Kill the pirates - Save the Unions: Donald Trump
Donald Trump's sound-bite test run for the Republican presidential candidacy continues in a short interview with Jason Mattera at Human Events .
The Donald offered up some red meat for no-nonsense conservatives regarding the Somali pirates while appearing woefully out of depth on the issue of collective bargaining for public-sector unions. You've got to love his take on the Somali scourges currently terrorizing the world's shipping lanes:
Give me one good admiral and a few ships and I will wipe them out so fast... Can you believe that these guys are taking tankers a thousand feet long and cost(ing) hundreds of millions of dollars, and just taking them with rowboats? It's hard to believe. One good admiral, that's all I want.
On the issue of Scott Walker's handling of the public employee unions in Wisconsin however, Trump's sketchy anecdotal response is certain to disappoint those conservatives who have been willing thus far to consider his candidacy, based largely upon his willingness to man-up on issues important to the Tea Party while providing an enjoyable dose of straight talk.
Trump appeared a bit shallow as he played to the camera, with his Donald-do providing considerable distraction. The fact that he has been able to make "many billions of dollars working with the unions" really has no bearing on the current debate about public employee unions. State and local governments are losing many billions of dollars annually providing gold-plated benefits to overpaid government employees who are allowed to retire too young with tarted-up pensions untethered to reality.
While Trump recognizes the conservative public's admiration for Scott Walker's toughness and the American public's desire for more plain-speaking straight shooters, he will have to bone up on the particulars about just what the Tea Party expects in terms of the public sector union debate or the Donald's entertaining trial balloon will turn out to be made of lead.
Ralph Alter is a regular contributor to American Thinker. He blogs at www.rightot.blogspot.com