Welcome back to another episode of Liberty Revealed, the show dedicated to revealing personal liberty to all who listen. I am your host, Mike Mahony, and today I want to talk to you about someone who gets bashed on a continual basis. This person gets bashed when they do something right and when they do something wrong. I am speaking of President Donald Trump.

Let me begin by saying that I am not a huge fan of President Trump, but I am definitely a fan of fairness. I feel that we shouldn’t judge a leader because they do or do not do things the same as previous leaders. It is my personal opinion that a leader should choose a style and approach that fits them the best. Criticizing a leader for not following the traditional approach seems wrong on many levels. Let me give you some examples of what I am talking about.

At the start of President Trump’s term he took a lot of heat (and continues to take a lot of heat) for separating families at the border and detaining children. The issue is that this has been going on since Bill Clinton was the president. Each president since Bill Clinton has continued to allow this policy. Why are we attacking Trump for simply doing what every other POTUS since Clinton has done? Some say they are justified in criticizing President Trump because he should have considered the policy and changed it. The problem is, how do these critics know he didn’t consider changing the policy and then decided to keep it? Why shouldn’t it be his right as the leader of the United States to continue a policy that was created 23 years before he took office?

I understand that the policy itself is a bad one in the minds of most people (myself included), but that doesn’t mean the leader of the country should feel obligated to change it. Perhaps he knows of issues that will arise if changes are made? Maybe he possesses information we don’t have? 

Another area where people routinely criticize President Trump are the treaties he has decided to end. People continually say things like “This has been our agreement for

President Trump has also been called a racist for trying to protect our southern border and for keeping potential terrorists from traveling to this country. Before I discuss my position on these two issues, let’s have a look at whether or not they are racists actions.

To the south of the United States sits Mexico. Mexico has long been a place where people sneak across the border to enter our country in violation of our immigration laws. There are a large number of people who are opposed to what they term “illegal immigration” and that’s who President Trump is trying to please. He didn’t say he wanted to keep Mexicans out. He didn’t mention any race at all. He said he wanted to “secure our southern border.” What is racist about that?

With the travel ban largely aimed at Muslim countries, many have proclaimed President Trump a racist for enacting such a ban. This one I have a huge problem with. Since when are Muslims a race? The last time I checked, being Muslim is the same as being Christian--it is a system of religious beliefs. One cannot be racist for focusing on Muslim countries with a high potential for delivering possible terrorists to our country.

So, how do I feel about these two issues where President Trump is called a racist? I have issues with both. I think a wall at our southern border is ridiculous and a waste of our money. I believe we need to offer a legal path of immigration for those wanting to come here to live and work. It needs to be a path that can be affordable and accessible to all. We hear about the great importance of the new global economy. To me, the only way to truly embrace a global economy is to allow resources to cross the border into our country. These resources include human beings. There are so many jobs that are unpopular with Americans, but many others would gladly do. Why should we stop people from coming here to do those jobs and others? Yes, I approve of open borders as long as there is some form of registration for those entering the country.  A work visa would be the perfect system for helping the immigration issue from all sides.

As for the travel ban, I do believe the POTUS has every right to protect our country from all threats. I personally would like to see the criteria that were used to select banned countries. I would like to know what the elements were that caused those countries to make the list. What are the statistics leading President Trump to believe these countries need to be banned? What system is in place to give out valid exceptions for people who are willing to go through rigorous checks?

As a Libertarian, I don’t like that people are banned, but I definitely understand the reason behind the ban itself. In my opinion, I can be far more supportive of a travel ban than I can for military interventions around the globe. I spoke recently (Episode 25) about being a pragmatic libertarian and I think this is one of those areas where I am more pragmatic. I’m not a fan of limiting the movement of people, but I grasp the reasons. It is military interventions around the globe that I absolutely do not agree with and will never agree with. If we can only stop one thing between these two we are discussing, I would stop military interventions. We need to put an end to the endless wars we have been involved in. It is time for that to happen!

President Trump has done some good and he has done a lot of bad. He deserves to receive the credit for the things he has done well. He does not deserve to be judged based upon tradition. Recently the United States eliminated the leader of ISIS. President Trump was criticized for being brash in his comments about the event. 

Let’s be real here for a minute. Presidents can be diplomatic or they can be brash. The way I see President Trump, he is like men who are extremely into sports and enjoy trash talking. It is who they are, but it doesn’t make them bad people. I personally prefer the direct approach that President Trump used rather than the rather apologetic, diplomatic approach used by President Obama when he announced the death of Bin Laden. Why are we apologizing for completing a mission authorized by the president? 

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