How Long Are We Going to Keep Doing This?
It’s bizarre to me how the concept of putting America first is such an outrage inducing provocation to a good chunk of the country. Not just Democrats, but even many Never Trumpers who used to be conservatives, or at least played them fairly convincingly on cable news. What is wrong with the idea of putting our country’s interests first?
The answer is nothing, obviously. But obvious truths have a habit of becoming inconvenient ones, especially when those espousing or holding them run risk of irrelevancy.
Donald Trump didn’t need the old guard, and by “old” I don’t mean age. And they resented him for it.
It was stupid, as most desperate power grabs are. Trump wasn’t going to throw them out, he needed help since he’d never been involved in politics before. But the concept of him was so offensive to the “pinky-out, tea sipping crowd” that they passed on the prospect of achieving more of what they’d spent their adult lives professing they’d do anything to attain.
It’s probably the greatest feat Donald Trump accomplished in politics – pulling off the masks of generations of frauds who’d sold their books and their thoughts as if they were true. These mini-emperors had no clothes, and boy were they unfortunate.
The rest of us were left to pick up the pieces, as the legacies and offspring of the accomplished slithered into oblivion or, more accurately, the arms of CNN or wealthy liberals enjoying the prospect of making the once relevant dance for them on command.
They still have a little bit of “useful” left in their “idiot” status, and the money is still flowing, so on the pole they will dance
The rest of us are left to fight for that which makes them upset, the only thing that makes any sense and, to be completely honest, what a lot of us believed we were all fighting for: American First.
Not in the sense of one man, or even a movement, but simply as a concept. I always assumed all but the most rabid leftist put the country first, they were just wrong about how to go about it. Now I know better.
Now I know a lot of people on “our side” not only weren’t pulling their weight, they were pushing in the other direction.
How the hell did we miss it for so long? Why do we tolerate it now?
Why do we allow our politicians to cripple our energy production while our allies prostitute themselves to Russia to keep the lights on?
Why do we tolerate that our supply chain for far too many of our crucial pharmaceuticals remains in countries hostile to our interests and existence?
Why do we continue to foot the bill for the defense of nations who refuse to contribute what they’re obligated to contribute to continue our alliance?
Why do we have to pretend our allies are pulling their weight in aiding Ukraine, a hostile area much closer to them than us, pledging a fraction of the billions we are spending to much fanfare, then reneging on it 4 short days later?
Why is our military buying upgraded military equipment from Airbus in Europe for $28 billion while American companies could easily do the work and, honestly, could use the money?
What the hell are we doing? I get that sometimes some things can only be made overseas at this point, but didn’t COVID wake up everyone to the reality that offshoring vital things was stupid? That medicine and military equipment should be completely under our roof? I don’t care about the ownership, I’m talking about the physical process and machinery.
I do remember a bunch of politicians extolling the virtues of putting America first, or in-sourcing fundamental aspects of our supply chain when we were placed under house-arrest to “stop the spread,” but they didn’t follow through with it, did they? At least not in any measurable way.
Why did we put up with that? Why do we still put up with that? Maybe it’s too much to expect our politicians to put America first, but shouldn’t we at least make the podium? Shouldn’t we at least make the top 5?
Maybe that’s too much to ask, but maybe it’s time to stop asking. Maybe it’s time to remind these politicians that they work for us, not the other way around.
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