Can keeping your word be a bad thing? Hell, yes.

I remember when my year-long tour in Vietnam was ending, the army asked me what my preferences were regarding my next duty station. This is generally referred to as a “dream list,” and it usually is.
 

I think politicians engage in the same sort of deceit on the campaign trail. They tell us all the good things they hope to do. Whether they are conning us or themselves doesn’t matter. Someone’s getting played. Voters are not necessarily innocent bystanders. They get their hopes up, for whatever reasons, knowing that it is all a game.

In the end, none of this matters.

Government and politics being what they are, more often than not, the unexpected rules the day and the promises go into the “Save for future” bin. A president fortunate enough to be able to fulfill a promise will discover his victory comes at a price. Half the country will love him and half will hate him and the final product likely won’t be recognized by anyone.

Just as with the army’s “dream list,” you never know. “Be careful what you wish for,” has been valuable advice since the days of Aesop’s Fables for good reason.

The election of 2016 was a little different than most. Okay, it was a lot different. It was more vulgar, for sure. It was the first one in which both the FBI and Russia played significant roles. It was the first one in which the two major parties were represented by a woman and a reality T.V. star. It goes without saying that it was the most expensive election ever, but that will only last until the next one, which I guess makes it the same as every previous one.

There was also one other major difference. 2016 was the first year that a candidate did not promise to do things, but rather promised to undo things—and when I say things, I mean everything.

These are the Trump promises of election year 2016:

TPP—gone

NAFTA—gone

Paris climate accords—gone

Obamacare—gone

Iran nuclear pact—gone

Regulations protecting the environment—gone

Regulations making car more fuel efficient—gone

Protection for children of illegal immigrants—gone

Regulations prohibiting banks from gambling with client’s money—gone

NATO—gone

His Democratic opponent—gone

Regulations protecting shorelines from potential oil disasters—gone

These are but a few of the promises Trump made to undo what the previous administration did. He didn’t actually say his Democratic candidate would be gone—only that he would lock her up. Most of these reversals, he promised, would occur on day one, or soon after.

He did make some promises to do things.

He would bring coal back.

He would cut taxes.

He would create jobs.

Oh yes, and he would make America great again.

It is maddening when politicians make promises and then go back on their word or simply ignore them entirely, as if they were misspeaks.

It is discouraging when politicians make promises to do things and then are unable to make it happen, even after giving it their best shot. When a politician is not only able but willing to keep a promise, it is appreciated by his supporters, a great disappointment to his detractors, but hey, that’s life. He said he was going to do it, he was voted in to do it, and he did it. That’s politics in a democracy.

I am not sure how we should feel when a candidate promises to undo everything and makes good on those promises.

Shouldn’t some campaign rhetoric be that—just rhetoric, and not come back to haunt us?

Looking back, things don’t seem as bad as he claimed they were during the campaign. The stock market was growing, jobs increasing, and a degree of stability seemed to exist. Was it necessary to turn over the apple cart to get rid of a few bad apples?

For the most part, Trump has kept his promises to undo everything the previous administration did, as if the Obama administration represented the absolute worst period in American history, a time when nothing was working right, which would actually be a better description of the last few months leading up to Obama taking office.

We must all wait and see (Trump’s favorite phrase) to learn if isolating ourselves from the rest of the world, giving free rein back to businesses and getting rid of everything when everything wasn’t so bad, is really a good idea.

As for those promises he made to do things, they’ve suffered the fate of most promises to do something.

Coal isn’t coming back. It has nothing to do with EPA regulations or really with the president, but everything to do with economics. Let’s put that promise in the con job category.

Jobs are being created. That’s good, but Trump’s job growth is pretty much a continuation of the 70-plus months of job growth under Obama that Trump described as “jobs leaving the country.” Again, it has little to do with Trump. Put this promise in the smokescreen category.

He did cut taxes—and billionaires couldn’t be happier. Many in the working middle class are equally happy with the additional $20 they’re receiving in each paycheck. Let’s see how they feel when they’re driving their fuel inefficient cars and the price of gas goes up fifty cents because of the sanctions we’ve put back on Iran. This one goes in the “suckers” bin.

 

Trump seems to have done the impossible. He is a consummate liar who's turned keeping his word into a bad thing. That's just my opinion. 
 
Each voter will have to decide for him or herself whether we are on the road to making America great again, or making America unrecognizable.