RUTHFULLY YOURS

Donald Trump has often said that he achieved more in his first term than any other president. That is not exactly true, at least not without a qualifier. The fact is FDR and LBJ both accomplished more in their first terms with their New Deal and Great Society programs, respectively. These initiatives dramatically changed government’s relationship with the country in revolutionary ways. But the changes they birthed  were not for the better whereas Trump’s were. So it is more accurate to say that Trump accomplished more positive things in his first term than any other president.

What makes what Trump’s accomplishments off-the-chart impressive is the resistance he faced. The Democrats were not just the loyal opposition but a collection of radical progressives who proved time and time again that they were more than willing to damage the country to hurt the president. The Democrats got away with their anti-America actions due to their symbiotic relationship with the mainstream media. Instead of examining the damage Democrats were doing to the country, the media poured out lies, distortions and ridicule nonstop against President Trump. The intended coup de grâce to MAGA was the sneaky and backhanded resistance to it by the Republican establishment.

Yet through it all, Trump got things done for the American people. How did this happen? The answer is multifaceted, with a critical aspect being that Trump was an outsider. This was both a blessing and a curse. Let’s focus on the blessing part.

When outsider Trump arrived in Washington, a certain status quo prevailed. This was the existing state of affairs. Like a building being constructed brick by brick, this status quo was the result of countless self-serving deals made by politicians and other insiders over the years. Major deals were made for the benefit of those making them and their big money donors rather than for the common good. Examples include immigration policy, foreign adventures, and horrendous trade deals.

As an outsider, Trump had no part in these arrangements. Accordingly, he had no strings attached to prevent him from look at things objectively.  As he picked apart one aspect of the status quo after another, good things automatically flowed, like a booming economy, record low unemployment, and a rational approach to foreign trade. It helps to think of America as a runner whom the self-serving political class forced to wear five lbs. weights on each ankle. As Trump loosen the ties on these weights, America kicked them off and speed ahead.

Today, America is still encumbered by much of the pre-Trump status quo baggage. Trump’s work was cut short both by the resistance MAGA faced and the stolen election of 2020. When you think what could have been otherwise, John Greenleaf Whitter’s “Maud Muller” springs to mind:

The saddest thing of words or pen, to know the things that might have been.

Contrast this with Joe Biden. Biden’s entire adult life has been in the Potomac swamp. He first came to the Senate in 1973. That’s 48 years ago. The average age in American is 38 years.  That means over half the U.S. population wasn’t even born when Joe first came to Washington to begin his lucrative wealth-building career of wheeling and dealing. Plugs Biden is so interconnected with the pre-Trump status quo that they are the one and the same. To repeat, the status quo has been structured to serve the interests of the ruling class, not the American people. Biden can’t and won’t work to change things to better America as Trump did. He sold his soul to the Uniparty collective a long time ago and melted into it. Getting things back to “normal” for Biden means reattaching those weights to America’s ankles… and then adding a heavy backpack.

One of Trump’s delayed accomplishments will be to serve as a concrete contrast to what Biden does as president. And no matter how hard the media will try to prevent this and cover it up, voter remorse will set in and will make itself evident in 2022 and 2024.