Taking Stock and Looking Forward

It would appear that president-elect Donald Trump is taking a quite serious approach towards entering into his second term.  There are indications that in stark contrast to his first term, he is now well on the path to lining up solid and competent personnel for his administration, displaying a wise skepticism about how the current administration wants to “aid” in his transition to power, and he has gone on record with specific policy priorities even before assuming the office of the presidency.  All of these things, not to mention a unified (hopefully) majority Republican Congress, should get him off to a substantial and meaningful start to righting the ship of state for our American government.

 

After observing much of the post-election angst flowing from the progressive elements of the Democrat Party and their many allies, I feel the need to acknowledge my previous…and ongoing…reservations about Donald Trump and his capacity for bad decisions.  I believe it is important to appreciate that even though Trump won the Electoral College with a huge margin and narrowly won the popular vote, the swing states that actually swung the election in Trump’s favor were essentially all decided with very narrow margins.  Upon further inspection…Trump’s victory was decisive in its finality, but fragile in its composition.  America remains a politically-divided nation, but the feelings of the majority have now been made evident.  That does not mean that the minority should be irrelevant.

 

I remain an avid supporter of most Trump policies and continue to strongly believe that they are the best path forward for our nation.  However, it is foolish for folks, in the flush of victory, to overlook the potential for the lesser angels of Donald Trump to overtly influence his presidential decision-making.  Like all of us, Donald Trump does not deserve celestial wings and this election will not change that. 

 

We will never know for certain, but it is undeniable that much of the credit for Trump’s victory goes to his good fortune in running against an extremely weak candidate in Harris and the fact that the Democrat Party completely caved to its progressive elements and doubled-down on their wildly irrational and unpopular woke positions.   I truly believe that the people in charge of the Harris campaign thought that they represented the majority of Americans and were secure in their illusion of infallibility.  Would it have made any difference if Harris had clearly departed from Biden Administration policies and staked out more moderate positions?  Would the selection of a more moderate Democrat like Shapiro for VP have delivered PA for her and maybe influenced another blue wall state or two…or three?  We will never know.  We can simply be grateful for her bad decisions.  

 

I truly hope that Donald Trump appreciates the opportunity that lies before him to reshape this nation in a more constitutional model; the potential for that is truly historic.  I truly hope he assumes his lame-duck presidency with a full focus on policy and not on certain other non-productive pursuits.  Trump is gonna be Trump.  To his credit, that attitude won him this election.  But the early months of his second term will be a minefield of danger if he allows a swollen ego to dictate his Chief Executive actions.  The choice is clear: accomplishment or chaos.

 

While we reflect on this current election, it seems appropriate that we take a backward glance at what many refer to as “the steal”; the MAGA-driven proposition that the 2020 presidential race was stolen by the Democrats.  While acknowledging the obvious and documented irregularities in the 2020 race…most under the veil of pandemic concerns…I have continued to advocate that the continued verbal litigation of that event is counter-productive and should be filed away in the category of “lessons learned”.  Nonetheless, and pending the finality of all vote counts, it should be pointed out that when comparing the aggregate vote totals from 2016, 2020, and 2024…it appears obvious that something highly unusual took place in that 2020 election.  Looking at it from a 2016 perspective… “Where did all those Democrat votes come from?”  Looking at it from a 2024 perspective… “Where did all those Democrat votes go?”  Given the facts that are now before us, maybe it is wise not to remove the charge of larceny from the realm of possibilities.  The people who have stubbornly clung to the steal theory should perhaps be given a healthy dose of reflection and credibility…and those who have dismissed the steal theory as lunacy might want to be thinking about how to frame their mea culpa.  While nothing is definitive (that will be eternally elusive), the case for partisan shenanigans in the 2020 general election has been significantly bolstered by the aforementioned comparisons.

 

I questioned the Republican Party choice of Trump as their nominee and I questioned Trump’s selection of Vance as his VP.  I am delighted to admit that I was wrong about Vance.  He has proven to be an exceptional choice towards gaining a political win for Trump and he is proving to be an unusually authentic politician who may indeed have a promising future.  And while I will stick with my prior positions that the Republican Party had better presidential candidates to choose from other than Donald Trump; I will readily admit that it is very questionable whether or not DeSantis or Haley could have achieved the political victory that Donald Trump has secured.  Perhaps it is simply the fact that it took…and will take… someone like Donald Trump to jerk this nation back to its senses and turn our national direction towards a government that will better reflect our true organizational blueprint and our shared morals and ethics.  Flawed as he is, Donald Trump is leading our nation towards a new environment of common sense and reason.

 

It is common political (and social) sport to rip and tear at your opponent’s imperfections whilst minimizing or ignoring your own.  In the final hours of his mortal life, Jesus was betrayed three times by his disciple Peter; yet Peter was the rock upon which Christ built His church.  In no form or fashion do I intend to put our politicians on a plane with the disciples.  But if we are looking for perfect political leaders in this world, our quest is doomed to failure.  Our leaders, like all of us, are imperfect vessels who occupy a time and place in this universe and fulfill that role to the best of their abilities.  At this time and place…Donald Trump will fulfill his role as our country’s political leader.  We should all hope and pray for his success.