Out With The Old And In With The New

A few days ago we celebrated the ending of 2017 and the beginning of 2018.

It is a time when some people look back over the old year and try to take stock, while others look forward and try to see just what the new year might bring. Some make resolutions, while others scoff, knowing that the vast majority of those resolutions won’t last more than two weeks.

At this time last year, many of us were looking forward to a change in the presidency. The Donald had won the election, beating out Hillary Clinton for the right to reside at 1600 Pennsylvania AVE NW, in Washington, DC. Democrats were outraged about that, vowing to topple Trump from that pinnacle of power.

But those of us who are not on the extreme left breathed a huge collective sigh of relief to see the end of Obama’s reign of terror come to an end.

I think even the “never Trump” faction of the Republican Party might have breathed at least a small sigh of relief to know that Hillary Clinton wouldn’t become the new Commander in Chief. But on the other hand, there were never Trumpers scattered around amongst the Republicans who would have rather had her in the Oval Office, just to keep Trump out.

Trump didn’t fit in, everyone knew that. He himself made a point of it. Worse, from the Washington establishment point of view, was his campaign promise to “drain the swamp;” something that the swamp itself has fought hard against.

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No matter how you look at it, Donald Trump’s presidency has been one of the most active and controversial presidencies this country has ever seen. Those who look at Washington politics honestly (of which there are very few) have to admit that Trump has made a huge amount of changes to his predecessor’s policies. For those who are extreme liberals, this has been horrifying; but for those who are conservatives, it has been like a breath of fresh air.

Trump’s handling of Christmas itself gives a very clear picture of the difference between his presidency and Obama’s. From his actions, it appeared that Obama despised Christmas, at least as a religious holiday, even though he claimed to be a Christian. The liberal Greeting of Happy Holidays, supposedly intended to be all-inclusive, ignored what Christmas is really all about.

For Trump, this was just one more thing to distinguish him from the previous president and those hanging on to his coat tails.

Last year he said that he was going to bring the message of “Merry Christmas” back to this country… and he did. Defying the political correctness police (who he mostly ignores), Trump declared a Merry Christmas to the nation and the world, reminding us of the real reason for the season.

Video first seen on Fox Business.

One thing that Trump has going for him, which few people recognize is his great character, and true character is standing for something. We used to define being a man as standing for something. Trump does.

Giving credit where credit is due, so did Obama. The big difference is that Obama was praised by the media lackeys for saying what they wanted to hear, while Trump is lambasted at every turn for saying what he believes in.

It takes much more moral fiber to say what you believe, when you know you’re going to be crucified in the press for it, than it takes when you know you’re going to be praised for it.

That’s much of the problem that exists within the Republican Party. They aren’t willing to take the heat for doing what is right. Therefore, they bow down to the wishes of the Democrats, even while the Democrats are in the minority. They have allowed themselves to be whipped by the collective pens of the media.

In this, they haven’t learned the lessons of the 2016 Presidential Election; a lesson that has continued throughout Trump’s first year in power. That lesson, of ignoring the media and playing to the American people is one that could change this country for the good. It would eliminate the disproportionate power that the minority holds over the majority. Quite literally, the power of name-calling.

But doesn’t the free press exist to keep the government in check? Yes. But they’ve long ago abdicated their role in the American political system, setting aside their objectivity as a government watchdog and becoming nothing more than the propaganda arm of the progressive-liberal left.

One could say that ignoring the media puts one in an echo chamber. At one time, this was true. When the media did their Constitutionally protected job it sure was. Back then, the media expressed the opinion of We the People, not just the opinion of the liberals living in the coastal enclaves. That has made them into part of one echo chamber, as they have studiously ignored any others.

Obama clearly lived within that same echo chamber, hearing the adulation of the media on a constant basis. He was a rock star president, who accepted their adoration as his due. He also used that as his justification for his actions, telling himself that if the media was with him, he must be right.

But the media is one of the two most progressive groups of people in the United States, the other being Hollywood. Interestingly enough, the two groups who spend their lives in make-believe are the ones who are defining progressive-liberalism in our country today. And those in the Democrat Party are working overtime to live up to their expectations.

Trump’s First Year in the Office

Is Trump living in an echo chamber as well? I would have to say yes and no. The no part is that he hears what his enemies say about him. This is made clear by his constant war with the mainstream media. Were he not hearing what those who oppose him say, this war quite literally wouldn’t exist. So it seems clear that unlike his predecessor, he doesn’t just turn off the news channels he doesn’t like.

On the yes side of that answer, Trump’s advisors are obviously people who believe as he does, just as any president’s are. His tweets on Twitter are focused on reaching his support base, who he also listens to. So yes, I would have to say that he is paying more attention to what those on his side of the political aisle say, than he is to what those on the other side of the aisle say.

But there are some major differences between this and Obama. First of all, regardless of what the progressive-liberals say about them being the majority, that’s only true in the coastal enclaves. Since they ignore any part of the country that doesn’t overwhelmingly support them, it’s no wonder they think they are the majority.

But those of us in what they refer to as “flyover country” make up the majority of this country. So when Trump listens to his support base, he is listening to a much larger group than Obama ever did.

Then there’s the huge variety of opinions even within the Republican Party itself. While Trump is president and therefore the leader of his party, he has to constantly contend with dissention in the ranks, something that Democrat presidents don’t have to worry so much about. Democrats are much better at marching in lockstep than Republicans are; something that is amazingly clear every time Congress takes a vote.

Trump has listened to the American people and his agenda is based upon what he has heard. Has he heard perfectly? I doubt it. But at least he has tried. That’s something so rare in Washington as to be unable for the majority of the swamp to grasp.

The American people were concerned about jobs, so Trump has been working hard to give us jobs. A number of his actions as president were directly pointed at creating American jobs.

From signing the Keystone Pipeline authorization, through his bullying of major corporations who were planning on moving jobs overseas, to the tax cut bill that just passed through Congress, Trump has worked since the election (before taking office) to create an environment conducive to gainful employment for every working-age American.

Trump’s second major area of accomplishment in this first year was to make a start on dismantling government control of our lives. If there is anything for which he has received opposition by the Republican Party, this is it.

Rather than support his work, Republicans in Congress have opposed it. This has been nowhere more clear than in their opposition to Trump’s proposed budget, where he has tried to cut out unnecessary spending, especially for government programs and agencies which have outlived their enabling legislation.

But even with these setbacks, Trump’s administration has done an amazing job of eliminating regulations, especially those which were put into place during Obama’s lame duck closing of his presidency. The rollback of these regulations has saved American citizens billions of dollars in taxes, something that has been largely overlooked.

Some have complained that Trump appointed Cabinet Secretaries who hated the organizations they were chosen to lead. If you want to increase Washington’s swollen bureaucracy, that’s the wrong action to take. But if you want to reduce the size of the swamp, eliminating unnecessary government waste, it’s a brilliant strategy. If Trump is going to succeed in draining the swamp, this is one major weapon he has in that battle.

Yes, the swamp won’t like being drained. Trump has and will continue to receive a lot of push-back from Washington bureaucrats. These people like their cushy government jobs, with high pay, lots of benefits and job security that the rest of us can only dream about. Being mostly Democrats, they also hate to see Trump in office.

That’s why there have been so many leaks of sensitive information since Trump was sworn into office. These people are endangering the country, on behalf of their ideology. Sadly, they think that they are serving some higher moral good, when in reality all they are doing is serving themselves and their political party.

The “big things” that Trump has done, like appointing Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court are the ones which have garnered all the attention. But in reality, those aren’t the ones which should have. Yes, appointing Gorsuch to the Supreme Court was important, as it keeps the highest court in the land, an organization that is supposed to be non-political, politically balanced.

What Comes Next

Other than that, Trump’s actions which will make the greatest difference over the next few decades are and will be those which fundamentally change the government, for the benefit of the American people.

The recent tax cut is one of those; one that has been long overdue. Eliminating regulations is another, one that we can expect to see continue throughout the next few years. But the biggest single gift that Donald Trump can possibly give the American people will be that of truly draining the swamp… if he can.

I highly suspect that this battle will be the big news of the next year. But it is one that we will hear very little about. It’s not flashy or exciting, so the media (both liberal and conservative) won’t pay it much attention. It is the war going on in the background; but it is an important war, nonetheless.

Will Trump win? At this point, that’s anybody’s guess. But if I were a betting man, I’d put my money on The Donald. He has already shown an amazing level of tenacity and an incredibly tough hide; both important characteristics in this war.

This will probably be a war of attrition, with each victory bringing the President one step closer to ultimate victory. So the real question is, how long with those bureaucrats in the Executive Branch, the ones referred to as the “Deep State,” continue breaking the law in an effort to get rid of Trump?

They are the ones who need to be gotten rid of, in some cases, accompanied by a lengthy stay in prison for their crimes. Probably the only reason they aren’t looking at that right now is that the FBI is too closely connected to the swamp.

Trump needs them on his side; and it doesn’t appear like he has them just yet. Maybe soon.This article has been written by Bill White for Survivopedia.