By Patrick F. Cannon
All you progressives out there should prepare yourself for the strong possibility of Donald Trump being elected president for a second time. Because of the unwillingness of President Biden to admit he’s too old to serve another term, Trump’s lead in the polls is increasing. And now, because he survived an assassination attempt – which many of his supporters say was through God’s intervention! – that lead will only increase.
Now I see there’s a plot afoot from the Biden campaign to do the delegate vote in advance of the convention to forestall any attempt to get him off the ticket. If you are truly frightened of Trump’s return, you should be writing, calling, emailing, faxing, or even visiting your elected representatives in DC, to tell them to do more than fret and fume about Biden, but band together to insist he withdraw. Of course, since they already know most Democrats think he should retire, that may be a vain hope.
At the same time, it might be well to admit that the country isn’t “progressive.” If Biden were to drop out – he won’t do it willingly – the worse thing the Democrats could do would be to replace him with a member of the party’s far, or even near, left. Here’s something to remember – most American are moderate. They may be awake, but they’re not “woke.”
A good example of Democratic foolishness took place recently when the legislature of California passed a law forbidding schools in the state from informing parents when their child chooses to change pronouns. Think about it. Little Charlie decides he’s a girl, or maybe both sexes. He (or she or they now) tells the teacher and everyone goes along, but the California legislature tells the school that Charlie’s parents can’t be told. While so far this only applies to California, voters in the rest of the country see Big Brother looming over their lives.
Of course, if Trump triumphs (I couldn’t resist), you could always leave the country. For example, I could apply for Irish citizenship, as my father was born there. But I like it here. I survived Trump once, and besides, I never did like Guinness.
Copyright 2024, Patrick F. Cannon
cannonnadedotcom 
Eight years ago, Trump was running for president. Many among Hollywood’s glitterati vowed they would decamp for other, saner lands if Hillary the Harpie wasn’t elected. The response to these ultimatums was, “Do you promise?” We would not want to lose the Voltaire of Forest Park because of an election. Ireland is lovely but its politics are hardly less vexing. How about New Zealand?
I never imagined I would feel nostalgic about Trump’s first term. After what Biden and his merry crew of mischief makers have wrought, it shines like a Golden Age. It doesn’t make much difference for me in the sunny fields of retirement. The scene in Washington DC is a distant but noisy kabuki drama, colorful to be sure but who knows what it means? I do know, however, that people around here were much better off then than they have been under the Dems. There was a palpable sense of prosperity and optimism in the air. Not the case anymore.
Some of that former optimism was on display at the GOP convention last night. When starry-eyed J.D. Vance told the audience, “Wow, what a great crowd!” they responded by chanting, “Yes, we are!” The honoring of the Gold Star families was the most moving thing I have ever seen on TV. It may not be apparent in the rarefied precincts of Oak Park, Berkeley and Cambridge (the one in Massachusetts, not the real one), but there is a ton of pain in this country that wasn’t there four short years ago.
Poor Biden now has Covid. Life can be cruel. After he did their bidding in his deal with the devil, Obama, Pelosi, Schumer and the rest are unloading him like a pile of old, worn clothes tossed in the Salvation Army dumpster. In the stages of grief, after denial and anger, Biden is now entering the bargaining stage. Will the awful, absurd Harris really be the Dems’ nominee?
As for Trump, he appeared mellowed at the convention. After the Secret Service seemed to give his assailant every opportunity to kill him, it really is a miracle the man is still standing and smiling. Only the small, square bandage on his ear reveals just how close he came to death. Many on the left bemoan the near miss. Shame on them. The ear will heal. We can only hope as much for the country.
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Who knows? Maybe this time they really will leave. I see Musk has decamped to Texas, the ban on telling parents about their own children’s sexual fantasies being the last straw.
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I empathize with Musk. After all, I did flee progressive Illinois for sensible Indiana.
The progressive revolt seems to be a revolt against reality and good sense. It is informed by the adolescent’s pique that everything in the world is wrong and unfair. Thus the insistence that a senile old man can command the country, that men can compete in women’s sports, that qualifications don’t matter, that energy sufficient to power society can be derived from windmills, batteries and solar panels, and so on. I’m not sure they actually believe such things, but they manage to use such inversions of logic to maintain themselves in power.
Despite his unorthodox and off the cuff behavior and rhetoric, Trump may actually be a moderate, not a radical; not on abortion, the border, national defense, religion, civil rights or a host of other issues. He’s neither a true Republican nor a Democrat, not a corporatist or a unionist. You could say he’s a pragmatist. The media — which seizes upon images, impressions and sound bites — has helped to fashion a stereotype that doesn’t exactly mirror who he is, a profile that Trump himself feeds into and promotes for his own publicity.
I’ve often wondered why his appeal is so strong among people and groups with whom he, a billionaire real estate developer from New York City, has almost nothing in common: farmers, factory workers, first responders, military enlistees, recent (legal) immigrants, etc. Is it that they too tend to be pragmatic in their outlooks? Accordingly, he has no regard for titles, academic degrees, credentials, reputations and other trappings beloved of the ruling elites. He tends to see things as they are — the outcomes — and not as things might pretend to be.
Accordingly, he presents himself as he is; like it or not, what you see is what you get, either dressed in a suit with an overlong necktie, or in a golf shirt and a red MAGA cap. Trump is not complicated. He doesn’t dissimulate, as most politicians do. For someone accused of being a liar (he is prone to hyperbole), he’s not much one for deception. Biden, in contrast, has pretended to be president for the past four years. Trump is the polar opposite of Barrack Obama.
The betting odds of his winning a second term are currently favorable, but knowing how our Machiavellian elections are conducted it’s quite possible we may have the dubious pleasure of a President Kamala in November. Now THAT may be valid reason to flee to another country!
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