Yes, the speech certainly had some dark moments. But for all the Progressives clutching their collective pearls, a thought: you did this.
You did this when you used US domestic and foreign intelligence services to surveil the first Donald Trump campaign and to try to hamstring his first administration. You did this when you enlisted the Justice Department to prosecute his supporters and, in coordination with state and local prosecutors, to pursue him directly in cases so bizarre and toxic most of the public saw through them immediately. You did this when you screamed that Donald J. Trump was a “threat to democracy” while conspiring and threatening media moguls to stifle voices that question the official government line. When you urged Leftist attorneys general to remove Donald Trump from the ballot on the questionable grounds he might be convicted in one of the many nonsense cases brought against him. And if you’re a Biden Administration official with a sneaking suspicion that, without a Joe Biden Get Out of Jail Free card, there are some very uncomfortable questions coming your way with none of the usual hedges to hide behind, maybe your collar is feeling a bit tight today,
Good. You still have the vestiges of a conscience, and it’s bothering you. You deserve that unease. Never do that sort of thing again and pray every day that it never happens to you.
Much of the speech had to do with restoration: of America’s borders, and thus of its sovereignty; of America’s industry, and thus of its prosperity; of America’s powers of innovation and invention, and thus of its future -a future that includes the time soon when humanity is no longer a single-planet species. This part might be best summed up by paraphrasing the famous philosopher Bender B. Rodriguez: “We’re back, baby!” It felt good, honestly.
Wokism, especially in its insidious DEI guise, was explicitly given its walking papers. The second Trump administration will preside over an America where, once again, we will be “judged by the content of our character, rather than the color of our skin.” Progressive Democrat hopes of riding wokism’s refurbished racism and sexism into another long, sad era of measuring worth by physiological traits was crushed by the President-elect’s promise of a return to meritocracy. The moaning you heard was probably the unquiet ghosts of racists past, from Jefferson Davis through Orville Faubus to Robert Byrd – Democrats all.
There were moments of patriotic confidence. As he has previously, President Trump stressed that as Americans there is no dream we cannot achieve. He seems to mean it, and he’s right. From the electric light to the popular automobile to the transistor, the practical personal computer and the Internet, we invented much of modern life. Now we’re looking outward and Trump is behind it all the way, placing a technological challenge before a nation which has shown itself motivated by such challenges in the past.
There have been some murmurs about the wealth gathered for the Inaugural festivities: tech moguls galore with more money among them than many of the world’s countries were personal invitees of the president-elect. But in the iconography of tall dollars and high tech there may be another, more serious message: those who represent the cutting edge of technology are united behind this president, and thus the country. Challenge the United States and you challenge all of us. In any conflict where victory hinges on technological innovation, do you really like your odds? Think it over…
There were promises to rebuild and strengthen our military, coupled with vows to resurrect old-fashioned virtues: patriotism, love of country, willingness to serve. Given the situation we’ve currently landed ourselves in, these efforts are prudent; they maybe among the most vital of all. They reinforce the President’s theme of a strong America, ready and willing to work with allies and associates, but with ultimate goals that are specifically ours. Critics may call this jingoistic or isolationist, but it is not. It’s a modern restatement of Frederick the Great’s strategic dictum: “He who defends everything, defends nothing.” Since Frederick had good success in the very turbulent and dangerous Europe of his day, it might be wise to give his thought some consideration.
And, well, because Trump, there were also momentary bouts of silliness. No, we are not going to invade Panama and take the canal back. And, “the Gulf of America?” who are we, the (Arab) Gulf Cooperation Council? But overall, a relatively serious and somber delivery of a serious Inaugural Address. It did the necessary, which was to draw a clear, bight line under the failures of the previous administration and to paint a picture of the goals before us. Now we can move forward: we have a leader with the willingness to listen to the people who make things other than policy papers and live between our two coasts, not just on them; someone with the ability to lead and above all, the ability to separate the national interest from the interests of the Progressive elites.
And above all let’s never, ever forget how we landed face-down in quicksand last time around. So we never, ever, ever do that again.
