If you are toting up the accomplishments of the Trump presidency, different groups will emphasize different things. If you’re a Constitutionalist then you will value most the appointment of so many federal judges, and most critically, Supreme Court justices by President Trump. If your liveliest fear is the loss of American manufacturing jobs to China then the tariff negotiations going on with Mexico and China are your favorite Trump initiatives. If the tidal wave of illegal immigration is what you point to as the existential threat to United States then “build that wall” is your choice. And if you happen to be a struggling young man trying to support or start a family then the booming economy is the most important thing.
Well, all these things are important and all these things should be acknowledged and celebrated by our side of the political divide. But there is actually a much more important aspect to the presidency of Donald Trump that should be emphasized. He doesn’t despise us.
Think about that. The last time the White House had a President, either Democrat or Republican that didn’t loath us either secretly or openly was Ronald Reagan. That was thirty years ago. I was still a young man. That’s more than a generation ago. Think of that, all of the people under fifty have no adult memory of a time when the government wasn’t trying to subvert the values and even the interests of the majority of the people they led. Sometimes we knew this was the case. Clinton and Obama clearly showed by their actions like, “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell,” and advocacy for same sex marriage that they rejected the values and opinions of the American public. But maybe more damaging was the hidden opinions behind the façade of conservatism that George Bush and his son held. They never missed a chance to stab their constituencies in the back whenever it would be most damaging.
Each tailored domestic and international policies that drained the life blood of the working class away, both figuratively and literally. Each disdained to protect the social conservative groups that they claimed to belong to and instead favored the progressive elements of society whenever a choice was presented. And both were useless in a political fight.
Compare this to Donald Trump. Both during his candidacy and during the whole of his term in office he has taken our side. He has not denounced the normal people who live in this country. He has championed our causes and at great cost politically he has resisted the voices even in his own administration and party that exhort him to condemn us. He never puts distance between himself and the least powerful or the least polished of us. In fact, he sounds more like us than some of us do. He doesn’t fill his speeches with graduate school rhetoric. He talks like a guy who worked in the construction industry in New York City thirty years ago. He brags, mocks our enemies, gloats over his successes and their failures and drives them insane. He doesn’t give up. He fights and, best of all, he wins. He gives us a voice.
What is all that worth? Everything. Having your guy in charge, even when we are taking fire from the combined weaponry of the Democrats, the Media, Silicon Valley, the Deep State, the Churches, the Schools, the LGBTQ Mafia, Hollywood and even Wall Street and the Chamber of Commerce is worth more to us than you can imagine. Think for just a minute where we would currently be if Hillary Clinton were president. Hell, even imagine where we would be if JEB! were President.
For me all those things I mentioned above are great, judges and jobs, tariffs and walls. But what gives me hope and boosts my morale is having someone who sounds like me telling Hillary Clinton and Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer and James Comey and Joe Biden and Elizabeth Warren and Barack and Michelle Obama that they’re fake news and he’s the President and go ahead and try to change that.
Donald Trump isn’t a politician, he’s a leader. He’s the head of our gang. He’s the one who makes sure we don’t get stepped on by the other gangs. Of course, this isn’t some school yard in Brooklyn and we aren’t a local stickball team but the theory is the same. He looks out for his own. If you’re anyone who isn’t part of a class protected by the current progressive system then Donald Trump is the only one who has your back. And he isn’t doing this without risk to his life, his freedom, his material possessions and the well-being of his associates, friends and family. He is the biggest target in the world and the most powerful people in the world hate him and will go after him for the rest of his life. Kind of a big deal.
So, what is the value of his presidency to me? What is it worth to you to feel as you do now as opposed to how you felt in the waning days of the Obama presidency while staring down the barrel of the Hillary presidency straight ahead? I can tell you what it’s worth to me. Priceless.
