This is my 551st column on liberty and the Constitution. I know of no one more published on this topic. I lived under 13 presidents of the United States; all gave lip service to the Constitution but none followed it closely. Of these, I voted for only two Republicans. Those who least followed it were Lyndon Johnson and Barack Obama. I spent a lifetime lecturing on these and the presidents before them. I dislike political factions (parties) as did George Washington. Readers know I call things as they are and defend the Constitution as written.
With this background, I must say, Trump haters, (Bushites, Clintonites, Romneyites, Holywood misfits, secret combinations in both major political parties, coup conspirators in the FBI and CIA and, finally, fake news outlets like MSNBC, NBC, New York Times and the Washington Post) who have conspired to take out Donald Trump, Isn't is time to lay down your arms?
Four Congressional investigations, the Mueller and Horowitz Reports, and the U.S. Senate Impeachment trial exonerated and indeed acquitted this man. Trump has endured more unjustified opposition/persecution than all presidents combined.
In the upcoming 2020 presidential election, you offer only hate Trump rhetoric and freedom-and-prosperity-destroying socialism. You are destroying the Democratic Party, perhaps America. You make Democratic president, John F. Kennedy, look far right. You offer nothing to build, strengthen or edify this country. Republicans before Trump were awful, but you are much worse.
Please cease inspiring the crazies in our society to intimidate MAGA haters, innocent Catholic high school kids visiting DC, or worse, driving vehicles into tents housing Republican campaigners or shooting Congressman Steve Scalise while playing baseball with fellow congressmen and staffers. Cease supporting Antifa and MS-13 gang violence by not condemning them.
So what has Trump done for you that should command your respect? The list is extensive but let me identify in order my favorite six.
He defends the Constitution as written. Unfortunately, Trump is a conservative, not a constitutionalist; but he follows the Constitution more closely than any president since Calvin Coolidge. He adamantly defends the First (religious and free speech freedoms), Second (freedom to protect oneself and neighbors -- even from the government), and 10th amendments (states' rights). No president has defended the rights of the unborn more than he. He nominated two Supreme Court justices, Brett Kavanaugh and Neil Gorsuch, who appear to follow it, and has placed, with Senate confirmation, 187 judicial nominees on the Federal bench who attest that they too will follow the Constitution as written. This is monumental, as the Constitution is the reason we are free.
He opposes the globalist plan to first create regional governments of all nations through trade deals that transfer economic, then political sovereignty, such as the European Union, then merge them into world government.
He has made speeches to that end, on the campaign trail and even in the United Nations, which are never covered by the establishment (globalist) media.
His opposition to world government is, and always has been, why he is so hated by them. We have published this before. Finally, the U.S. is the first consideration in his "America First" pledge. We are no longer nation builders or the world's policemen. He wants to cut foreign aid (foreign welfare) and spend it in the U.S. instead.
He stimulated the economy as no president has in decades. Manufacturing companies have and are returning to America. Almost 4 million new jobs have been created since his election. Reportedly, unemployment claims have now hit a 49-year low. African, Hispanic and Asian American unemployment are at the lowest rates for decades or ever recorded, as are women and youth unemployment. He promised to dump two regulations for every new regulation but instead dumped eight. This returned companies to America, freed and stimulated the economy as never before, resulting in an energy boom placing the U.S. as the number one oil and natural gas producer in the world. Fifty-seven percent of Americans say they are better off financially since Trump took office.
He is securing our southern border. New agreements with Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras required them to stop the flood of illegal immigration through their countries or face higher tariffs. Now, deadly drugs and violent criminals are not flowing as easily across our borders and into our communities. According to Customs and Border Protection (CBP) statistics, 976 alien gang members were apprehended at the border in FY 2019, including 464 aliens affiliated with MS-13. ICE arrested 143,099 aliens in FY 2019, 86 percent of whom had criminal records.
He has done more than all presidents combined to expose and stop child sex trafficking. By executive order, Trump declared it a national emergency Dec. 21, 2017. Just last year, ICE arrested 2,197 criminals associated with human trafficking and freed 428 victims. To encourage other countries to meet more strident standards eliminating trafficking, he signed the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act.
He destroyed 100% of the ISIS caliphate.
So Trump haters, you have been wrong on almost everything in the last three years. I too criticize Trump in print occasionally, but isn't it time to notice that he has been one of our best presidents and lay down your hate and arms? Others think so. Of those who now attend his rallies, 20% are Democrats.
Harold W. Pease, Ph.D., is a syndicated columnist and an expert on the United States Constitution. He has dedicated his career to studying the writings of the Founding Fathers and applying that knowledge to current events. He taught history and political science from this perspective for more than 30 years at Taft College. To read more of his weekly articles, visit www.LibertyUnderFire.org.
Editorial on 03/25/2020