Am I wrong? Yes, you're wrong.
Everyone is euphoric at the return of President Trump. Listening to the "everyday Americans" being interviewed on the street, the implied but unspoken sentiment that I see is a belief that Trump is finally getting what he won in 2020 but was stolen from him.
These feelings are not coming from a sense of "we told you so, and now we get a chance to prove it," it's coming from the belief that Trump is finally getting what was taken from him, and EVERYONE had a part in making it "too big to rig."
So, to respond to the thought of "Trump not winning in 2020 was probably the best thing that could have happened in the long run," to me, is to accept the cost of that belief.
It cost us:
- Thirteen soldiers at Abbey Gate in Afghanistan, plus countless Americans left behind; the poor Afghan civilians who clung to the departing plane and fell to their deaths; the unsuspecting humanitarian aid worker and his family who were hastily targeted as the perpetrators of the bombing; and anyone else who was impacted by the American weapons that were abandoned to the Taliban.
- A tripling of the prices of everyday staples at the grocery store.
- An increase in mortgage rates that made the cost of buying a home prohibitive for many Americans.
- Our children losing two years of schooling?
- Possibly 10 million foreign invaders hiding out in our country.
- War in the Ukraine.
- The 10/7 attack on Israel by Hamas, the atrocities perpetrated on babies and women, and the taking of at least 250 hostages by Hamas.
- The loss of the strategic Bagram Air Force Base in Afghanistan.
- Americans forced to inject themselves with an experimental drug that did none of the things they were told it would do.
- The weaponization of all of the bureaucracies of our government against the opponents of the Democrats.
- The loss of trust in our basic institutions.
- The loss of respect from the other nations of the world.
The real question is: What would be happening now if President Trump was concluding his second term?
- Would we be watching the inauguration of President-Elect Pence?
- Would someone like Ron DeSantis have challenged Pence and won the nomination and then the election? Nikki Haley? Mike Pompeo? Hillary? Someone else?
- What would the impacts of COVID-19 have been? Still a mandate? School closures? Flooding the economy with stimulus money in the name of "paycheck protection?" Moratoriums on delinquency and squatters rights?
- Would the Middle East Abraham Accords have continued to move forward, increasing the number of countries that signed on to regional peace and economic cooperation?
- Would Iran have continued to be contained and starved of money?
- Would tariffs against Russia and China have worked? Would China have become more cooperative with the United States and the world?
However a hypothetical 2025 inauguration would have taken place, I must believe that it would be starting from a much better place than what President Trump is inheriting now. I'm glad that he's taking over to do what he can to correct what's been done, but it will still be four steps backwards and three steps forward.
We could have had four more steps forward and perhaps another four from here, without all the tragedy that Biden inflicted on us all.
I'm sorry, but I'm not in the camp of "we have to lose to win." The cost of losing so Trump could win even more was too great. I'm happy that he won, but I can't say that it is better than if he had taken office again in 2020.
-PJ