“Trump cheats. He’ll do anything to win,” yesterday’s newspapers wrote critically. Wait—critically? What exactly do we, as citizens, want? Do we want a statesman who will do absolutely anything to advance the interests of his country? Or do we want someone who will give up those interests if they conflict with some rule? Would it please us if he gallantly sacrificed achieving what his people need?
The basic logic of power says that anyone who is not willing to do more to gain and hold power than his opponents should not even enter the struggle for power. And he should not delude the people.
Is there an even higher card? Yes, there is: loyalty to an ideal. That would be a statesman who, for example, will do absolutely anything to protect his country from Islamization. Or to defend its independence. Everything, including giving up power himself if it would serve that ideal.
So when do politicians follow the rules? When such a move (following the rule) appears advantageous for achieving the goal. It’s that simple.
A politician who follows the rules even when it is not advantageous for the goal harms his own country.
Personally, what would bother me more about Trump’s cheating at golf is the pettiness of it. As if the number of strokes actually mattered.