I went to the mill recently to pick up some cattle feed and textile fabric. The owner was in a talking mood and asked me what I thought about our president. I studied for moment and then replied. The following reflects my response. I think it is a very apt description of the job our president has to do…and how he is doing it.
Donald
Trump has taken a lot of swings; he has some hits and he has some misses. In my opinion, he has a lot more hits than
misses. Continuing with the baseball
analogy: If you are in a close game (we…the
USA…are), and the game matters greatly (it
does), and we are in the late innings (you
never know…could be), and the bases are loaded (I think that is a fair assessment of America’s domestic and foreign
policy status at this moment)…then do we want the man we send up to the
plate to be looking for a hit or
looking for a walk? I believe most of us want a hitter. Among his many faults, Donald Trump is not
the kind of man that goes around looking for a walk; he is a hitter. He goes up
to the plate to swing the bat. And more
importantly…he is OUR hitter.
Let
us be honest with ourselves…Joe Biden could not even find his way to the plate;
much less swing the bat. Under his
term…we welcomed rainouts, sought game delays, and played mainly not to lose. We were more concerned with the appearance of our uniforms, the gender and racial composition of our
lineup, and misplaced concerns about our opponent’s
feelings.
President
Trump is not personally likeable; he is crude, arrogant, inconsiderate, and
hyperbolic. It seems that every time
there is a moment when he demonstrates genuine likeability, humor, or
compassion…he erases it with a moment of bad behavior or unseemly remarks. I detest his rhetorical exercises when he
riffs for intolerable lengths of time and uses the same hyperbole over and over
again (…the largest/best/worst thing
ever…in history!). I resent the fact
that he runs the presidency as if it was a corporation he might be serving as
CEO. I so badly want him to grow up,
mature, and demonstrate more respect for the impressions that he gives in
regards to our nation and our presidency.
But that is not what Donald Trump is, and the truth is…we all knew that when we elected him. Some have said that Trump is precisely
the type of man…and president…we needed to get this nation back on the right
track. They might be right.
St.
Peter was not on the presidential ballot in November of 2024. There were two candidates from which to
select and Donald Trump won. Donald
Trump was not a rookie; he had served one term already and everyone knew what
he was and how he operated. Kamala
Harris was equally well-defined. American voters made a four-year commitment
with their vote. This nation has one President and that is
Donald Trump.
I
think he was far and away the preferable choice. He will serve in the White House until early January
of 2029, and then we will have our next president take office. Trump did not win the election because he was
a perfect man; he won because he promised a policy agenda that made sense to
most Americans. In all fairness, he has made an honest effort to deliver on that agenda
as it was presented to the American voters.
No
one can know, but I expect that if the 2024 presidential election was held again next month…the results would not
change.
It
has become routine for the minority party in this nation to emphasize its
adversarial position towards the sitting president of the opposite party. This emphasis
has evolved way beyond a healthy, democratic (small “d”) difference of opinion on pertinent policy issues. It has morphed into a poisonous and
debilitating disease in our government.
This exaggerated partisanship has resulted in our Legislative Branch’s failure
to perform its assigned tasks; in our Judicial Branch’s failure to provide
uniform and equal justice for our citizenry; and has led us to imperialistic
presidents that have basically given up on the normal legislative process and
taken the easier and less resistant road of executive action. This
not the ideal laid out by our Constitution.
Trump
needs to come to terms with the fact that his presidency will end in a little
over three years. He relishes rising to
the Democrats’ resistance bait and is easily distracted from the very matters
that could possibly earn him a durable and relevant legacy. Much of what he accomplishes (especially through executive actions) will
likely be unwound and reversed by subsequent Democrat Administrations (yes MAGA folks…that WILL eventually occur).
The
Democrats have proven incapable of dealing with Trump’s treatment of them as
useful idiots; they simply cannot get past their obsession with him and all
that he says or does. Their shot at getting
even with Donald Trump will come in November of 2028 through the election of a
Democrat president and that is what
their target should be; not the
irresponsible mission of sabotaging every policy effort made by him during the
balance of his term.
The
next presidential election will offer this nation a choice between two
candidates who have never before been president. Over the next three years, each national
party will determine who its leader will be heading into that election. We can only hope and pray that the partisan
ledgers that track spite and malice quotients will be closed at that time, and
that our next president will a better man than the one we have now…or the one
that preceded him.
We
can also hope and pray that the opposing party will behave in a more
responsible manner when dealing with that new president as compared to the type
of behavior we are now witnessing from the Democrats. Perhaps we can all come to accept that the
treatment of Donald Trump was a quid pro
quo for the treatment received by Bill Clinton. I suspect that history will show that
despite the personal character flaws exhibited by both men, the policies they
marshaled during their terms as president served this nation well.
On
a closing note…I will not look backwards in an effort to capture the
significant events of 2025 and I will not offer a list of things to look for in
2026; there’s plenty of that out there from folks wiser than me. But I will make an observation about the
coming political environment for this next year. People have grown sick and tired of the gender-bending,
illogical, incompetent, tax-and-spend, American-apology approach to governing
that we lived through for four years of Joe Biden and Democrat rule. The Covid hangover led us into the Biden
malaise and we are finally beginning to shake that off and see the promise of a
new day. The Trump Administration, along
with a Republican Congress, have set the table for our nation to not only do
well economically and globally, but to also get back to feeling good about
being an American and all the noble things that our nation stands for.
I
believe the progressive movement has had its fifteen minutes of fame and will
now be exposed as the fraud that it is.
I think our nation is now ready to throw off the autocratic burdens
remaining from Covid and Biden and get back to appreciating the benefits, joys,
pride, and opportunities we possess from being citizens of the greatest nation
on this planet. By the time the mid-term
elections arrive in November, the majority of American voters will be more than
ready to affirm their approval of president Trump’s policies by rewarding him
with continuing Republican control of Congress…that being BOTH the Senate and the House. Time…will…tell.
Now let’s move on to some of the
news stories opening up in year 2026.
As
I briefly mentioned above, the issue of Executive Orders is a hot and important
topic. The abuses in this area of power
have been instigated by recent presidents of both parties. The majority of the
blame for this autocratic overreach clearly lies with the presidents; but there
is also significant blame that should rest with Congress. If they fail to do their job…as they clearly have for decades…then
they are inviting the president to fill the power vacuum they create.
One
of the many abuses that occurred under Covid was the irresponsible acts of
Congress and the Biden Administration shoveling out billions of dollars of “aid
and infrastructure” to their favored constituents in a totally unregulated and
unaccountable fashion.
Is it not strange that these breaking stories about fraud and abuse are predominantly
coming from states controlled by Democrats?
Chickens do tend to come home and roost.
Elections have consequences. New York City residents…Virginians…are you
paying attention?
https://www.newsnationnow.com/politics/house-oversight-committee-minnesota-fraud-hearing-walz-comer/
https://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/trump-administration-hhs-minnesota/2025/12/30/id/1240238/
https://nypost.com/2025/12/29/opinion/minnesotas-somali-scams-get-worse-by-the-day-who-will-pay/
https://www.dailywire.com/news/hundreds-of-illinois-public-workers-implicated-in-pandemic-fraud
https://amgreatness.com/2025/12/30/california-screamin/
We
all lose when our government begins picking losers and winners in the private
sector. To repeat…Under the guise of Covid and
infrastructure, our government threw billions of tax dollars at green energy
efforts that were doomed for failure from the start. There is no doubt that the
overwhelming majority of the people and companies benefiting from this largesse
are Democrats. Can you spell “boondoggle”?
Our
national education system MUST BE ADDRESSED and reformed. Nothing is more important than preparing our
next generation of leaders to maintain our nation.
https://amgreatness.com/2025/12/23/stupid-in-america-turns-20/
Who is teaching our children?
What are they being taught?
Local
public libraries are great treasures of our nation and address many needs that
otherwise are ignored, especially in rural areas. I use my local library extensively. It is busy, it is supported by a local
property millage tax, and it is run efficiently. I am proud of it. Every community should have one like ours. They need YOUR
support.
One
of President Donald Trump’s greatest accomplishments thus far in his second
term is the reinvigoration of America’s military. There is no other responsibility held by our
federal government that is greater than the defense of our country. We absolutely must maintain the most powerful
military presence on the planet. “Peace through strength” is not an empty
saying. And we must be willing…wisely…to use that strength.
https://americanmind.org/salvo/americas-military-is-back/
Republicans
seemed to have found the political courage to oppose the extension of Obamacare
subsidies and the continuing Democrat effort to move America’s health care
system towards a single payer model. Fortunately, they are also realizing that you
cannot beat something with nothing and have come up with some new and
innovative alternatives. Now they must
close the deal by uniting behind legislation that addresses this issue and
passing it in an expedited fashion. The clock is ticking.
https://justthenews.com/government/congress/republicans-now-have-answer-democrats-medicare-all
The
legalization of marijuana distribution and usage is a complicated issue. The science behind its use is distorted,
contradictory, and difficult to understand.
I am personally opposed to its legalization, but remain open to its
limited medical applications. It is a
topic that needs much more attention from our mainstream media. Like it
or not…it is in our face and must be addressed.
