The Patriot Post® · The Trump Presidency: A One-Term Postmortem
“If men of wisdom and knowledge, of moderation and temperance, of patience, fortitude and perseverance, of sobriety and true republican simplicity of manners, of zeal for the honour of the Supreme Being and the welfare of the commonwealth; if men possessed of these other excellent qualities are chosen to fill the seats of government, we may expect that our affairs will rest on a solid and permanent foundation.” –Samuel Adams (1780)
In a better world, I would be writing this column in January of 2025, shortly after the inauguration of President Mike Pence. But alas, in the world we live in, I’m sorting through some 30,000 words in the notes I’ve compiled over the last two months. That’s about 60 average pages in your favorite book — just a tad over what I strive for in my typical column.
But this isn’t a typical column.
What follows is a compilation of observations and references regarding the election, administration, and unfortunately the defeat of Donald J. Trump after one tumultuous term as president by the corrupt socialist Democrat Party regime.
Astoundingly, Trump was displaced by a dullard baked potato, Joe Biden, who has accomplished virtually nothing to make America a better place for those he ostensibly has represented over the course of his almost five decades as a Beltway politician. But as I have argued, the Biden ticket is actually headed by the leftist who will soon replace him, Kamala Harris.
I have divided my observations into several categories in order to be as concise as possible about Trump’s four years as president.
TRUMP THE CANDIDATE:
A quick review of my early columns about primary candidate Donald Trump reveals that my greatest concern was that of his character — it was not comparable in the least to George Washington or Ronald Reagan. Full disclosure: I was firmly in the Ted Cruz camp, with Marco Rubio as a running mate.
Soon after Trump became the Republican nominee in 2016 (though he failed to win the popular primary vote), I contacted a longtime friend who had security responsibilities for Trump and his family, and I asked him what I needed to know about his boss. He said that Trump’s personal interactions with people, be they friends or his employees, are totally different from his public persona — that there was a deep shared respect and loyalty among those who knew him best.
Ahead of the election, I wrote about why I was voting for Trump — as if I would’ve ever considered an ounce of support for Hillary Clinton. I responded to inquiries from conservatives that I was confident that Mike Pence, whom I first met decades earlier, would not have joined Trump’s ticket if he were not confident that Trump would take the country in the right direction. And I was totally confident that Trump would follow through on his commitment to nominate constructionist jurists to the Supreme Court.
Within a month of Trump’s shocking Electoral College victory over Clinton (though not with a majority of the popular vote), it became clear that his administration was shaping up to be the most conservative and consequential in decades, what I called a “Reagan revival.” But even so, I still had concern about his “New York values” and wondered whether his presidency would be hamstrung by his brash bravado.
But we praised his administration’s policies, if not his character, from day one. Ironically, in the years that followed, we regularly and simultaneously took fire from those claiming we were either “too pro-Trump” or “too anti-Trump.” I guess that’s indicative of being devoted, first and foremost, to American Liberty above any politician or party affiliation.
TRUMP THE PRESIDENT:
Perhaps Trump’s most obvious leadership “style” was that he was a bomb dropper. As I wrote shortly after he took office in 2017: “The day he arrived in DC, he dropped a bomb on the Beltway status quo in Congress and its special interests. He dropped a bomb on the regulatory behemoths and their bureaucratic bottlenecks. He dropped a bomb on the trade and national security institutions and alliances that failed miserably over the previous eight years. And he dropped a bomb on all the pundits and mainstream media outlets.”
The net results of Trump’s carpet-bombing of the DC establishment is that he left office with an extraordinary list of accomplishments eclipsing those of any president since Reagan.
In addition to that lengthy list of the Trump administration’s exceptional record, our Managing Editor Nate Jackson, along with a handful of editors, compiled a “Trump Legacy” series for the record: Foreign Policy Achievement; Blacks, Hispanics, and Blue-Collar Workers; Trump’s Deregulation Record; Domestic Policy Achievement; and Political Impact.
Suffice it to say that in one term, President Trump’s accomplishments rivaled those of the most effective two-term presidents.
TRUMP THE TARGET:
No president has ever been more relentlessly assailed by the enemies of Liberty than Donald Trump. The deep-state coup against Trump was not broad but it was certainly deep.
Orchestrated by his predecessor, Barack Obama, whose fingerprints are all over the coup crime scene, in collusion with Hillary Clinton and her co-conspirators who fabricated the “Russian Collusion” charade, the effort to undermine the Trump administration from within was staggering in its callous defiance of the law.
While the cutouts in this operation have been exposed, it is former FBI Director James Comey and former CIA Director John Brennan who should be indicted for their roles in setting up the fake FISA warrants that seeded the entire conspiracy.
I’ve taken some shots in regard to my consistent use of “deep state” and “coup,” but the fact is this was a deep-state coup, as the most recent evidence about the origins of Crossfire Hurricane, the early layup for taking down Trump, reveals.
When Robert Mueller’s investigation fell flat, it led to Coup d'État 2.0, the phony effort to impeach President Trump for what Joe Biden actually did in Ukraine. Of course, that effort also failed.
Of course, the Demos’ agenda received 24/7/365 assistance from their Leftmedia propagandists and their BIG Tech silencers. Mainstream and social media platforms are the primary propagators of “fake news,” such adulteration being the “true enemy of the people.” And with Biden/Harris in office, now herds of so-called “journalists” are promoting the suppression of free speech, when it is speech that does not comport with their political or social views.
As I have often pondered, consider what the American political landscape would look like if the mainstream and social media platforms were actually politically neutral, or if they actually affirmed the First Amendment.
TRUMP THE MISCOMMUNICATOR:
(Warning: If you are among the small number of Trump supporters who are not capable of reading well-reasoned criticism without emotionally decompensating, skip this section…)
President Ronald Reagan was described by friend and foe as “the great communicator.” However, he disclaimed that attribute, saying in typical humility, “I wasn’t a great communicator, but I communicated great things, and they didn’t spring full bloom from my brow, they came from the heart of a great nation – from our experience, our wisdom and our belief in the principles that have guided us for two centuries.”
Unfortunately Donald Trump was unable to comprehend or exhibit an ounce of the humility which earned President Reagan the great communicator accolade.
Trump’s communications proliferated an unmitigated arrogance never before witnessed in a president. He made all things politically divisive all the time, and he was omnipresent — he never gave his social media accounts a much-needed rest. The Democrats and Leftmedia had Trump’s number; they knew how to trigger him, and they mastered it.
Soon after his inauguration, seeing the communication catastrophe around the bend, I wrote, “Memo to POTUS: Stop Swapping Stupid With Jackasses.” The point was that Trump’s endless cycle of inane insults was a significant obstacle to his agenda, and he can be his own worst enemy and was engendering a meteoric rise in those who hated him.
It was as if he thrived on the “Trump Derangement Syndrome” his social media posts triggered. But the result would ultimately prove to be his most prominent “Achilles Heel.”
While many of his supporters rightly reveled in his blistering attacks against Democrats and Leftmedia talkingheads, too often Trump’s relentless attacks drifted into fratricide, which served only to undermine his leadership. He would have benefited from a broader application of President Reagan’s wise counsel — his “Eleventh Commandment” against fratricidal attacks: “Thou shalt not speak ill of any fellow Republican.”
The brashness and brawn that made President Trump an effective bomb dropper dominated his social media bombs and fomented enormous division and hate. With a modicum of self-restraint, he could have gained much more ground with a broader constituency, while still keeping his base fired up. But he never exercised restraint.
As for Trump’s relentless and unmitigated self-aggrandizement, I’m reminded of Aslan’s wise advice to Prince Caspian in C.S. Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia: “If you had felt yourself sufficient, it would have been proof that you were not.”
But what hurt Trump most was his erratic communications during the course of the ChiCom Virus pandemic this past year. In April I warned, “Mr. President, Don’t Be the Poster Child for CV19 Misery,” but his self-destruction was evident, and the corrupt mainstream media was only too happy to oblige. The media helped Demos hang COVID-19 around Trump’s neck like an albatross.
Without question, the biggest blunder of Trump’s presidency, the one that arguably cost him the election, allowing Anthony Fauci to become the administration’s de-facto dictator over the U.S. economy, culture and ultimately, the 2020 election.
To that end, a wise friend and a very astute political observer, Cal Thomas, offered this observation: “Last August, Trump was questioned at a White House press briefing about polls showing his popularity was declining. Asked to explain, he responded, ‘Nobody likes me. It can only be my personality. That’s all.’ It was a rare moment of transparency for him.”
Cal continued: “There is still a remnant of old-fashioned values my grandparents’ generation embraced and tried to instill in their descendants. One was not to belittle, demean, talk down to, or call other people names. Trump has consistently ignored that advice. While a large number of Americans still support him and the number who voted for him far outpaced any other Republican presidential candidate, or incumbent president, it wasn’t enough. The reason can only be his personality. Most Americans expect a certain amount of dignity emanating from one who temporarily holds our highest office. Could Trump have achieved all he has without the name-calling? I think so.”
Rarely do I agree with WaPo political analyst Charles Lane, but I agree with every word of this recent assessment: “I was just reminded by how much more his celebrators might have to celebrate if the president had managed to modulate his behavior and behave decently, and speak in a civil tongue even in the face of a lot of criticism — much of which was, inevitably, unfair. He might have been reelected if he had been able to manage his impulses and personality. … Those who are disappointed that he has been defeated ought to consider how much he has been his own worst enemy over the last four years.”
If then-President Trump could have mastered a degree of consistency and humility in his ubiquitous communications, I believe he would be in his second presidential term. It was Donald Trump’s election to lose, and he did. He did not lose because of something he did this year, but because of what he did not do over the last four years: listen to wise voices about moderating his caustic and chaotic communications. He would not have lost a single core voter over that moderation, but he did manage to incite a massive groundswell of opposition that cost him — and all of us who have backed him over the last four years — the continuation of his administration’s policies, which have in virtually every area served our whole nation well.
Elections are almost all about personality, 90% the person and 10% the policy. Trump did not understand that his efforts to rally supporters rallied far more adversaries.
TRUMP’S REELECTION BID:
As Joe Biden himself declared, in a colossal political gaffe: “We have put together, I think, the most extensive and inclusive voter fraud organization in the history of American politics.”
And they did just that.
In 2016, with a 55.7% voter turnout, Trump managed to defeat Clinton with 46.1% of the popular vote (62,984,828) to her 48.2% (65,853,514), but amazingly he managed to win 304 electoral votes to Clinton’s 227.
In 2020, with a 66.7% voter turnout, Biden defeated Trump with 51.3% of the popular vote (81,268,757) compared to Trump’s 46.9% (74,216,722), for 306 electoral votes over Trump’s 232. (Libertarian Party candidate Jo Jorgensen received 1.2% (1,865,873).)
Fact is, the last time Republicans won a resounding majority of the popular vote in a presidential election was in 1988, when George H.W. Bush defeated Michael Dukakis by eight points, in large part due to his VP position on the ticket of the enormously popular Ronald Reagan, who won 49 states in his 1984 reelection bid. Of course “moderate Republican” Bush(41) lost to the younger more dynamic Bill Clinton. George W. Bush lost the popular vote to Al Gore in 2000, and narrowly won the popular vote against John Kerry in 2004 by two percent.
Not since Herbert Hoover lost to Franklin Roosevelt in 1933 has a Republican presidential loss left the White House, Senate, and House of Representatives under Democrat control. The GOP has got to embrace a formula that goes beyond the electoral college and captures a majority of American votes in 2024.
A New York second after the election results were in, Trump protested: “This election was stolen. It was a rigged election, 100 percent, and everyone knows it. It’s going to be that I got about 74 million votes, and I lost? It’s not possible.”
As I noted previously, Trump inspired seven million more Democrat votes than he was able to garner for himself. He energized his opponents, though I should note that in key swing states the numbers were very close.
Fact is, Trump was not wrong about the election being rigged, but his claim about voting-machine irregularities was not how the Democrat Party rigged it. As it turns out, voter fraud was the Demos’ final coup against Trump. But the fraud was perpetrated by way of what I outlined in “The Left’s Bulk-Mail Ballot Fraud Strategy.” The Democrats beat Trump on the ground with their bulk-registration and bulk-mail balloting strategy, including the receipt of millions of votes that were undocumented by any reasonable standard of identification. It worked, and it will work in future elections if it goes unchecked.
Prior to the November election defeat of Trump along with otherwise mixed results, I declared that the Democrat bulk-mail balloting and ballot harvesting programs opened the election to massive fraud. There is no way to adequately verify the identification of those receiving or returning bulk-mail ballots. There is no way to authenticate ballot signatures, which requires a substantial level of expertise.
Recall that the Democrats made reference to the “red mirage” ahead of the November election, noting that initially it would look like Trump had won in some states but that would change when the bulk-mail ballot totals were calculated. That’s exactly what happened.
To fully comprehend the Demos’ fraudulent bulk-mail strategy, consider the following voter regulations as proposed by Nancy Pelosi in House Resolution, the grossly misnamed “For the People Act of 2021.” It is an effort to pass the same HR 1 bill that failed in 2019 — except now there is no Senate majority gauntlet to reject this effort to establish a Democrat majority in perpetuity.
Pelosi’s HR 1 stipulates that the federal government will, contrary to our Constitution, have the power to set universal regulations regarding voter-identity requirements, in order to implement universal bulk-mail balloting. HR 1 asserts: “A state may not require an individual to provide any form of identification as a condition of obtaining an absentee ballot. … A state(s) may not require notarization or a witness signature or other formal authentication (other than voter attestation) as a condition of obtaining or casting an absentee ballot.”
That should alarm every American dedicated to the future of American Liberty.
Despite Joe Biden’s “unity” theme, the Democrat agenda is anything but.
TRUMP IMPEACHMENT CHARADE 2.0:
Unfortunately, given the elevated rhetoric about election fraud, on January 6th, a fractional faction of thugs undermined Trump’s entire legacy and MAGA movement by rioting in our nation’s Capitol building. These badly misguided jackasses were not “Patriots”; they were adherents of a personality cult, which is inevitably and irrevocably antithetical to Liberty. As I have written previously, I hope Trump’s “election fraud” protests and the DC riot don’t overshadow the legitimate concerns about election fraud — but Democrats and their Leftmedia are doing everything possible to ensure that disgraceful event defines Trump and all who have supported his policies.
To that end, the House and Senate have undertaken a second impeachment charade against the now-former president using the Capitol riot to inflict maximum damage on Donald Trump – and by extension all his former administration supporters – in order to ensure that he, and we, are lightning rods for any further violence, which Demos are baiting. They are using the theatrical farce to target Trump supporters in Congress whose seats will be contested in 2022.
(Depending on the outcome of U.S. Attorney John Durham’s investigation, Trump may have the last laugh.)
Signaling the asininity of this charade, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, in what competes with the latest Biden gaffes, declared, “Senators will have to decide if Donald John Trump incited the erection.” (Make up your own joke here…)
Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts has already removed himself from presiding over this political pretense, which now falls to president pro tempore of the Senate, Patrick Leahy, (D-VT). Leahy administered the oath to Senate “jurors” earlier Monday: “Do you solemnly swear that in all things appertaining to the trial of Donald John Trump, former president of the United States, now pending, you will do impartial justice according to the Constitution and the laws, so help you God?” Anyone repeating those words who does not object to this proceeding is in violation of that oath.
To bolster their impeachment theatrics (which any seasoned security analyst will tell you invites trouble), Washington is still occupied by armed battalions of National Guard troops and armored vehicles manning barricades topped with concertina wire. Additionally, the Biden/Harris regime ordered the Department of Homeland Security to issue a national terrorism alert (the first in years) about anti-government extremists, though admitting “DHS does not have any information to indicate a specific, credible plot.”
Even if you weren’t among the few hundred Capitol building rioters, you might harbor impure and unhealthy thoughts about the Democrats’ bulk-mail balloting fraud in the November election, or about the usurpation and trampling of our Liberties by an unholy alliance between the Democrat political machine, the Leftmedia and Big Tech.
Meanwhile, leftists continue their urban attacks and assaults on police officers at unprecedented rates.
MOVING FORWARD — OUR MISSION:
Biden and Harris declared before the election: “This election is a ‘BATTLE for the SOUL of the NATION.” Post election, it is now a BATTLE for the FUTURE of AMERICAN LIBERTY.
I hope Trump will put whatever voice he has moving forward behind the most capable congressional candidates ahead of the 2022 midterm election — that he will do nothing to further foment division. Fortunately he has indicated that he does not support, and in fact rejects, the defeatist notion of a third party. And, according to his post-presidential advisory team, Trump’s goal “is to win back the House and Senate for Republicans in 2022.”
Despite all the handwringing about political divisions on the Right, that split is over support for Trump the personality. There is no split over support for the Trump administration’s considerable policy successes. As Biden disables those policies with a flash flood of executive orders, and his fellow socialist Democrats reverse policies with legislation, that will have the net effect of further unifying conservatives going into the 2022 midterms.
And regarding the personality split, my guiding principles — which are reflected in all we do at The Patriot Post — have exactly nothing to do with any man. My principles are informed by two inseparable and enduring commitments: My foremost devotion to Liberty and to my oath “to support and defend” our Constitution.
As clearly outlined in our mission statement, “Our mission is not framed as Right or Left, Conservative or Liberal, nor Republican or Democrat. Our mission and advocacy — and that of all genuine Patriots who embody the legacy and spirit of our Founders — is framed by our commitment to Liberty over tyranny. Above all we are devoted to the Gospel framework for Liberty, irrevocably endowed by our Creator.”
We take the long view of Liberty — which endures any presidential cycle, any decade, any century. The steadfast defense of Liberty is an eternal cause, and as George Washington wrote, “Our cause is noble; it is the cause of mankind.”
A year before our Declaration of Independence was codified, at great peril to our Founders, Joseph Warren wrote: “Our country is in danger, but not to be despaired of. Our enemies are numerous and powerful; but we have many friends, determining to be free, and heaven and earth will aid the resolution. On you depend the fortunes of America. You are to decide the important question, on which rest the happiness and liberty of millions yet unborn. Act worthy of yourselves.”
In 1777, amid a string of defeats in our foundational quest for Liberty — as the fall of Philadelphia and the brutal winter at Valley Forge approached — General George Washington wrote his commanders: “We should never despair, our Situation before has been unpromising and has changed for the better, so I trust, it will again. If new difficulties arise, we must only put forth new Exertions and proportion our Efforts to the exigency of the times.”
The defense of American Liberty and our Republic’s Constitutional Rule of Law always has, and always will, exact a heavy price on its defenders. The forces of tyranny — the forces of evil — have always been, and will always be, relentless. We are bound by our “sacred honor,” our obligation “to support and defend” Liberty at all costs, confident that “heaven and earth will aid the resolution” as we rise to “the exigency of the times.”
(Footnote: There was another winner of the 2020 presidential election… After the totals were in, according to Barack Obama, “People would ask me, 'Knowing what you know now, do you wish you had a third term?’ And I used to say, ‘You know what, if I could make an arrangement where I had a stand-in, a front-man or a front-woman and they had an ear piece in and I was just in my basement with my sweats looking through the stuff and I could sort of deliver the lines, but somebody else was doing all the talking and ceremony, I would be fine with that.’” You may draw your own conclusions…)
Semper Vigilans Fortis Paratus et Fidelis
Pro Deo et Libertate — 1776
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