radio program) it is no longer locker-room talk.
This was meant to be a comment to Mrs. Beare, not john mac directly.
Elizabeth Beare
A best friend of my wife and myself was an accomplished American woman who actually met Donald Trump socially. (Sadly she passed away recently).
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Our friend was a medical director in the field of brain rehabilitation. You couldn’t meet a more intelligent and compassionate woman who dedicated a large part of her life to caring for people in traumatic circumstances.
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She found Donald Trump charming, friendly and kind. And she was a first rate judge of character. She’d encountered people from all walks of life.
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I’d go with her opinion ahead of Greg Sheridan’s and those in the mainstream media with a political axe to grind.
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I unashamedly like the man – fully knowing that my opinion is regarded with the highest distain by many Australians who just seem to follow the herd when it comes to Donald Trump.
I’m with you , Edwina . Trump IS funny , engaging , and mentally nimble . He also loves his country and his policies were spot on . Sheridan embarrasses himself with his TDS , no doubt seeking invitations to the “correct’ parties. Trumps only crime , really , was to beat the anointed one – Shrillary , and for that they released the hounds from hell . No man in history has been treated worse , even Hitler , yet Trump has the courage and constitution to weather the 8 year , 24/7 pile on . May God bless him .
Yes, John mac, God bless Donald Trump. Strip it down and I think he’s a good man. In any event, he’s the best we’ve got. There’s evil abroad and there are few, if any, among so-called conservative politicians who have the fortitude to stand against it. Viktor Orban, Trump ….?
It is not that Trump attacks his enemies, it’s that he attacks his friends. Every single one. Check out the alarming YouTube piece referenced by John Derbyshire [Radio Derb, 25/8/23 on vdare.com ]
And one day, in our demographic-collapsed countries, we might just begin to appreciate and understand Trump’s contribution to the Sub-Saharan countries, whereby the aid to these countries was not tied to contraception and abortion.
Great work Peter.
Sheridan needs a good touch up in regards to Donald Trump.
I think that Trump is a political miracle and I will continue to say that anywhere and anytime.
If you haven’t already read it,get hold of Conrad Black’s book:
‘Donald J Trump ,a President like no other’.
Incredibly well written.
Donald Trump is demonised by the bien pensant establishment – i.e. the mainstream media, the Deep State and the political parties – for two principal reasons.
Firstly, he is an alpha male in an era of gender denial in which radical feminism insists on the masculinisation of women and the feminisation of men. He probably thinks that a woman is a human person with two X chromosomes. Horrors!
Secondly, he is a “non-professional” politician, that is, one who seeks to represent the people rather than the party. That is known as “letting the side down”. Inexcusable!
Finally, I suspect that he is a secret North Sydney Bears supporter.
Thanks Peter Smith for your common sense article on Donald Trump which among other things about Trump simply and insightfully explains why people vote for him in polls today : he achieved a lot. There’s no mystery involved as Greg Sheridan implies. It’s all pretty obvious.
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You don’t need a theory from some Sociologist at Latrobe University to explain it.
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The more Greg Sheridan tried to explain that theory the more improbable it sounded as an explanation of Donald Trump’s popularity. Yet Greg Sheridan seemed to think it was verging on the profound.
Trump may be a vulgarian, which politcian isn’t a foul-mouthed coward when he/she/it thinks the mic is dead, but at least he’s honest about it. Unlike Joe Coward Kiddy Steps Biden.
I think that the likes of Greg Sheridan cannot handle a right brain doer like Donald Trump ; I wonder whether there is even an element of
jealousy or envy.
In engaging with Donald Trump,you are dealing with a big big man.
Jock M
He’s certainly a big man in the true meaning of the word. A real leader who actually governs and leads when he’s in power. He’s not a puppet like some others. People who vote for Donald Trump know what they’re getting and they like what they’re getting.
Greg Sheridan was just on Bolt(Sky) and he said that he wouldn’t let Donald Trump in the house with his grandchildren ; a piece of work he is.
Yes, I heard that too Jock. I don’t think that Sheridan meant what could reasonably be inferred from his comment, but it was an awful thing to say and he should have the decency to correct the record. I simply don’t know whether he has.
Yes Peter ; who was it that said “He may be an SOB , but he’s OUR SOB !”?
Stopped reading Sheridan years ago . May glance at his column , only for confirmation bias , sadly .
I’m a Yank and Trump is not just a vulgarian; he is the political equivalent of Jeffrey Epstein, a wealthy man full of entitlement who thinks the rules are for little people and money can buy your way out of anything.
Taylor1956.
Are you a Democrat and do you love the Bidens?
Just wondering.
Yes, he did some good things, like just about every other president. No president’s record is wholly good or bad. Nixon was a very good president. Obama, bogey of the right and beloved of conspiracy theorists, had the guts to go after Bin Laden (sleepy Joe didn’t want to, by all accounts, and Obama would have wound up like Jimmy Carter if it had gone wrong). But “saving western civilisation”? Come off it. Trump, man-child that he is, has done a stupefying amount of damage to American politics with his truly wicked — there is no other word for it — stolen election nonsense. Too vain, weak and feeble to admit that he was defeated, and he’s spent four years pushing this lying nonsense onto the electorate. He’s utterly unfit to be President.
You feel especially sorry for those poor wretched, deluded schmucks that Trump gee’d up to break into the Capitol,. Yes, the punishments were much too harsh; they were just stupid vandals and should have been punished accordingly.
And this “Trump is a vulgarian” line is a straw man. Who gives a toss whether he’s a vulgarian? And who cares about his private life as a private citizen? But he wants to be President. Like honesty, honour in little things generally indicates honour (and honesty) in big things. Saving western civilisation? He’s a shady businessman and a serial adulterer who said sneeringly of an American POW who was tortured in captivity, “I like people who weren’t captured.”
There are plenty of good Republicans who aren’t overgrown children.
I agree with you Peter we appear to have become too precious what ever happened to free speech!
We are now allowing the elites to treat this as misinformation and hate speech and as you said this is allowing a total abuse of Power.
Its called Communism folks and time now to Push back again get behind the Donald as he is our only hope well said Peter
Greg Sheridan is suffering badly from an extreme case of TDS such that he was given to say that Trump followers – and I paraphrase here – are suffering from a severe mental disorder. It was insulting in the extreme and every time Sheridan appears on Sky programs, I switch off. Yes, President Trump is brash and outspoken, but he is also known to have a very kind heart and those that know him well can vouch for that. He was a great President, hindered constantly by the hatred and bile thrown at him. A lesser man would have given up long ago, but he is not a lesser man. He would get my vote every time.
Lilybeth53 says “He was a great President, hindered constantly by the hatred and bile thrown at him. A lesser man would have given up long ago, but he is not a lesser man.”
Exactly.
I am morally and socially superior and highly educated. I can’t stand vulgarity. Of course, you are morally and socially superior and highly educated too? (Shh! don’t let anyone hear that I hope Trump wins the Presidency! Unless he does, I foresee a more authoritarian world!)
About time for this sensible and balanced article, Peter. I agree with everything you say, and almost all the comments. Greg Sheridan’s views on Trump are the oddest thing about Sheridan. Usually Sheridan is very sensible,, but his views on Tyump have long irritated me for their irrationality, apparently based mainly on Trump not being a PLH (Person Like Him). . John G
Donald Trump’s popularity is not a mystery for me. The fact that he isn’t better than neck-and-neck with Biden in the polls is the strange thing for me. Donald Trump should be in an unassailable lead against President Biden like he is against the other contenders in polls around the Republican primaries’ race. Trump’s track record in office is plainly superior to Biden’s.
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It’s more a mystery to me how President Biden is even close to Trump in the polls with the economy not going well and the ongoing war in Ukraine which has happened on Biden’s watch – in contrast with a booming economy and no Ukraine invasions under the Trump administration. If you think the Ukraine war was just bad luck for Biden, think again. It’s no coincidence Putin invaded Ukraine immediately before the Trump administration and immediately after it. Not during it.
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However unlike mainstream media commentators I think the fact Trump isn’t further ahead in all polls is explainable by the astounding and unprecedented avalanche of legal actions and investigations against him carried out with an unprecedented level of government resources – which started in 2016, straight after Trump was elected President.
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They’ve had their effect and they certainly haven’t been a net benefit for Donald Trump as some commentators seem to ridiculously claim. Without them I think he’d have an even more commanding lead in the primaries than the massive lead he already has. And he’d certainly be well ahead of Biden in polls instead of neck and neck as he is now.
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But my prediction is when the enormity of the Justice system manipulation is plain for all to see the penny will drop with all voters including swinging voters. When the race for president gets underway between Biden and Trump it will heavily impact Trump favourably and Biden negatively. Trump presidential campaign advertising will ensure that no one is left in any doubt about the astounding level of government resources used against him personally. Polls show the American people already have strong reservations about their Justice system. That’s going to get worse as more is revealed.
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Greg Sheridan is wrong again when he maintains that these are simply early poll numbers and Trump is more likely to lose against Biden than win.
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Trump is a very popular figure with Republican voters. His popularity is not some fleeting aberration; nor a mystery as Greg Sheridan maintains. Why do I say that? Because respected Pew polls show he’s the most popular US president since Ronald Reagan. He’s quite close to Reagan in popularity : 37% of Republican voters think he’s the best recent president 41% think Reagan was. The Bushes rate around 5%.
Hit the nail on the head with that , Searcher, (and Lilybeth53) , no human has ever been treated worse in public than Trump , no one . That he weathers this 24/7 attack and vitriol would have destroyed a lesser man . Can those who hate him , even on these pages , concede that ?
john mac
The political attacks on Biden by Republican supporters are in the same league as those against Trump by Democrat supporters.
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However the big difference is that the worst attacks on Trump have been financed by the state. And the mainstream media – even some conservative outlets – have generally been more biased against Trump.
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The overall level of vitriol in US politics is sad but attacks financed by the state are far worse. They’re a serious threat to US democracy. They’re closer in character to what happens in banana republics rather than in respected functioning democracies.
Trump upset Sheridan when Donald said he would end the waring, poor peaceful Greg.
It’s going to take a Trump presidency to end the Ukrainian war and to ensure a more lasting peace, whatever Greg Sheridan might think.
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Trump will give both Ukraine and Russia a way out to end the killing. And he’ll ensure peace stands a good chance of lasting. As part of that he’ll ensure Europe takes a lot more responsibility for its own defence rather than leeching off the US. That will involve a commitment to far greater defence spending and preparedness by Europe – far greater than Russia has already pressured Europe into taking only when a war was already on Europe’s doorstep.
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Here’s a link below to Trump in action starting that process with NATO when he was president. Notice his predictions about and criticism of energy policy, particularly Germany’s energy policy with Russia. You’ll notice Trump is a true leader who isn’t afraid to stand on toes and call things as they are. And what’s more he was proven right.
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https://youtu.be/Vpwkdmwui3k?si=Csu_iGgl1TM0XvY8
Thanks for the link. Trump told it like it or not. Germany 60 to 70% dependent on Russia for energy whilst shutting down nuclear. I thought Germans were supposed to be smart.
Trump’s vulgarity is the problem.
He is less effective because of it.
Having the best policies is not sufficient. You have to carry people with you and he fails on that score time after time.
There is no sense in treating good policies and good behaviour as either/or propositions. You can have good policies and not behave badly.
As effective as many of his policies were, Donald Trump was the architect of his own demise.
The forces of the leftwing media were waiting for him to misbehave and he gave them what they wanted.
Had he the grace of that fraud Barak Obama he would have polled 60% of the vote. Because he is a ruffian he was defeated by a demented idiot you would not trust to put the garbage bins out.
JH
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Your post seems to overlook the fact that Donald Trump was actually elected US president. He came from nowhere on the political landscape to be elected US president. It was an incredible feat especially since he didn’t have the full support of the Republican Party. And he was elected actually being himself. Not pretending to be someone he wasn’t like you seem to implying he should do.
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If Donald Trump had presented himself as a nice cardboard cut out he would never have been elected.
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If he presented himself like so many previous leaders on both sides of politics have, as someone they really weren’t, he would never have been elected. Enough people on both sides of politics in the US had felt disenfranchised by leaders who’d done that. They wanted someone real. Someone they felt represented them not simply the political establishment.
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And the overwhelming majority of voters who voted for him were very satisfied with his performance because unlike some others in recent history he actually did what he said he would do. He didn’t simply present himself as Mr Niceguy. He delivered.
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What’s more according to the respected Pew poll I referred to above he’s the most popular recent US President among Republican voters, second only to Ronald Reagan, who he’s only marginally behind in popularity. The Bushes are so far behind him they hardly rate.
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And despite all the establishment has thrown at him he’s going to win the presidency again as Donald Trump – not some PR manufactured Mr Niceguy.