With an unorthodox new president about to be sworn in later this week, it’s timely to summarize my thoughts on the man, the movement behind him, and opposition to him.

The Left-committed pundits, politicians and field soldiers are genuinely scared of President-elect Trump and what he will begin to implement this Friday. Having listened to both them and him for more than a year, my understanding is that:
1) the extreme Left does not fully realize where Obama has taken the nation in relation to what the USA is and has been at its core; and
2) what Trump has said he wants to do verses what they think he said he wants to do.

As a cautious Trump voter in November — supporting him in the general election, though not in the primary — my vote was as much anti-Hillary/Obama as it was for Trump. Without a doubt, he is a fascinating political animal. As a political junkie since my teen years and in my on-going reading of American history, I do not know of another character with his background, who has successfully challenged the inevitable coronation of a queen-in-waiting (Hillary). Like most other professional and arm-chair opinion writers, I, too, did not think he would get the Republican nomination, much less win in November. But he was always intriguing to listen to during the debates and at his press conferences. A third of me would cheer at his words; a third of me would simply laugh at his brazen audacity to say the things he was saying; and a third of me would cringe & wonder why the guy had no filter.

What was not clear to me was how much middle-America had grown to despise the policies of the Obama Administration and his political kin. My eyes were won over by the shiny & bright praises of traditional news web sites, their polls showing a substantial win for Hillary and the belief that the Democrats would stir up the under 25-yrs-old TMZ/Social Media/college-snowflake crowd as they did for Obama in 2008. But the silent majority spoke on November 8, 2016 — not the national popular vote BUT the popular vote by states, which is how the rules were written and how the game was played. Hillary won more actual voters’ votes, thanks to one state. But Trump won more states, more majorities within more states. And that was the design of the Founders, tweaked by the 12th Amendment, that a majority of states would elect the President, not a simple plurality.

The political Left, along with a smattering of their true believers across the states, think with their hearts instead of their heads, confusing intentions with reality. They chose Obama in the 2008 primary over Hillary simply because he had a father who was not Caucasian and/or of European ancestry.¹ Race trumped gender. And they, along with many non-traditional Dem voters, pulled the lever for him in 2008 out of guilt², in addition to some actually believing the myths that had been projected on to Obama: he was going to lower the sea levels; he was going to improve race relations; he was going to revive a sluggish economy; he was going to improve healthcare; he was going to make the USA respected again around the world. But none of it happened.

George W. Bush’s refusal to defend himself, because he respected the office of the Presidency so much, he said, led to the perception that he limped out of office, rejected by the nation. Perception is reality until distant history writes the story. So while it can be said there would not have been an Obama presidency without W, it can likewise be said that there would not be a Trump presidency without Obama.

While I am no Trump apologist, for the record, he never has communicated that he wants to ban Muslims — just those from war-torn countries until they are properly vetted. Until is an important word. He does not want to ban Mexicans from coming to the U.S., just the illegal ones. He doesn’t hate the people of China, he said repeatedly in the debates — he just doesn’t want their government “taking advantage of us.”

I’m cautiously optimistic about the upcoming 4 to 8 years. Since Nov. 8, 2016, the economy has jump-started and the cabinet Trump nominated is a positive change from past bureaucrats from both parties. My fear is that when the dust settles 4 to 6 years from now, he will possibly be much more acceptable to the extreme Left than they will admit.

I’ve told many in my world that had he changed 3 or 4 key positions, Trump could have run on the Democrat ticket. Publicly, Trump has not had a political or morally consistent core. Some of the areas he could have stated differently are global warming caused by man; military spending; federal Justices; the role of Congress; instead of a wall on the southern border, just enforcing laws already on the books.

Trump has ‘learned’ not be shamed by the extreme Left. Their entire M.O. has scant moral restrictions on behavior (see their movies); it allows for abortion on demand (devaluing life); it permits parading near naked in the streets, all in the name of pride (no shame); and they believe that there’s no tangible or societal problem that cannot be overcome by a government program. Trump learned well from them. It’s hard to shame someone who’s moral standard has been defined low by the extreme Left. The reason he’s not “one of them” in 2017 is because they forgot their core — they forgot that above all, the preservation of the USA as traditionally defined, with a few exceptions, makes us who we are. And Trump had had enough of their crazy Marxist/Socialist/Classroom-only theories that were destroying our societal and economic foundations.

Unlike the extreme Left, I will speak out³ when “our guy” does things that are in violation of what he said during the campaign or that I believe are wrong (one of Trump’s favorite words during his debates with Hillary.) He is not my king, but simply a temporary leader of the greatest nation in the history of mankind.

Bring on Noon at 1/20/2017, but please, President-elect Trump, do not bow to foreign leaders as Obama did on many occasions. For it shows weakness and inferiority, which is not what made us great … and it does not reflect who we are.

Regardless, Maranatha. jrw

.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

Footnotes

1. .For that sentence, the extreme Left might dub me a racist, which is their sneaky way to dismiss genuine counter-points with one word carriage-returns.

2. See White Guilt by the African-American author Shelby Steele.

3. .Primarily through FaceBook, though this blog might also be used.