America’s Barbarian
Hail the Outsider!
By Stephen L. Wilmeth
There were
at least two of them wearing hats.
At least
two Sons of the American West appeared on our new president’s inaugural
platform. One was Dick Cheney and his little silver belly fit the part of a
gentleman from Wyoming.
The other was unknown to me, but he, too, wore a silver belly that could well
have been a 4½” brim with a low crown cattleman crease. If he wasn’t used to
wearing it, he was trendy in the style that the young fellows are wearing. They
alone were equipped to weather the rain storm. In Vice President Cheney’s case,
his health was protected because of his felt lid. In the case of the unknown
fellow, he wore the hat as if he knew how.
There is so
much to be hopeful for in this transition of power. Perhaps we can get some
western influence in that political cesspool of Washington, D.C.
I didn’t cheer until my President spoke and talked to me rather than the
politicos. I liked what he said, but that has been the case since the start. I
expect him to continue to tweet because, like him, I have absolutely no trust
in 95% of the press. They will misconstrue and misrepresent him so let’s hear
it direct. We need to treat them like the crétins they are.
I cheered loudest,
though, when the big green helicopter took off and left for a connecting flight
to Rancho Mirage. The fellow on it needs to stay away from Washington and our television screens. He
long ago failed the test of reading convincing words.
We will
take our barbarian, our American barbarian … for the duration.
I will bet President
Trump won’t get the Nobel Peace prize in his first year of office. I suspect he
won’t get it the last year of his tenure either, but that is only fitting. He
has a monstrous job ahead, and he will be fought every step unless or until it
is politically correct to support him. Rest assured it won’t only be the
democrats that undercut him. The republicans should be expected to undermine
him with the same albeit less obvious resistance. This country is $20T in debt
and it wasn’t just the dems that drove that debacle to its teetering height.
Leadership’s combined absence of resolve has put Medicaid, Medicare, and Social
Security on a path to bankruptcy. They spend our money as if it is endless.
They have driven the debt to equate to more than the nation’s gross national
product. No leader can be judged adequate with that performance. No leader can
be honored.
The insult to the American taxpayer
is crushing.
People over Corruption
The parallel of President Trump and
Andrew Jackson only grows.
Jackson came into the
presidency after a bitter partisan fight against the political establishment
and America’s
then ruling class. He pledged three basic things. He said he would view the
Constitution in original form. He said he would defend and uphold the power of
the states, and he said he would eliminate the national debt. Under that
platform, he undertook his “task of reform” and went after the “unfaithful and
incompetent hands” who had staked out permanent claims in the federal system.
He despised career bureaucrats.
A sense of
foreboding and dread spread as to what Jackson
would do when he became the permanent resident of the White House. Although
they were surprised at Jackson’s
tasteful attire when he arrived in the city, the elite were equally surprised
he could speak and articulate the king’s language.
The
spectacle of the other Westerners who descended on the capital to celebrate his
victory inflamed them. A reference has one spectator noting that those who
arrived were an “uninterrupted stream of mud and filth … many subject for the
penitentiary”. Washington was offended by those uncouth
Westerners, and perhaps, too, how they had made their way on the frontier by
their wits, guts, and ambition.
The one
thing I admire most about Jackson
was his abhorrence of debt. The year he left office the nation’s debt stood at
a miniscule $37,000, the lowest balance in the history of the nation up until
that time, and certainly lower than anything since.
“People over corruption” was his mantra. There
is not a more appropriate resolution in this hour of our history. Long live
that spirit, and, let’s only hope that our new president has the gumption and
the wisdom to follow the same path.
Our Barbarian
Standing
there in the rain with telepathic arrows being slung from the resident
political foes at his back, he spoke to us.
As we
experienced a sense of continuing encouragement, there is little doubt that the
federalists and the grant program classes were experiencing a rising state of
meltdown. They hate him. They hate us, but there is little room before economic
stagnation and debt bound permanence suffocates us all.
We must
have a barbarian that is singularly focused and relentless in making real cuts
to the spending orgy that pervades the halls of congress. There is simply no
other leader on our political horizons that could succeed in this mess. Dramatic
cuts are absolutely necessary as are dramatic reversals of the rampant
extralegal executive orders that are not even suggestive Washington hears the pleas from out here
where we wear hats as a matter existence. The pendulum needs to swing wide
before it settles back to an equilibrium that reminds everybody that the equal
branches of government must be balanced and that agendas will only be addressed
if and when the original system intent is carried out.
Long live
our Barbarian! May his days be fruitful, and …may he remain true to his words
and divine guidance.
Stephen L. Wilmeth is a rancher from southern New Mexico. “Let’s all
pull our hats down, take a deep seat, and get that far away look in our eyes!”
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