Governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.
The Declaration of Independence
100 hundred years from now, historians will say January 6 was not the “worst day in US history” and the hearings did not really “save our democracy.” They’ll put events in context and conclude Trump was destined to be a one-term president, it wasn’t much of an insurrection, Biden wasn’t much of a president, and the Capitol riot was a reminder of Franklin’s 1787 warning that we’ll have a republic only if we can keep it.
Historians will judge the rioters by motive and outcome. They’ll trace January 6 back its roots (the economic nationalism begun in 1992 by Ross Perot), confirm Biden’s now-likely failure, and concur with Democrat Joe Manchin (WV). He saw Biden was wrong, expected voters to neuter Democrats in the mid-terms, and blocked the madness. Manchin did what the rioters could not; legally deny Biden the consent of West Virginians – and probably saved the Republic.
MAGA Is Just the American Dream
The American Dream is not “racist” to millions of non-white immigrants moving their families to the USA. America First is not “fascist” to millions of non-Republicans serving in police departments, armed forces, and homeland security. Made In America is not “nationalist” in millions of blue-collar households that want to make stuff in American factories. This is why voter confidence in Joe Biden just hit a 50-year low of 26% (source: Gallup). It’s that giant sucking sound, stupid!
The needy voters that elected Biden now have buyer’s remorse: his approval has plummeted with Black (49%), Hispanic (24%), and young (22%) voters. Identity politics be damned, these voters need America to be great (again). They want a hand up to the American Dream, not a sermon on the sins of their country. They have worries that Biden has turned into fears, which is why the GOP was able to peel voters away from the Democrat Party in Virginia back in November.
Republican Glenn Youngkin is Virginia’s governor because he defended the American Dream (and kept Trump at arm’s length). He promised to attract new businesses, create safe communities, and put parents before partisan educators; out-polling Trump in rural areas and peeling away Biden voters (Asians, Hispanics and suburbanites). He proved the GOP is the party of economic revival and not a “Trump cult” (as his rival claimed).
Blame the Governors, Not the Governed
Democrats condemn the Capitol riot because the Constitution prescribes an orderly transfer of power. Liz Cheney is going to “save the GOP” by proving 74,000,000 voters wrong. Republicans condemn the 2020 election because the Declaration’s “consent of the governed” was not upheld in swing states. Governor Youngkin says Democrats must acknowledge reality; the January 6 hearings matter to just 9% of voters (source: Harvard Caps).
That our house divided against itself cannot stand was presaged by Lincoln in 1858. Four years of anti-Trump resistance and 74,000,000 anti-Biden votes invited that angry mob. Was it bad? Yes, but the unrest was limited and didn’t alter the course of US history like April 12 (Fort Sumter fired upon), April 19 (shots fired in Concord), or even August 7 (Tonkin Resolution). Joe Biden was inaugurated, right?
Go back to 1980, the darkest hour before the dawn of Reagan’s glorious revolution. Three failed presidents (Nixon, Ford, and Carter) had left voters hungry for optimism and patriotism – and that was Ronald Reagan. Maybe if the rioters had more optimism, January 6 could have been avoided, but where was the leader to inspire? Look at the choices the rioters had for president in 2016 and 2020.
One candidate scrubbed evidence from an ”unauthorized” email server while being investigated. One paid a porn star do-not-disclose money. One was involved in his son’s pay-to-play scheme and lied about it. One was “crooked” and shrill. One was “crooked” and boorish. One was “crooked” and senile. This is why Anti-fascists (2016) and Trumpists (2021) rioted. Nothing in common but feeling the “worst president ever” cannot take office. The USA can do way better.
A Bad Time to Be a Democrat
The Times reported Monday only 25% of Democrats want Biden to run again, and 77% of voters say the U.S. is headed in the wrong direction. It is a failure of leadership, and voters are fearful of the future. In similar times, great leaders like Churchill and Reagan became obvious, and bad leaders like Chamberlain and Carter were shown the door. To be sure, a change election is coming, and the GOP is better positioned.
The GOP’s presidential bench is deep. Governors DeSantis (FL), Sununu (NH), and Youngkin (VA) are popular, strong on family first issues, and beyond Trump. The Party of Lincoln is now re-defining the brand with record numbers of Blacks (81), Hispanics (103), and women (253) in House primaries. This is the post-Trump catharsis that results in a fresh face atop the 2024 ticket.
In contrast, the DNC is in shock – that Terry McAuliffe was not re-elected in Virginia and a million Democrats defected to the GOP in the last year. $64,000 question: will they prove Trump’s the “worst president” ever? Maybe, but a dog with a note can beat Biden right now. Even if they prove Trump guilty, voters won’t feel any better about Biden and his party. They have LOST we the people.
Gone are the Ivy League “liberals” like Bobby Kennedy, visiting Appalachia and pledging to lift needy whites from poverty; replaced by liberal elites, visiting Facebook to post “fat photos” of Walmart shoppers and pledging to dilute their vote. It is one thing to tax-and-spend and mean well, and quite another to be mean and spend trillions.
Old, out of good ideas, and obsessed with Trump is no way to win an election. Not when the GOP has moved on with youth and energy.
