WILL

 

Last Tuesday night, January 8, 2019, will prove to be a watershed moment for our republic. The direction the water takes is yet to be determined., for the most part, part will be up to us, or to be more exact to our clarity and will as a free people.

In less than ten minutes President Trump set the stage for a test of wills which will either continue us on a path of the total rejection of our unique heritage of liberty and its transformation to yet another pale version of centralized tyranny which has characterized the vast bulk of human history, or can begin a long, difficult but determined struggle to reestablish the American Character so central to our original national purpose. Never doubt that the question before us is as fundamental as the type of a people we will be. And never doubt that if this moment is lost, we may well never be able to turn the tide of history to save the very nature of our people.

For well over a century, that has been the exact intent of the so-called progressive left: to change the nature of the American people to one which will accept a false security in place of the independence of personal, individual liberty. Along this decades-long progression, we have been asked to gradually alter basic elements of our founding character be it in regard to family, faith, tradition, property, culture, duty or any one of several other “minor adjustment” to a more modern and supposedly insightful age. Regardless of their title at the time, these elements have really been about such vital issues as constitutionalism, rule of law, individual natural rights, limited government, personal responsibility and all the other things which make up the fundamental culture necessary for a people to independently govern themselves.

This culture is a human one, not a national one. It is born of the very nature of man as gifted to him by his Creator. But it is one requires protection for growth. It requires borders because it stands unique among all the cultures of the world. It has been the world itself that has suppressed those natural rights of man since the beginning. For the good of mankind, it is not the world that has to brought to America. It is Americanism which has to be brought to the world.

All of the points used by President Trump during the short, direct message were clear-eyed, pragmatic and real. There were, of course, a couple more which could have been added to dig even a deeper hole for the sorry pair which waited to give a response. But the message was exact, clear, true and, yes, most “presidential”.

I will disagree only slightly with some of the “pundits” who say that the Dems only now fight border security so hard because of their hate for Trump. The truth is, they were this much against border security all along. They just never had to be so open about it before.

They did not really mind the European radicals who showed up during the early 20th century. In fact, they embraced them. They just could not be so open about it. They have always had a soft spot for communists, socialists and central authority types. Such people wandered through New Deal agencies almost at will, just without banners.

In 1965, the stage was set for the immigration crisis we have been under by the LBJ administration with the help of a young Ted Kennedy. Along the way, there have been any number of “deals” and “measures” to give a false look of concern to the issue. Of course, the current Speaker and Minority Leader spoke out strongly for money and measures that exceeded what Trump is asking for. They knew that to do otherwise would not fly with the American people as a whole. They felt free to appear in favor of these things for basically one reason: they didn’t think they would ever have to live up to them. They knew that because of the lack of political will on the other side.

The left has certainly betrayed our culture, our values and our heritage. But so have those who have sat comfortably at the top of the single political party with a chance of leading in the preservation of those things. While it is true that the Democrat Party never intended to follow its promises to Reagan as a part of the 1986 “immigration deal”, Reagan could not count on real support from much of his own party either. The bulk of the GOP were hardly “Reagan men” and provided plenty of their own resistance to the Gipper. And from 1989 forward, they have turned a willing back to open violations and opened both arms to the Chamber of Commerce crowd.

Yes, the Left hate Donald Trump, and so do most of the upper level GOP types. The media has a special hate that can be not just heard but tasted every evening.

But they don’t hate him or reject him because of his street-smart brashness, braggadocio, tweeting, his crudeness or even his views. If he were a flaming liberal spouting off about all the newest “social justice” causes and still writing big checks to Democrats, he would be a “refreshingly outspoken” character to Hollywood, Democrat politicos and almost all media types. If he simply wrote checks to GOP establishment types, shook their hands at all the right cocktail parties and listened to them as if they were wise and worldly men, he would be allowed his special oddities. He might not really be considered “one of us” but would certainly be allowed the space to be (somewhat) himself and make all the contributions his hotels could support.

No, all of these hate him exactly because he is not “one of them,” sees things through his own glasses and he has the will to actually oppose them. They hate him because they believe he will actually do something. Trump is hardly Reagan philosophically but he has two things in spades that no GOP “leader” since Reagan has shown nearly enough of: conviction and will.

One does not have to be a great scholar to see that our immigration policy of the last several decades as a disaster for any nation hoping to preserve a lasting culture and national identity. It would help but is hardly a requirement. A functioning brain and some common horse sense will more than fill the bill. One does not need to pour through piles of data to know without a doubt that millions of American citizens suffer because of the path we have taken.

I do, for the most part, believe an observation about President Trump made this week by Vice President Mike Pence. Without quoting directly, I will paraphrase the Vice President as saying Trump simply does not see situations from political standpoints. I believe that mostly the president sees matters in pragmatic terms and hardly political at all. The issues for him are; does it works, how does it work, what would be better. It is much more the world we all have to live in. His convictions are not based on politics but a pragmatic realism that often the politico avoids at all costs. His convictions are not based on what position he will hold ten years from now or even if he will be liked ten years from now: he left a much better job to take this one.

But what the left, the establishment types and media hate about this president most of all is that behind that conviction (whatever it is) stands a will that shows them little, if any, respect. It is the type of will accompanied by action. For almost nine decades, the left has maintained a step by step march of their agenda that was only interrupted during the Reagan terms of office. In all other times, they knew they could advance, often with the help of an ingrained establishment of the GOP, the ball if only a few yards at a time without any retreat. The Republican approach to a hostile and biased media was either quiet toleration or to kiss up by vainly trying to “meet in the middle”. But it was always so-called progressivism that advanced. It was Americanism that lost ground.

The only Republican leader who actually challenged and “handled” the media was Reagan. So does this president, certainly in a different way, a different style. But he answers and he acts. If I agree with it or am even comfortable with it is not the issue. The issue is that we are at a national crisis point that can change us forever and the fight is a desperate one. This president fights, not just with a wet finger in the media winds but with a will to win, with substance.

I will now make an observation that I would not have dreamed of at this same date in 2016. But for any fair-minded conservative thinker, it should be easily seen. Since the turn of the 20th century, there have been three (and only three) constitutionally consistence administrations. The Trump administration is easily one of those three. And whoever you would put in the number four slot is not even close.

For those who have spent decades pondering about conservative values and the vision of the Founders/Framers, a real moment of truth has arrived. If those values and that vision are more important than style, personalities or even the perceived character of any single individual, then there is no choice but to show to all an iron will about securing our national border. Doing less will be a betrayal of those values and that vision no matter how one tries to rationalize it.

The will of the GOP establishment cannot be counted on. There are already plenty of moves to “cut a deal”. The will has to come from a determined president and a solid, vocal base believing more in liberty than false promises of collectivism.

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There are 5 comments.

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  1. El Colonel Member
    El Colonel
    @El Colonel

    The wall is a test, a line deeply drawn in the desert.  Note how the Wall has become “immoral” and “racist.”  The Left does this, blames the thing and not the politics that is the actual cause.  Failed countries steeped in socialist-leftist politics, have turned totalitarian, criminally corrupt and inhospitable.  And yet, America is both to blame (we should pour more money down those s—holes) and the solution; we should open our borders to those fleeing this chaos. If we go all neo-con and try to fix those countries with treasure and lives, we are empire building.  If we ignore them, we are racist.

    Here’s what Trump is saying: World, heal thyself!   There are limits on what America should do to fix the world.  We are the city of light, sure, but we are an example for the world, not it’s bailbondsman, policeman, sugar daddy and sin eater.

    • #1
  2. I Walton Member
    I Walton
    @IWalton

    Outstanding.  

    • #2
  3. Flicker Coolidge
    Flicker
    @Flicker

    Ole Summers: They did not really mind the European radicals who showed up during the early 20th century. In fact, they embraced them.

    Nancy Pelosi is that old?

    I would add that as I was reading I was wishing this could be published in the op-ed section of every newspaper.

    • #3
  4. JamesSalerno Inactive
    JamesSalerno
    @JamesSalerno

    Incredible piece.

    I gotta ask because I geek out over this stuff….

    “Since the turn of the 20th century, there have been three (and only three) constitutionally consistence administrations. The Trump administration is easily one of those three. And whoever you would put in the number four slot is not even close.”

    #4. Taft?

    • #4
  5. Ole Summers Member
    Ole Summers
    @OleSummers

    JamesSalerno (View Comment):

    Incredible piece.

    I gotta ask because I geek out over this stuff….

    “Since the turn of the 20th century, there have been three (and only three) constitutionally consistence administrations. The Trump administration is easily one of those three. And whoever you would put in the number four slot is not even close.”

    #4. Taft?

    If put on the spot I would probably list Eisenhower, although his Supreme Court appointments certainly detract from his record – which he readily admitted later – and don’t really feel he actively “pursued” the Constitution like Coolidge or Reagan

    • #5
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