Some learned and accomplished folks, who
deservedly command a great deal of respect and admiration, view the Trump
presidency in an entirely different light from what millions of Americans see.
To these sage and wizened critics, the president's persona
outweighs his achievements; his flaws overwhelm his strengths and, by
extension, hamstring his ability to move an agenda forward.
I believe that those harboring an anti-Trump mindset would do well
to consider that the election of Trump was never about the man – it was not the
"cult of personality" that the major media and the establishment
Republicans portrayed it to be, but rather more like an Arthurian drawing of
sword from stone.
Trump wisely shouldered the long ignored mantle of champion for
those of us who have grown intensely sick of the miasma of molestation
surrounding our present citizen-government relationship.
In truth, it could've been anyone. Conservatives have been
pleading with the Republican Party for decades to put forth a candidate willing
to assume this role, and for decades, the Republicans have refused.
If not for the insurgent candidacy of Ronald Reagan (who upended
his presidential race in much the same way as Trump) we would have seen an
unbroken line of feckless leadership for nearly a century.
Only the most willfully ignorant among us would deny that the
trendline of our nation has bent inexorably to the left for that entire time.
While occasional blips occurred, none truly reversed the course.
Not even Reagan could reverse the flow of the left's statist current.
Unarguably, our nation has become like one envisioned more by Marx
than by Jefferson.
Meanwhile, the anti-Trump Republicans hector us about
"comity," "collegiality," and "conduct," as they
continue to play McClellan to Trump's Grant.
Establishment Republicans insist that our president is poisonous
to discourse, yet they offer nothing more than spittle-flecked denunciations of
the man personally while failing to recognize the invaluable work he is doing
to thwart the steady degeneration of our form of government.
Mind you, this work has been long avoided by those same Republicans
who now strike at the president's knees as he takes up the cause of national
restoration, harassing him for putting bold action behind the very principles
these neglectful Republicans have themselves espoused in countless campaigns
but apparently never actually believed.
Conservatives and other constitutionally respectful constituencies
have spent the better part of a century following the advice of such
Republicans and have achieved nothing beyond bare survival.
Under their leadership, we now have a world where our children
know precious little about the form of government intended for them by our
framers and are consequently eager to trade their inherent liberty for trinkets
of socialist Utopiana.
Our Republican leaders talk of conservative principles yet govern
from an agenda essentially homogenous to that of the Democrats – only slower,
at lower cost.
We hold election after election and get the same result,
because none will shoulder the mantle of champion longer
than a moment, invariably shrugging it off and running away at the first sign
of political danger.
The American people understand this collaborative cowardice
intuitively, recognizing that each passing year of "bipartisanship"
and "compromise" only further limits our avenues of resistance to
outrageous government overreach.
You see, it isn't about Trump for those who support him; it's
about America and the dire need to first preserve what liberties remain, then
to fire back at the enemy until we have reversed the momentum; retaken lost territory;
and restored the primacy of the people over their government – a primacy that
is the hallmark of our nation, and our most valuable gift to posterity.
Trump will do this, indeed has been doing it, chalking up
momentous "wins" for the cause of constitutionally limited government
against the lurching, intrusive leviathan government built by more than a
century of corrupt and rent-seeking "representatives" of both
parties.
An article published
recently by a prominent NeverTrump claimed credit for a momentous
year of accomplishments on behalf of the Republican Party yet failed to admit
the glaring truth – not a one of these achievements would have happened absent
Trump's impetus, drive, and pugnacious style.
So many aims that had lain fallow for decades – ANWR drilling,
regulatory reforms, tax cuts etc. – all were resurrected and achieved by a man
willing to buck the status quo, and do the right thing.
Is there a president who has fulfilled more of his campaign
promises than this man, in only a year?
The question must be asked and answered by Trump's internecine
detractors: "who else would have done as much as Trump?"
Jeb Bush? Marco Rubio? Not even the most politically
conservative candidate of the 2016 cycle, Ted Cruz, would have been so bold and
unwaveringly determined as has been Donald Trump.
There is a cult of personality surrounding Trump, that much is
true, but it isn't among his supporters. It's among his detractors, both
left and right, who are so obsessed with the man that they cannot see the
outcome of the war through the smoke of the battle.
Conservatives ought to be forgiven for considering the petulant
"you didn't build that" criticisms coming from the #NeverTrump crowd
to be disingenuous.
After all, the mantle Trump now wears has been there for the
taking, if only these same "conservative" Republican
"leaders" had been courageous enough to do so.
As Lincoln noted after relieving George McClellan of command,
"George knew where the enemy was. He was just unwilling to meet
him."
These obsessive anti-Trump Republicans are the "McClellan
wing" of the party. It's past time for them to get over their resentment
and get back in the fight.
There's a war on!