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Friday, January 27, 2017

The Meaning of America First

As the patriotic pageantry of Inauguration Day gave way to the demonstrations of defiance Saturday, our new America came into view. We are two nations now, two peoples.

Though bracing, President Trump’s inaugural address was rooted in cold truths, as he dispensed with the customary idealism of inaugurals that are forgotten within a fortnight of the president being sworn in.

Trump’s inaugural was Jacksonian.

He was speaking to and for the forgotten Americans whose hopes he embodies, pledging to be their champion against those who abandon them in pursuit of higher, grander, nobler causes. Declared Trump:

“For too long, a small group in our nation’s capital has reaped the rewards of government while the people have borne the cost. Washington flourished, but the people did not share in its wealth. Politicians prospered, but the jobs left and the factories closed.”

Is this not true? American wages have stagnated as scores of thousands of factories were shut down or shipped abroad. Five of the six wealthiest counties in the U.S. today, measured by median household income, are the suburbs of Washington, D.C.

Inaugurals should lift us up, wailed the media, this was “dark.”

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3 comments:

Anonymous said...

God bless the USA and God bless present Trump

Anonymous said...

America SHOULD put America first. Just as France should put France first. It does not mean the rest of the world doesn't matter. It just means that what we do in the rest of the world is based on our own best interests. Trump is the first president since Reagan that seems to grasp that.

Anonymous said...

If we fail, other nations fail. We have to first focus on getting back on track after 8 years of liberal failures under Obama. Then when America is standing strong again, we can do more to help others. That's what I see as putting America first means.