In 2012 I tried to wrap my head around President Obama’s
win. It resulted in a post entitled “Commentary
- They chose the ice cream cone . . . .” My theory?
The President promised “his” people all the ice cream they could eat . .
. and they bought it. The result? 4 years to increase our national debt, pretty
much give nukes to Iran, continue the destruction of our military . . . to name
but a few things.
At the same time the conservative base gave
the Republicans a chance to act against Obama’s policies . . . to provide some
level of obstruction as our ship of state sailed towards the edge of the
world. They did nothing.
It was time for “Mom” to step in . . .
As Iowa was spinning up for the 2012 election and friend –
Tim – and I met at the local Subway for a sandwich and to chat. We were part of the Republican county
platform committee. We had agreed that
one of the things that allowed platforms to get profoundly out of hand was a
lack of foundation. Something to anchor
the party. We came up with five
fundamental parts of the foundation of the platform for our county. They have passed the test to time remaining
pretty much unaltered through the 2016 election.
And . . . I believe they answer the question . . . “Why did
Trump win???”
Honestly, I wasn’t surprised by the win . . . in fact I
expected Trump to shred Hillary. I was
somewhat disappointed, I expected higher numbers on his part . . . but I wasn’t
surprised. So here’s my take – point by
point.
Here was our first foundational point . . .
1: Our nation is a Constitutional Republic. We are a nation governed by people elected to public office that
are sent to represent us, the citizen. Our Constitution provides limits to
their power, explicitly details our fundamental rights and insures that only
the enumerated powers contained within the Constitution are executed by the
federal government. All other functions of government are left to the state and
local governments.
While we were told many times that every President uses
executive orders . . . President Obama took it to a level well beyond our solar
system. From ordering government
officials to ignore immigration law to implementing changes to the way the ACA
worked he continually reminded Congress that he had a “pen and a phone” . . .
which he relished using. Republicans
gave Congress to their representatives expecting them to bring the President to
heal . . . and they failed to act. With
the prospect of yet another “President Clinton” in the offing . . . and with
the disastrous path President Obama and our existing congress has placed our
country . . . it was not surprising that folks decided to “take the ice cream
away” and put the alternative in place . . . President-Elect Trump.
One other little gem . . . it appears that Hillary may well have
won the popular vote. I’m sure the caterwaul
cries will begin to eliminate the Electoral College and just use the “voice of
the people”. Just remember that one of
the functions of the Electoral College was to place a check on disparate accumulations
of people in a single place. It insures
that a very small region within California and the Northeast do not become the
primary voice of the direction of the country with those in “fly over country”
loosing theirs entirely. This is a handy
reminder that the system our founders developed works just fine.
2: We are a Sovereign Nation. We are a Sovereign Nation with defined borders, governed by a
set of laws determined by our representatives, guided by our Constitution and
protected by a military strong enough to defend our borders and interests.
This . . . THIS RIGHT HERE . . . is the primary reason that
today we have a President-Elect Trump. I
have friends that wonder why Cruz, Rubio and others we passed over in favor of
Trump. Three simple words account for it
. . . “Comprehensive Immigration Reform”.
As for Hillary, her promise to legalize the 11-million-ish (her number)
within the first 100 days of a Clinton administration was a “uuhge” contributor
to her loss as well.
One of the characteristics of Trump that the left hammered on
since his promise to “build the wall” and his claims that countries south of
the border are flooding us with criminals that sell drugs, murder our citizens
and ignore our laws – is that he was “anti-Hispanic, anti-Muslim,
anti-immigrant”. Honestly, I’ve never
heard him utter a single word against immigrants . . . legal immigrants that
respect the laws of our nation, follow the rules, go through the process and
become citizens of the United States.
THESE people are immigrants.
Folks that cross a border, cross a river, overstay a visa . . . are
criminals. There is a difference . . .
and the difference matters. If borders
no longer matter, we no longer have a country.
I also heard the cry on how he hates Muslims . . . again I didn’t
hear a single word spoken by Trump against Muslims. What he did say was that he expected the US
to fully vet anyone applying for refugee status in our country and that we
should simply stop all immigration from countries that were on fire until we
could figure out “what the hell is going on”.
I see this as common sense. Presidents
Obama, both Bushes, Regan and Carter had all done exactly that . . . stopped
immigration from specific Mideast countries until the figured out “what the
hell was going on”.
The third component of this also explains why more Hispanics voted
for Trump than had voted for Romney . . . legal Hispanics, who played by the
rules, applied for entry and citizenship and are now American citizens and see
no reason those who committed a criminal act should be granted citizenship
simply because they broke the law. They
see it as detrimental to the Hispanic community, not beneficial.
We are either a sovereign nation, and a nation of law . . . or
we aren’t. Borders matter.
3: The Oath of Office of all civil servants - elected and
employed – should guide their actions. As citizens, we expect that our elected officials take their
office and its duties and responsibilities to us, our country and our
Constitution seriously and act in accordance with their individual Oaths of
Office.
I took an oath to “protect and defend the Constitution from all
enemies both foreign and domestic” six times.
As many vets say rather dramatically . . . “I wrote the check with my
life”. With Veteran’s Day very near, let
us all remember that many have done exactly that. We, as citizens, have the right to expect
that our elected and appointed officials “protect and defend the Constitution”
just a vigorously. Perhaps not with their very life, but at the very least with
their entire soul.
President Obama has given little consideration to our founding
document. He continually used his “pen
and phone” to go around the inconveniences its restriction placed on his
particular branch of government. While
he freely passed out “ice cream” for the past 8 years, “MOM” has decided enough
is enough and placed someone in control that she expects to bring us, as a
nation, back into line. Let’s hope that
can be done.
The Republican Congress has certainly contributed in large
measure to what many see as the most lawless administration of their
lifetime. The House simply chose to pass
on using its “power of the purse” to clamp down on the Executive branch. The Senate did little to restrict the
appointment of far-left Judges – with the notable exception of SCOTUS nominee Merrick Garland, a rare showing of backbone.
Bottom line, Oaths of
Office matter, the Constitution matters.
They are the foundation of our country.
When our elected officials ignore both, eventually MOM will take us
behind the woodshed and have a chat.
4: Fiscal Responsibility is a fundamental function of any local,
state or federal entity. All monies expended by all
governments – local, state and federal – come from the labor of the citizens of
the country. It is a fundamental expectation that these government entities
should act in a financially responsible manner.
This is perhaps second in line to “building the wall” in reasons
that we have a President-Elect Trump.
Contrary to Obama’s stump speeches on how we are well on the
road to financial recovery in this country, those in the trenches are aware
that those words are simply a self-serving lie, period.
During the past 8 years President Obama has collected record
taxes . . . and spent every single dime.
As he quickly told Representative Paul Ryan . . . “I won!” And he spent our money like a “winner”. In fact, spending every single penny wasn’t
enough, he borrowed another 10 TRILLION DOLLARS on top of it, and spent that as
well. 10 TRILLION DOLLARS . . .
Next was the “Affordable” Care Act . . . which is proving to be
neither affordable of anything that comes close to caring for the people. “Your rates will go down by $2,500 per family”
– LIE. “If you like your plan, you can
keep your plan.” – LIE. “If you like
your doctor, you can keep your doctor.” – LIE.
“We will make sure every American has insurance.” – LIE. (One of the arguments to ram through the ACA
was the “30 million” uninsured people in America. Today Obama proudly claims that the uninsured
number has dropped to 11% of our population. . . which is 30 million-ish.)
More people are on food stamps than at any other time in recent
history. (yes, I get it, it was probably worse during the Great Depression – do
we really want to go there?) While the
claim of “un-employment” is said to be 5-ish%, the actual number is that there
are 94 MILLION working age people out of work.
We are a nation of 334 million souls, with 200-ish million “working age”
(16-64). Do. The. Math. Our citizens want a pay check, not a deposit
on the EBT card.
Finally, I believe a “balanced budget” came into play. Folks understand that when their checkbook
goes into the red, they can’t just print money.
When the interest rates climb, they can’t say “no, no – better keep it
low to keep things easier”. They’re
tired of filling the coffers of the treasury with their hard-earned money only
to have government piss it away. Hillary’s
solution . . . a $1.5 TRILLION “stimulus” program out of the chute to “get
things goin’”. That’s $15,000 per family
. . . fiscal responsibility matters . . . just sayin’.
5: Personal Responsibility is the primary duty of all citizens. We are a nation of individuals held together by a common vision.
We are not servants of the government; we are not dependent on the largess of
society for our survival. Our possibilities are limitless; they not should be
limited by our local, state and federal government. We are individuals, we are
citizens of our country and we – and we alone – are responsible for our
successes and failures.
(I’m going to ask for “language forgiveness” at the beginning of
this particular paragraph. I do my best
to leave the “salty” language aside . . . don’t think I can do that here . . .
I apologize)
For all you little “special snowflakes” out there who need your
hands held, your diapers changed, your “safe space” so you don’t feel “threatened”
. . . PISS OFF!!! GROW THE HELL UP OR
GET OUT OF MY COUNTRY. YOU ARE A WASTE
OF FLESH, A WASTE OF GOOD AIR AND A WASTE OF FOOD FROM MY TABLE!!!
I am exhausted by some little snowflake having their feelings
hurt because I think they’re a dumbass . . . cause they’re a dumbass. Spend 5 years, $200,000 to get a Master’s
Degree in “Puppetry” . . . and now you can’t find a job??? You’re a dumbass – don’t look at me to
provide a “free” education or to pick up your tab.
Want a $30,000 a year job (the infamous $15/hour job) but didn’t
finish high school, have never held a fulltime job in your life, can’t show up
on time . . . you’re a dumbass – I won’t hire you and if the government simply
says I “have too”, I’ll make damn sure I’ll hire as few as I can, I’ll automate
every chance I can and provide nothing, zero, zip in benefits . . . cause the
public won’t pay $10 for a Big Mac . . . just sayin’.
Harass cops – be like all “He Man” and then flash a squirt gun .
. . and get all pissed off when you wind up dead? You’re a dumb-ass. Yell and scream at the cops when your special
snowflake gets dead while committing armed robbery at a store . . . and blame
it on the cops because your boy is a “good boy” . . . you’re a dumbass. Come through the window of a cruiser, try to
steal a cop’s gun, get shot, turn to leave and fail to stop when ordered, use
your 6”4” – 274 pound body to charge the same cop . . . you end up dead while
proving you’re a dumbass . . . TOUGH SHIT.
We . . . the “adults” . . . are sick and f’-ing tired of your
whiney-assed crap. GROW. THE. HELL.
UP. Regardless of your age – teenage to
life-long 40-year old snowflake – grow a “pair” Put on your big girl
panties. IT’S. NOT. MY. JOB. TO. TAKE.
CARE. OF. YOU. . . . PERIOD. If you are
able bodied . . . of “normal” intelligence . . . and ability . . . and have
simply given up and want to live off my dime . . . I will leave you die by the
side of the road. You have the right to
choose . . . choose well.
All that said . . . there are those in our society who truly
need our help. The infirm, the old, the
very young, the disabled, the mentally unstable, the developmentally challenged
. . . and it is our direct charge as individuals, as a society, as a nation, to
care for them. Without hesitation. Without complaint.
But . . . the “special snowflakes”? YOU. CAN. KISS. MY. ASS.
Trump was not a surprise.
One of the other more “appropriate” candidates that the Republicans has
could have taken on the mantel of being an adult . . . of taking away the “kids
Ice Cream’ . . . they chose poorly and were cast aside.
Have we, as a nation, chose wisely? Who knows.
Trump is a genuine wild card – and an indicator of how desperate our
nation is to move out of the crap-hole we’re currently in. I pray he listens, that Congress listens and
that we find the strength to do the hard work ahead.
Only time will tell.
Some reference links . . .
Well said, and concur with all!
ReplyDeleteWell said, and concur with all!
ReplyDelete