Judging by this standard (and lower expectations), Trump’s speech was a success.

But make no mistake: Trump is still Trump, and one good speech isn’t enough to tell if this was more a one-off good performance or whether Trump has had something like a political Damascus Road conversion that months and years from now we’ll all be saying, ‘Trump’s first speech to Congress was the turning point’. . .

And while the moment where the widow of the fallen Navy SEAL received an extended (and very well-deserved) standing ovation was wonderful and genuinely powerful and moving, Trump’s policy prescriptions still leave much to be desired.

Political commentator Amanda Carpenter was right in pointing out the “Populism” of Donald Trump is very much like the “Compassionate Conservatism” of George W. Bush’s presidency, in terms of both being fiscally irresponsible.

And political commentator Ben Domenech’s point that if you’re a fiscal conservative, Trump’s speech leaving you feeling uneasy (to say the least) hits the bulls-eye.

When Barack Obama was campaigning for election in 2008, he said it was “unpatriotic” that the federal debt increased $4 trillion while George W. Bush was president.

But while Obama was president, the federal debt skyrocketed another $10 trillion dollars (does this mean Obama is 2.5 times more “unpatriotic” than Bush?)

The current federal debt is about $20 trillion dollars.

Trillion. $20 TRILLION dollars.

Think about that.

This is madness on stilts on roller-skates, and it’s unsustainable.

We’re mortgaging the future flourishing of Millennials and subsequent generations of Americans so this generation can feel good now.

It’s immoral and reprehensible.

Republicans and the Republican Party (at least some of its members) used to be known as the people and party of fiscal discipline.

But in the age of Trump – in the glow of victory and wielding power in Washington D.C. and ‘Make America Great Again’- will Republicans now become party to committing profligacy?

Is this how shallow and blinkered Republicans have become in so-called Trumpian ‘victory’?

Have Republicans and the Republican Party become the political equivalent of Belshazzar’s Feast, living high on the hog and sneering at reality until the handwriting appears on the wall when it’s too late?

Boy, I sure hope not, but the current signs are not encouraging.