Trump's Acceptance Speech

 

    

 

 

Our political arena seems to change as rapidly as a summer storm, and even though President Biden has now withdrawn from the race, I still would like to post on Trump's speech at the RNC.

My wife and I stayed up to watch the whole of Donald Trump’s acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention. Frankly, it proved to be disappointing. I could only give him a C+: C because it was average, but + for its stirring and emotional beginning when he gave his account of the assassination attempt on the previous Saturday. 

 

Let’s take the high-point first. For the first time we heard him describe what it was like to be a victim of a shooting. It was a riveting account of the incident from his own perspective. It was especially moving when he described his attempt to show the stunned crowd that he was ok. It got even better when he praised the Secret Service agents who rushed to the stage to shield his body with their own. He wisely chose to avoid casting any blame. He was truly magnanimous. He topped it off mentioning the other victims of the attack one of whom lost his life by shielding his own family from the bullets. He pointed out that he had visited the families and that millions of dollars have been raised for them. 

 

In these first 30 minutes he was gracious, kind, and thankful. He showed true humanity. Who can fault someone who had come within an inch of his life for believing it was a miracle or that divine providence was at work. He could have ended the speech right there, and it would have been a rousing success.

 

Nevertheless, he went on and on for an hour more, and still missed a golden opportunity. He had indicated after the shooting that he planned to make major changes in his speech, changes that would reach out to more than his base and call for national unity. After thanking the assembled delegates for their support, he could have said something like the following.

 

“I want to thank you all for your support and enthusiasm, but I would like to pause our celebration for a few minutes to speak to those in our country who can’t stand me or what I stand for. Not only do they dislike me, but they also fear that I will be a dictator and bring an end to democracy in our country. Some have even called me Hitler. To those people I would just say that rather than imagining what a Trump administration would look like, just go back and consider what my first administration was like. 

 

Dictators routinely arrest, imprison, and execute their political opponents. Nothing like that ever occurred during my Administration. Do you remember how my supporters demanded that Hillary Clinton be locked up? During my term in office, she was never investigated, much less indicted. We had more important things to do. Today, I will go even further and promise that during a second Trump administration, there will be no prosecution of the current President or his family. Joe will be able to retire to his Delaware estate, drive his Corvette, and never worry about Federal agents invading his home in the middle of the night.

 

We brought peace and prosperity to this country. There was no bloody war in Ukraine, ISIS terrorists were defeated in Iraq, and there was peace in the Middle East. We even brokered the Abraham Accords where for the first time, Arab states recognized the right of Israel to exist. No one was a greater supporter of Israel than myself, and antisemitism did not rear its ugly head in our country during my Administration. And yet, I’m called Hitler, and my supporters Nazis or Fascists.

 

You may disagree with my policies, but you must admit that we had prosperity as well as peace during my administration. Wages were at all time highs, and there was virtually no cruel inflation to wipe away these gains. We were energy independent, and gas and oil prices were half what they are now.

 

Please, you don’t have to imagine and fear what a Trump administration would look like. You just have to look back and see what we actually accomplished from 2016 to 2020. Despite incessant and unprecedented political opposition, and a pandemic, there was peace and prosperity at home and abroad. If elected, I will dedicate myself to peace at home and abroad, and not to senseless political revenge and retribution."

 

PS. We had company the first three nights of the Convention, and only tuned in on Thursday night for Trump’s speech. To me the highlight of the evening was the appearance of Melania Trump. She reminded me of the advice St. Francis gave to his disciples. “Preach always but use words only when necessary.” She did not say a word but was the epitome of beauty, dignity, and decorum.  

 

Trump Survival

 

No matter what our political persuasion, we should all be extremely grateful that former President Donald Trump narrowly escaped death last Saturday evening. Of course, we should all be happy for him and his family, but we should especially be grateful that only an inch separated our country from unimaginable political chaos. If President Biden and his advisers has been more alert, they would have declared Sunday a National Day of Thanksgiving.

 

I planned to write about other things today but the attempt on former President Trump’s life has made me reflect on his political career and why I have liked him almost from its beginning. I must confess that I am not one of those who have objected to Trump’s rhetoric and wished that he would “tone” it down. I was not originally a supporter but when he demolished a formidable field of Republican opponents back in 2016, I became a fan. Who will ever forget Jeb “low energy” Bush, or “Little” Marco Rubio?  Perhaps it was my New York City origins that made me admire a man who could take the blows and not back down and give as good as he got.

 

I remember a speech Trump gave in Connecticut during his first Presidential campaign. In remarks that seemed to come out of the blue, Trump mentioned that when Hillary Clinton was asked what she thought of him, she replied that she didn’t like his “tone.” He replied, “in the Middle East Islamic radicals are cutting off the heads of people, mainly Christians, drowning others in steel cages, and burying others alive in the desert sand. Yet, she doesn’t like my “tone”. Subsequently, the Trump administration destroyed the ISIS terrorists in Iraq, something that today has largely been forgotten.

 

However, I like Trump mainly because he delivered the goods as President despite unrelenting opposition from Democratic politicians, high ranking government officials, the mainstream media, and even members of his own party. Here are some accomplishments that have also largely been forgotten.

 

The World was largely at peace during his administration. There was no Russian invasion of Ukraine, and there was no war in Gaza. He capped it off with the Abraham Accords, a peace agreement where for the first time some of Israel’s Arab neighbors recognized the legitimacy of the state of Israel.

 

At home his Tax Reform was a model of common sense and simplicity. It bolstered the economy and made the tax code fairer especially for those with incomes below $100,000, the great majority of the population. The standard deduction was raised for all, and tax rates were reduced. A family with less than $28000 per year of income would not pay any Federal Income tax. 

 

Tax deductions like those for mortgage interest and state and local income taxes that mainly benefitted the well to do, were eliminated or capped. Renters, for example, did not benefit from deductions that only helped homeowners, or those who owned more than one home. Moreover, these deductions played a role in driving up the value of homes and pricing lower income people out of the market.

 

Even the lowering of tax rates on corporations was a matter of fairness. Why should American corporations be taxed at higher rates than corporations in other countries? Why were American corporations put at such a disadvantage that they had to build factories and transfer jobs overseas to compete? In addition, higher corporate rates forced these companies to keep their profits overseas to avoid excessive double taxation. 

 

During the Trump administration America was energy independent and was actually exporting energy all over the world. Remember how low gas prices were at the pump. Salaries and real wages for all people were at record highs, and there was virtually no inflation to cruelly wipe away these gains.

 

Even during the pandemic I admired the fact that Trump was always out in front day after day taking the heat despite vicious opposition. In his almost daily press conferences, he made celebrities of government officials like the lady with the scarves, and the now famous or infamous Dr. Fauci. He was ridiculed for suggesting that the virus originated in China, and that hydroxychloroquine was an effective treatment, but now we know that he was right. He quickly offered help to blue state governors who only responded with ingratitude. 

 

I admit that he was not a perfect President. He talked about “draining the swamp” but did not realize how tough it would be. He was the Captain of the Ship of State, but the crew was disobedient, and sometimes downright mutinous.

 

 He should have left office more gracefully. He should have realized that he had been outsmarted by the Democrats and accepted the results despite evidence of fraud. I listened to his whole speech on January 6, and there was no call for violence or insurrection. Long suppressed videos now show peaceful citizens being calmly escorted through the Capitol by police. There was no insurrection. The protestors were unarmed. There was only one fatality, a female veteran shot in the back by a D.C. policeman while trying to enter a window. 

 

The Republican National Convention begins tonight. Love him or hate him, we should all breathe a sigh of relief that Donald Trump will be there. 

 

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