Here I am at Friday. Now all that remains of my holiday week is a measly weekend. But I won’t grouse (much). In the afterglow from way too much rich food and late nights watching old movies I muse on the current political situation and wonder what the future holds.
And I’m reminded of something that has been said a number of times about Trump. It’s not so much what he finishes as what he normalizes. Before Trump the Republicans were so cowed by eight years of George Bush and eight years of Obama that their idea of innovation was volunteering to capitulate on citizenship for illegal aliens. Was it Jeb Bush who declared it not a crime but an act of love? And then Trump comes along and says he’ll build a wall and now eight years later Latinos vote him into office on the strength of his promise to deport millions of Latinos! So, what is the lesson? Stop being afraid of what your enemies will call you and instead worry about what your friends need.
And imagine if Trump applies that same idea to all of the problems that beset his constituency. And who is his constituency? I would say it’s everybody that isn’t in the elite or working directly for the elite. That gives him a lot of ground to choose from. There is an enormous opportunity to punish corporations that hire illegal aliens and/or off-shore their manufacturing plants. Forcing these corporations to hire Americans should be job two (directly after deporting the illegals).
And another big population that voted for Trump was men. Men broke for Trump. Even a lot of non-white men voted Trump. Well, how about he has our back by striking down feminist affirmative action everywhere it is found. Women have been advantaged by the law and the bureaucracy for long enough. Stop whining about being held back and just stand on your own two feet for a change. No more quotas and no more special dispensations around physical requirements for things like fire-fighting and the military. If you’re too weak for the job find an easier job.
And finally, finishing off the race hustlers who scream racism when they discover that equal opportunities don’t result in equal results is probably the most important thing about which Trump can shift the Overton Window. I don’t expect Trump to achieve all of his results. He may only deport a fraction of the illegals and only punish a fraction of the companies employing illegals. He may only drain half the swamp. But what he will do is change the argument from how quickly the Republicans should capitulate to the Left, into how to primary the RINOs that don’t follow his lead.
All of the old guard pundits who mocked Trump for the last eight years and declared him a fluke who won’t get anything done have been proven wrong. Even the stupidest and most dishonest admit this is the Age of Trump. He has tapped into an angry populism that can fuel major change if it is channeled skillfully. Trump has four years to fix things. If he comes close to doing that, his successor can follow in his footsteps and continue the job. Namely, give us back our future.