At last, the election, hopefully the last serious momentous event of 2020, is upon us. This is by far the most important election since at least 1864, and almost certainly the greatest choice election. Also, this election is a hinge moment; either the country is going to continue healing and reforge into a patriotic and strong nation, or we will continue down the progressive path of managed decline.
Starting with 2008, the nation accelerated a self-loathing and insidious spirit of mediocrity that had been building in the waning days of the Cold War. The ascendancy of Barack Obama was the most serious wound America had received since the era of unrest in the 1960s-1970s. Yes, the Iraq War, the drug epidemic, illegal immigration before 2008, the depletion of the military, etc. etc., were serious struggles or body blows to the national psyche. But the election of the 44th president was perhaps the first momentous sign of outright defeatism among the American populace.
Earlier progressive presidents, such as FDR and LBJ, while radical and/or idiotic in many of their policies, they didn’t hate the country, nor any large segment of the people (at least openly). Yes, they wanted to make numerous fundamental transformations, something Obama would echo decades later, but they never displayed an open disdain for their fellow countrymen as ‘the Messiah’ did. Statements about ‘clingers’ ‘you didn’t build that’ Christians not being nice, America being the world’s problem, all of that was grating beyond expression.
After eight years of his constant American bashing, his ignoring or hindering of the heartland, his incessant belittling of Christians, Israel supporters, the middle class, those who worked in the fossil fuel industries, and so on, the United States was battered beyond recognition. Coming out of the worst recession since the 1930s, the recovery was extremely slow, good jobs weren’t as plentiful, our military was cut to the bone and the overall tenor in flyover country (and other conservative/libertarian folks) was ranging from morose, to apathetic, to just plain exhausted and disheartened.
Enter stage right, Donald Trump. He inherited a very fragile country, one that was on edge not just due to his surprise election, but the ever increasing racial tensions fomented by the Obama Administration, the loss of good paying working/middle class jobs and the ever ‘wokening’ culture was becoming too much for average Americans to bear. It appeared he wouldn’t be able to mend the country, nor make good on many promises, particularly those on the economic front.
While the Trump Bump wasn’t enough for everyone, it certainly was better than slightly notable. People returned to the workforce, gasoline price spikes became less extreme, more money went into everyone’s pockets, businesses had extremely high confidence because of less taxes and burdensome regulations, and the military was restocked, just to name a few massive changes. Was there much still to be done? Of course, but the nation was moving in the right direction.
Then the China virus hit, and America was laid low. Was this Trump’s fault? Pelosi’s fault? Biden’s fault? No, no and no. Remembering this, the President responded fortuitously with the travel bans, used his business acumen to secure PPE, used government powers sparingly and judiciously to get equipment and gear procured, and moved deftly on the things that mattered most to both maintain the economy and to make medical inroads.
Were his words on occasion confusing and a bit jarring? Yes. Were the press conferences at times, especially in the early months, disjointed and somewhat contradictory. Another yes. However, remember the virus wasn’t nearly as well known in the spring, and Trump had to consider many implications beyond just public health, and even the health experts were wrong, at times much more wrong, or much less right, than the President.
Then the riots came. Ironic that the man who had done significant criminal justice reform, who had put extra resources into black community, was now deemed a racist (again) because he didn’t cower before the BLM and Antifa mob, and the many useful idiot protestors, who had good intentions, but once confronted with the facts, could not be swayed towards reason. Again, the President was in a no-win situation, and apparently doomed to a massive electoral loss.
It comes as no surprise the media didn’t report on any accomplishments and criticism fair or correctly, and skewered the President unfairly, only furthering his seemingly inevitable defeat. Still, on the eve of the election, here we stand, with Trump within the margin of error in most of the battleground states. Are the odds still stacked against him? Of course, but that he is even this close is astonishing. His resolute stances, and the awakening of the American public to the dangers of a Biden presidency have alerted many. Will it be too late though?
Drawing a parallel with the opening year of World War II regarding geopolitics and military reality, with the past twelve years of American presidential history, these two streams echo a somewhat similar and jagged path. In 2008, when President Obama won in an almost unprecedented election, it compares in part to the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. The defenders of classical liberalism in this country were left depressed and shell-shocked, while the Western world in 1939 was stunned and scrambling. The GOP was in no position to dictate much of anything, and had to suffer what the apparently strong had in store.
When the panzers broke through the Ardennes in May 1940, the British Army, Belgian Army and a large French force was cut off from the main French body. This shattered the ‘Phony War’ narrative. In 2012, hoping for a victory over an inept and corrupt Obama, the GOP and its political allies, Obama won another large victory, despite no record to run on. The Western armies fled to the Channel ports, while the GOP was soul searching.
Then 2016 came around. Trump, despite gaffes and some lack of traditional presidential comportment, he knew America was in deep trouble. The country was overrun by China, bad immigration policy, an economy tilted towards the elite, and a country’s soul which had been bashed constantly. At the end of May 1940, British and French forces were hemmed in at Dunkirk, with German air and ground forces closing the ring day after day. It appeared peace was the only alternative, and Churchill would have been ‘wise’ to sue for peace.
Instead, President Trump, politically mimicking the words of Churchill in those desperate days generations ago, pulled a rabbit out of a hat, a ‘miracle of deliverance.’ 2016 was America’s political Dunkirk. When the chips were down, when the progressives had the proverbial high ground, President Trump secured victory from the jaws of apparent defeat. While everything wasn’t smooth for him nor his supporters in the months and years following, not unlike the British forces who were able to return to their island home after the miraculous evacuation, defeat and surrender were delayed and new hope sprang forth.
Now, in 2020, this is America’s Battle of Britain. While the President has had setbacks, he still stands resolute, along with many of his trusty supporters. While they may be outnumbered, they too have what the British had in the summer of 1940: less lengthy lines of communications (focusing their supporters in areas that matter such as Ohio, not California, while the RAF had less far to travel to meet the German Luftwaffe), and a stout heart. This is where the Trump movement can break the progressive movement, displace it for a generation. Like Germany after those fateful months in the air over Britain in 1940, all that can happen in the near term are sorties that sting and bite, but an uneasy breath can be taken by Trump’s forces, realizing that we can now hold out indefinitely. Again, not unlike Churchill, if necessary for years, if necessary alone…
No doubt the Left will freak out by this comparison, but they constantly call our side Nazis, KKK, and the like. This author was only comparing events from the past (not Obama to Hitler, which is preposterous, unlike them insanely comparing Trump with Hitler) with events in our recent past up to this moment. Hopefully, after they’ve been triggered, they’ll cool off and prepare to launch their next offensive against anyone who dares to make a controversial post. On a side note, I’ll wait with hopeful anticipation when General Mattis renounces his comparison of Trump with Nazism…
With that, the final die is being cast, and it is time for final surge forth, the final ounce of strength thrown into the fray. As we gather for our final thoughts and prayers during this trying and uncertain time, let us remember the stakes, and that the opposition isn’t waning in his efforts. It is time to Make America Great Again again, and like our ancestors from times past, we will meet the challenge with their same grit, courage and wisdom. Even with the circumstances we find ourselves in, we know from history, that not all is hopeless, not by a long shot.
Sincerely, your humble servant,
Winston Publius
The Classical (Trumpian) Liberal 