American Elephants

Politics is mostly an unpleasant subject wherever and whenever it is practiced. Making informed choices about matters of importance for the city or nation soon gets left in the dust as opinions become bandied about.

Then it gets down to who likes who and why and how dare you disagree with me. Passions are aroused. Demonstrations take place, and first thing you know fights break out, the police are called and so on and so forth.

We had an election in 2016. The Republican candidate was Donald J. Trump. The Democrat candidate was Hillary Clinton. Democrats were confident that Hillary would win easily. They were unaware that many people just did not like Hillary Clinton, and thought it was unlikely that she would do an acceptable job as president. She lost. Trump won. This has resulted in an enraged Democrat Party apparently loathing President Trump and vowing to do everything and anything to bring him down.

He supposedly has a Queens accent. His father was a builder, and sent him out early to work with construction crews, on building sites. To this day he is apt to stop and talk to construction workers on the street, and apparently likes them. This is unacceptable in other areas of New York? Dunno. I’m a Westerner. This, surely is not the cause of all the vile commentary out there. It is a  puzzlement.

It is quite clear that he is doing a good job for the country. Obama told us firmly that the economy would never again get over 2% growth, it was just no longer in the cards. Trump cut taxes, cut some government costs (but not enough) and has begun to move some large agencies out of Washington DC and closer to the areas they are supposed to serve, which has caused consternation among those who like living in Washington DC. The economy is booming, unemployment has reached historic lows. Manufacturing is increasing.  Growth is well over 3%, and more and more people are dropping off food stamps.

Some are finding fault with his campaign promises, for example, he said that he would build a wall on the Southern border and Mexico would help pay for it. With Congressional intransigence, the wall building goes slowly, and spokesmen can’t seem to see that Mexico is helping. They are turning people back at their Southern Border and also further along, offering less assistance to migrants. Did you expect Mexico to send President Trump a check? They did not do that.

Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House of Representatives, has issued (twice) a demand: “Mr. President, You need to prove your innocence!” Um, Fifth Amendment? No person…shall be compelled to be a witness against himself?” And innocence of just what? You are having an enormous problem deciding what it is you think the President is guilty of, other than winning an election.

“If the president has something that is exculpatory — Mr. President, that means you have anything that shows your innocence — then he should make that known and that’s part of the inquiry,” Pelosi said, as The Week noted. “And so far, we haven’t seen that. But we welcome it.”

Pelosi then went on CBS’ “Face the Nation” Sunday and told host Margaret Brennan that if Trump had “information that is exculpatory — that means ex, taking away, culpable, blame — then we look forward to seeing it.”

Sorry, Nancy, that’s not how we do it in a free American society. In her world, it’s Trump who must prove innocence, not Democrats who must find guilt.

Most, but not all, Americans were born in a neighborhood, usually among people very much like themselves, and they are surprised to learn that there are others who have different customs and beliefs.

Democrats believe firmly that they are morally superior. They believe that they are morally superior because they care — and Republicans don’t. They care about those who want to cross our borders illegally, and those who are hiding from ICE, those who are living here and working here illegally. Now they are campaigning to get those who are fleeing from climate change admitted legally as “refugees”, not to protect them from the ravages of climate change, but to count them in the next census and get their votes in the next election. The Left’s aims are not pure. They simply believe that they are entitled to be in charge, and they cannot stand being deprived.