One of President Trump’s most frequent and favorite epithets for his Republican antagonists is “RINO” — that is, “Republican in name only.” But the evidence suggests that the president should be mindful of the old adage: “People who live in glass houses should not throw stones.”

Nearing the midpoint of his second term, Trump has turned his back on long held Republican principles which have glued together the conservative movement for decades. This is very different from his first term, when he used his business acumen to produce solid economic growth through tax cuts and deregulation.

In February 2020, Trump’s approval rating stood at 49 percent and reelection prospects looked good. That was when COVID severely disrupted to everyday life and its economic wreckage soured voters on the party in charge.

Four years later, Trump put his name into the history books alongside that of Grover Cleveland, the only other president to serve two non-consecutive terms. But from the start of his second term, Trump pursued his publicly announced revenge agenda and allowed his insatiable ego to drive policy decisions aimed to please only his MAGA base.

Thus, there was no overriding governing philosophy. The principles of conservatism were left on the cutting room floor as the self-proclaimed “very stable genius” mode of operation became focused on the accumulation of power to the executive. Damn the courts!  Full speed ahead. 

Trump routinely attacks judges who issue a decision he does not like, throwing on the trash heap of governance our constitutional doctrine that the federal government consists of three co-equal branches. Even judges appointed by Trump himself are not exempt from his late-night tantrums on........

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