What I am thankful for this Thanksgiving is an overwhelming sense of optimism that I have not felt in some time. The election of Donald J. Trump back into the White House is responsible for that sense of optimism. That so many of my fellow Americans came out and not only elected Trump to the White House, but also elected his supporters to lead both the House of Representatives and the Senate, and won the popular vote is a big deal. A big deal indeed!
My optimism doesn’t come from Donald Trump as a person, but from Donald Trump’s policies and general America First outlook. Not America to the exclusion of helping anyone else, just America First. All policies and programs, even if designed to aid another country, must be done through the lens of how they help or maintain America First.
For me, it is policy first and person second. I am not one to be taken in by a politician, celebrity, or any one person. It’s more about what they stand for. When Trump ran for the first time, I was not impressed with his personality. I thought him brash and even vulgar at times. As his first term went on, I came to understand his way of being and communication style and also saw his policies working for everyday Americans and I changed my mind.
After the assassination attempt in Butler, PA. I moved even further toward Donald Trump the man – foibles and all. I was already on board with the policies, but after Butler, I saw a leader, a fighter, someone who had a clear vision for America that was unashamed. I was tired of our left-leaning politicians from Obama to Biden and all their brethren talking America down and trying to shame average Americans for pushing back on their harmful ideologies. Even where I might have agreed with some of their policies, their open disdain for me and America turned me off completely.
After Butler, I thought that this man doesn’t have to be doing this. He is wealthy and busy and has a wonderful family of his own. He does not have to spend his time and risk his life running for president. And, yet he is. Is his ego involved? Sure. Does he want vindication after the 2020 election? Sure, he does. AND, he wants to Make America Great Again. He wants our country to be free, at peace, and prosperous. He does not want us to feel any shame in wanting American things and supporting American principles, and our founding documents. He is willing to spend his time, be constantly ridiculed, and risk his life for all of those things. I know of no other person running for office in my adult life who willingly took on this kind of abuse.
I don’t put him on a pedestal, but I do recognize that he is doing all these things for our country when he could be playing golf with his grandkids in safety. It means something that he is willing to do this. To run for president. Whatever his ego gets out of it, you can’t get away from the fact that it is a service to our country.
So with that, I say I am thankful for the optimism I feel after the election. Not because of politics, but because I have seen my country slide so far I feared it might disappear further into violence, lack of freedoms, censorship, and crimes during my lifetime. That we could fall to third-world status.
God, country, family the saying goes. All the things I value in my life flow through the lens of our Constitution and all the rights, freedoms, and responsibilities that come from that. I will always fight for my country and I am grateful that, at least for now, I can feel optimistic about its future, too.