D.W. Wilber, One thing is for certain, 45 led the way. He opened our eyes wide. Many of us knew for years that our politics was corrupt. We accepted it, we just didn’t think there was much of anything we could do about it anymore. We had grown accustomed to looking for the lesser of two evils when it came to picking which candidate to support. And we set the bar pretty low.
Along came Trump with his unrefined political persona, his sometimes questionable and very unorthodox behavior, but also an unquestioned love of America, and millions of Americans that had pretty much given up on our politics once again felt hope.
After eight years of Obama tearing America down, Trump made us feel good again about being an American. He gave us a pride in our country that had taken a beating during the Obama years, and even before that during ‘Bush the Second’ when America was attacked and then engaged in two seemingly endless wars.
Much as Ronald Reagan had done following the disastrous presidency of Jimmy Carter, Trump made us feel American pride once more. And as Reagan also did, Trump was determined to look out for America’s interests above any other. “America first” wasn’t a phrase in American politics unique to President Trump, many politicians over our nation’s history had declared fealty to a variation of that political philosophy, but more often than not failed to follow through. When Trump said it, he meant it.
Trump understood that to protect America’s interests in an increasingly complex and dangerous world we needed allies. The NATO alliance had pretty much become an America-funded source of protection for Western European nations. America carried the bulk of the financing, as well as providing most of the military personnel and equipment to keep Europe safe from Russian attack. Trump recognized that we certainly needed our European NATO allies, but that since they were the beneficiaries of America’s inordinate contributions, they needed to pick up a larger, more fair and equitable portion of the tab.
Trump also recognized that America’s immigration system was broken, and our southern border between the U.S. and Mexico was nothing more than a sieve. He set about educating Americans about the threat posed by having uncontrolled illegal immigration into our country, and then took concrete steps to address the problem. He began construction on his famous “big, beautiful wall” that is so hated by Democrats. Once again, for Trump it was “America first”.
But for all of his efforts on our behalf Trump was a hated and vilified man by half the country. He never overcame some self-inflicted miscues on his part before he even won the nomination. And his personality was at times abrasive and didn’t fit well into the ‘tea and cocktails’ class in Washington.
Trump’s presidency was under attack from the very start. He defeated Hillary Clinton, the chosen one (and the most dishonest, corrupt, and despicable politician in American history to ever run for president), and Trump could never be forgiven by the Democrats for that. It was her turn after all. Democrats had invested decades into making her the first woman president. They had already taken measurements at Mount Rushmore!
As a result of his defeat of Hillary, Trump had to fight an uphill battle throughout his four years in office. A conspiracy to ruin his presidency at the least, or force him out at best, was begun immediately after he was sworn in. One wonders how much he might have accomplished had the Washington elite actually worked together with him instead of trying to destroy him.
So what do we do now? I too would love to see a bunch of the conspirators in the massive coup d’etat that was committed against Trump swinging in the breeze, but that isn’t going to happen. ‘Keyboard Commandos’ whining on social media and offering no viable course of action are also not going to change things either.
Our country is very near the point of no return. Trump is not the answer because he simply cannot garner the full support of the country. The nation is evenly divided politically, but within the Republican Party there are roughly 12% who will never vote for Trump, no matter what the cost to the nation is. One simply can’t give up 12% of their own party and win in today’s highly charged political environment.
The Ronald Reagans of our world come along maybe once every couple of generations. Reagan was a true visionary, and more importantly a leader, like Washington and Lincoln before him. Trump is more of a rabble rouser like Samuel Adams was. Important for the cause of liberty, but not someone who can really rise again to the pinnacles of power.
Trump wants vindication and justice for what was done to him, which he certainly merits. He would better serve his own interests though by finding a candidate cut from a similar cloth as himself, and lend his support to that individual. He should be able to in return expect that a full scale, comprehensive investigation be conducted to bring the justice and vindication that Trump so desperately craves, and most definitely deserves once his candidate is elected. People really do need to ‘swing in the breeze’ if this nation is to be saved. There have to be consequences for what was done to Trump before, and during his four years in office.
Trump will not be able to make that happen himself. All that his candidacy will accomplish is another Democrat victory, which will then afford them the ability to destroy and bury forever any evidence of their treason. And then neither Trump, nor the American people, will ever receive justice for what has been done to our country.
The time has now come for REAL, patriotic Americans to get up off the living room sofa and get out from behind the computer screen. It’s time to get active, get involved, and fight harder for this country. Trump did his part for four years. He lifted the cloak that was concealing the mendacity in Washington. Now it’s up to us to finish the job.