How to hold Donald Trump accountable
We had a lot of great plans for 2016. The Republican Party was poised to shed its empty shell and accomplish a much needed ideological realignment. Suffice to say, history turned out differently and we are now stuck with at least four years of President Donald Trump (weird, right?).
The reforms that Restart GOP held up as potential solutions for the party are now no longer germane, since everything turned out FABULOUS:
- We won the Senate/House.
- We won the White House.
- We held state governments.
So why would there be anything to fix in the party? This is fine.
We have decided to focus our attention on how we can educate Republicans — Conservatives, Libertarians, what have you — on what actions the Trump administration is taking and how they should be viewed through the lens of principled Republicanism.
There will be a lot of voices in media who will try to do exactly what we’re doing. But our hope is, as Republicans who are skeptical of Trump, to be more objective. The far left will be working to completely repudiate his presidency and cast him in a racist, bigoted light. Meanwhile the right will label anyone who doesn’t support him as a traitor to the party. We’re taking the middle road and standing for principle.
Our fact-check or “Trumped Scorecard” will focus on important actions coming from the Trump presidency and evaluate how closely they fall in line with where the Republican Party should be.
The scores are as follows:
SCORE: “AMERICA’S BEEN TRUMPED”
This designation is fairly straightforward and will presumably be used a lot. Whenever President Trump or his administration takes an action or makes a statement that is recognizably TRUMP, our team will issue a minimum of one and a maximum of three yellow toupees, depending on how Trump-esque it is.
Actions and statements will be judged as TRUMP if they are bombastic, short-sighted, petty, apathetic, racially charged, or ingratiating. Granted some of you will say that everything he says/does has one of these — we’re going to try to stick to the facts on important actions.
SCORE: “SANE RONALD REAGAN”
We probably won’t see Sane Ron very much, unless something drastically changes in President-Elect Trump’s character. This score is reserved for initiatives that originate within the Trump administration and achieve strong policy changes that put America on sound path to success. Since “Make America Great Again” was originally Ronald Reagan’s slogan, I think it’s only fitting to use him.
Actions and statements will be given a SANE RON score if they encompass general Republican principles that are implemented by the Trump administration. These principles include but are not limited to the virtues of free enterprise, human dignity, individual freedom, traditional American values, and limited government.
SCORE: “COULD/WON’T MAKE AMERICA GREAT”
We decided that there will inevitably be some unmeasurable successes with a Republican Senate, House and White House. So the “Could Make America Great” sticker stands for actions that have the potential to feasibly help the country and move Republicanism forward. Alternatively, “Won’t Make America Great” stands for actions that are potentially disastrous.
An example of good potential could be “Will President Trump appoint conservative originalist judges to the Supreme Court?” It’s yet to be seen, but either way, statements in support will be seen as great for America and get a “Could Make America Great.” Alternatively, “Will President Trump hire Stephen Bannon as his Senior Advisor?” would be seen as “Won’t Make America Great.”
The frequency of scores is yet to be determined (as the Trump transition team is just getting their feet wet), but as soon as the administration starts making headway into major decisions, expect scores from us.
As we continue to write, we will also be building out our network of conscientious objectors. Try not to go crazy these four years and please consider signing up below and helping us rebuild the Republican Party.
