Let's talk about the sensible and the absurd

My readers know that I have never been an unqualified admirer of Donald J. Trump. My practice has been to criticize or even hammer him when I think he's wrong and to defend him when I think he's right. That approach doesn't make everyone happy, but so what? Some readers are true MAGA believers. They bridle at practically any criticism of President Trump. That's their privilege, of course. But their obsessions are not my priority. I also have a few readers who refuse to believe Trump has ever been right about anything. Ever. They, too, are entitled to their point of view. But some take it to a nutty conclusion. Both groups have lots of company. That I grant. Recently, I have seen several tirades about what Trump is doing. They range from the sensible to the absurd. In today's column, I will cover both. I'll begin each section with a proposition in quotation marks. "Trump's tariffs are doing more harm than good." Sensible. Foreign trade is not my area of expertise, and I admit the subjects of trade in general and tariffs in particular can be complex. But it seems to me that while tariffs have raised a great deal of revenue, their cost is being passed on to domestic companies and consumers through higher prices. That means that some tariffs cause more harm than others. For example, the tariffs on imported foodstuffs contribute to higher prices at the supermarket. Trump's recent rollback of tariffs on a host of imported meat, fruit and vegetables shows he recognizes that. It may be that the tariffs Trump has imposed, if they stick, may lead to favorable trade agreements and turn out to be beneficial after all. (They may not stick. The president's authority to impose most of the tariffs is being litigated by the Supreme Court even now.) I don't know. But the criticisms are not insensible. "Trump is causing our armed services and intelligence agencies to attack American citizens." Mostly absurd. The pundits on CNN, the networks, and MSNow are constantly repeating this mantra, as are Democratic politicians. One group of senators and representative, all Democrats, even went so far as to record a video calling on service members and intelligence agents to refuse to obey their orders as unlawful. The congressmen and senators were purposely vague about which orders they were talking about. One of them, Senator Slotkin, later admitted she was unaware of any orders that were illegal. So, why do the video, Senator? If any of them meant the National Guard units that have been deployed to some cities, Trump hasn't sent any troops anywhere when deployment has been stopped by restraining order or injunction. Most of these have now been dissolved, as I understand it. If the courts say the deployment is lawful, then any member of the armed services or federal employee would be ill-advised to disobey an order because several politicians in Congress told them it was okay to do so. All of the men and women who made the video have served in uniform or other government service. They all know better or should. They were simply letting their partisan feelings overcome what should have been their better judgment. What they did was irresponsible. Perhaps they, as well as some other critics, are referring to the apprehension and deportation of illegal aliens by ICE and the Border Patrol, both of which answer to the Department of Homeland Security. But here, too, they are mostly absurd. The ICE and CBP agents are just doing their jobs. They are not targeting citizens. They are apprehending those who are here illegally. That's an important distinction, even if Trump's partisan critics refuse to make it. It's true, though, that mistakes have been made. Sometimes American citizens have been caught in the net. Those who say the DHS has been overzealous have a point. Every effort should be made not to pick up a citizen by mistake and to accept proper identification when it is offered. Latino Americans in particular feel not enough effort is being made in that direction, and they are likely right. As for everyone else, all but the most insanely partisan among us agree that those illegal aliens with criminal records and those facing deportation orders should go. Those whose only offense is being here unlawfully are in a different category. Bill O'Reilly says these should not be detained but required to register to be evaluated. I agree that this would be better practice. "Trump is a predator of underage girls who participated in Jeffrey Epstein's crimes." Sorry, Democrats. Badly wanting something to be true doesn't make it so. This accusation is the most absurd of all. Bob Arrington is a Kingsport attorney. You can email him at r_arrington@chartertn.net.