After extended research into the reasons progressives have developed an unreasoning hatred for Donald Trump I think I have discovered the deep seated source of that hate.

It’s not that he is a populist looking to return government to the people, nor is it the fact that he is a brash businessman from New York City, nor that he, who was not even a professional politician, had the temerity to defeat the anointed heir apparent to the presidency, Hilary Clinton in 2016. It is simply that President Trump is a pragmatist and Democrats like Barack Obama, Kamala Harris, Bernie Sanders, Alexander Ocasio-Cortez, and “Crazy hands” Tim Walz are dogmatists.

A dogmatist is a person who asserts their opinions or beliefs in a rigid and often arrogant manner, as if they were facts or truths that cannot be questioned or challenged. They tend to be unwilling to consider alternative viewpoints or evidence that might contradict their own beliefs. A pragmatist is someone who deals with problems in a sensible way that suits the conditions that really exist, rather than following particular theories, ideas, or rules.

On the issue of tariffs in the wake of independence day, President Trump’s actions were not the result of bungling, a form of four-dimensional chess but rather a clear example of a pragmatic man who was flexible enough to get exactly what he had wanted from the beginning.

Falling Stock markets, encouraged in part by the anti-Trump media, certainly caught everyone’s attention but what really caught the President’s eye was instability in the bond market where a sell-off of U.S Treasury Bonds was occurring, raising questions about what is considered a usually a safe haven for investors.

Based on this, our pragmatic President changed course, ordering a 90-day pause in the imposition of reciprocal tariffs for every country except China while raising the U.S. tariff on China to an unprecedented 145%. Following this Trump told reporters that, “You have to have flexibility. I could say, here’s a wall, and I’m going to go through that wall, and I am going to go through it no matter what. And you keep going and you can’t go through the wall. Sometimes, you have to be able to go under the wall, or around the wall. You have to be flexible.”

In the end Trump got what he wanted. His 90-day pause made citizens and investors happy and stabilized markets and when all was said and done he was still able to retain a 10% across the board tariff that kept our trading partners in a mood to negotiate with the U.S. while remaining tough towards China.

The reaction by Democrats who tend to be put off by flexibility is what we have come to expect to hear from Democrats. Assistant Democratic House Leader Congressman Joe Neguse called the President’s actions “erratic and nonsensical.” Other congressional Democrats brushed off reporters’ questions about Senator Chuck Schumer’s and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s wholehearted endorsements to tariffs to redress trade imbalances in the past. Democrats claimed it was they who acted pragmatically on tariffs when in fact I am not sure they know the meaning of the word.

On Saturday April 5 resorting to their usual claim that the vast majority of Americans are with them the so called anti-Trump, anti-tariff, anti-Musk, anti-DOGE, and anti-immigration reform rallies were held in New York City, Washington DC, Cleveland, Philadelphia and elsewhere around the country. While initial reports were that 1,000 rallies as time went on the the number of rallies rose to 1,100, then 1,200 with the last figure being 1,500. Frankly I think the 1,000 figure was far above the real count, but I won’t nit-pick.

What did surprise me was that young people interviewed and even some of those my age attending the rallies really had little grasp about what was being protested but were there because as some said that they had nothing better to do on a Saturday.

Finally, while the national media would have us believe these protests were spontaneous, if there were as many demonstrations as reported there was not enough spontaneity in the whole world to make that happen. Of necessity there would need to have been a high degree of professional coordination nationally and a substantial amount of money spent to have produced the number of protests claimed by the left.

Speaking of protests, has anyone noticed that in the course of his and AOC’s “Fighting Oligarchy” tour Senator Bernie Sanders no longer speaks of millionaires when he goes into his spiel attacking the rich? He now expresses his anger at the billionaires. The reason is because Sanders himself is a millionaire with a net worth of over $3 million, and the owner of two homes in Vermont with a current total value of $1.6 million. A townhouse in Washington sold for $422,000 in 2021.

A large percentage of the Senator’s wealth has come from several best selling books with names like “It’s Okay to be Angry About Capitalism.” Bernie once said that “You also could be a millionaire if you write a best selling book.” That makes me wonder if he delights in the fruits of capitalism more than he lets on.

Thomas Kirkpatrick Sr. is a Silver Creek resident. Send comments to editorial@observertoday.com.