In the Presence of Greatness

Friends, yesterday I had the great honor and pleasure of attending a Trump rally held at the Williamsport Regional Airport in Montoursville, Pennsylvania.  My latest article is about that experience.  I hope you will find it interesting and inspiring!

My Trump Rally Experience

On Monday, May 20^th, the 45^th President of these United States, Donald J. Trump, paid a visit to north-central Pennsylvania. Specifically, he addressed a MAGA rally held in a hangar at the Williamsport Regional Airport. As a Western New Yorker, I had only to drive a short distance to partake. I couldn't resist the opportunity to see our Fearless Leader in the flesh. I'm glad I did.

For those who have never been to a Trump rally, you should know that sour-faced liberal protesters are almost entirely absent. A carnival atmosphere prevails, and overwhelmingly the crowds are composed of ordinary Americans, either long-time and fervent admirers of the President, or recent converts to the cause. They are male and female, young and old, rich and poor. Indeed, I was heartened to see such a broad cross-section of humanity, including plenty of people from demographic categories which the pundits decided long before November 2016 were utterly lost to Donald Trump. Not so fast!

The vast majority of rallying Trump-supporters are bedecked in MAGA gear. The sale of such merchandise is brisk. I now own a vintage red MAGA hat, a Trump-Pence sign, as well as a Space Force t-shirt — cherished mementos. The vast majority of those selling such gear, even in rural Pennsylvania, were black. Whether they were motivated by Trump-loving zeal or good, old-fashioned capitalism (sometimes the two overlap) is hard to say, but if Trumpers are synonymous with Klan members and “Nazis,” as Joe Biden claims, these African-Americans clearly never got the message. Needless to say, not a lick of racial, ethnic, or religious prejudice was on display.

One of my strongest reactions to the rally was a sense of gratitude and good fortune — gratitude that I live in the kind of country where an average citizen can get so close to a man who is not just our leader, but the leader of the free world. I felt good fortune because I was in one of the last groups of attendees who, after standing in line for hours, were allowed into the main venue. Thousands of my Trump-loving compatriots were not so lucky. They had to make do with a big-screen monitor in a nearby parking lot. Clearly, attendance vastly exceeded expectations. Despite the logistical challenges, the mood everywhere was exuberant.

I was pleasantly surprised that Donald Trump, Jr. spoke to the crowd shortly before Air Force One touched down with its precious cargo. He was phenomenal. He spoke with eloquence, intelligence, and frankness, and he had a natural rapport with the crowd that is on one hand extraordinary, given his privileged background, but perhaps not so surprising, given his genes. I got the impression that Don, Jr. could have a bright future in Republican and conservative politics.

Mingling with the crowd, and graciously taking selfies with all comers, was Kellyanne Conway. Absent was Mr. Conway. We were twice blessed.

The highlight of the rally was, of course, a rousing speech by President Trump himself. He dwelt, as one might expect, on the progress that has been made in the last two years. He talked about jobs created and hope restored. He asked the crowd, given the success of his presidency, whether his campaign slogan should continue to be “Make America Great Again,” or should instead become “Keep America Great.” The crowd leaned towards the latter, but I got the distinct impression that the President isn't quite convinced.

President Trump also taunted his opponents, as is his wont. He compared the size of his own rally with the smaller campaign event staged by Joe Biden two days before. 

The moment that was perhaps the most newsworthy, and the most “vintage Trump,” was when he speculated that he might win not just two presidential elections, but three, or four, or five. He got a chuckle out of the likely media reaction to that gem!

The main takeaway from the rally I attended, and I suspect from every Trump rally, is the extraordinary bond that Donald Trump enjoys with the tens of millions of Americans who support him. Say what you will about President Trump, but he possesses a brand of charisma that has seldom been seen in American political history.

The sad part is that, while he is free to connect on a visceral level with those who attend his rallies, the media, the vast majority of the time, ensures that his message is not delivered straight to the American people, but is instead passed through a filter comprised of equal parts cynicism, spite, and misinformation. As Trump himself observed, it is this barrage of negativity that explains why he isn't running away with the 2020 election, when he so self-evidently should be. 

 

In the end, though, the media isn't as powerful as the voters. This tells me that there are many more Trump rallies to come, and, at a minimum, “FOUR MORE YEARS!” of President Donald J. Trump.

My favorite slogan of all? “Make Liberals Cry Again.” And so we shall!

Dr. Nicholas L. Waddy is an Associate Professor of History at SUNY Alfred and blogs at: www.waddyisright.com. He appears weekly on the Newsmaker Show on WLEA 1480.

And here is the American Greatness version:

https://amgreatness.com/2019/05/22/what-i-saw-at-trumps-pennsylvania-rally/ 

Race: America's Achilles' Heel?

Friends, it is an article of faith on the Left that Trump=racism, and therefore the victory of Donald Trump in 2016 must have unleashed a flood of racist incidents and attitudes throughout the nation, right?  There is a lot of evidence that the supposed cresting of American racism under Trump is purely imaginary.  This article helps to illuminate the truth: that racial attitudes are, broadly speaking, about as tolerant as they have ever been in our history, despite the Left's constant efforts to stoke division and discord.

https://spectator.us/racist-incidents-down-trump/

Don't count the Left out yet, though.  They've been wanting to undermine the use of standardized testing in American college admissions for years.  The reason?  Blacks and Hispanics don't do as well on these tests as liberals think they should.  Moreover, concerted efforts to make these tests more "accessible" to people of color have had little effect.  Clearly, the only solution is to throw out standardized tests altogether, or grade black and Hispanic students on some kind of a curve, right?  Assuming you discount the idea of judging people on their individual merits, sure.  This article argues that the "adversity score" that the College Board is instituting could be a bridge to an even more naked adjustment of test scores to give students of color a leg up.  Could be.  In any case, the analysis here is superbly well-informed.

https://www.city-journal.org/college-boards-sat-adversity-score

Can This Man Save American Democracy?

Friends, the John Durham situation fascinates me.  I don't know, frankly, whether to be pleased or chagrined about this latest twist in the Trump-Russia saga.  But here are my thoughts.  See if they match up with yours.

https://townhall.com/columnists/nicholaswaddy/2019/05/16/note-to-bill-barr-only-a-special-prosecutor-will-do-n2546440

In other news, here's a great defense of the importance of free speech and pluralism.  We are, as the article suggests, becoming increasingly intolerant of dissenting views, and that bodes ill for our democracy.

https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2019/05/16/the_rise_of_artificial_freedom_140351.html

Now here's an interesting development.  The College Board will soon be reporting "adversity" scores to colleges, as well as SAT scores.  Apparently, the organization feels competent to decide who's had a hard time in life and therefore deserves a leg up.  What colleges do with the scores is, of course, up to them, but the truth is that class diversity has never been that important to higher education anyway.  A lot of the applicants from poor and lower-middle class backgrounds that colleges might be interested in otherwise are white or Asian, and that naturally lowers their progressive stock value.  The real miracle is that the College Board doesn't already adjust students' actual test scores based on their race or class.  That may be coming soon, if we're not careful.

https://www.axios.com/sat-college-board-adversity-score-standardized-tests-50a107e3-e5d6-4731-8eba-1d38d7642b5d.html

Lastly, take note of this ad sponsored by Tom Steyer's "Need to Impeach" group.  It seems that the Trump-haters are growing frustrated with the Democrats in Congress.  Sure, the Dems love to investigate Trump and drop endless hints about impeachment, but the last thing in the world they want to do is put it to a vote.  The Dems are, in effect, stonewalling, and at some point the hard left is going to realize it.  Unpleasantness will ensue, mark my words...

https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2019/05/16/steyer-backed_group_need_to_impeach_blasts_house_dems_hes_laughing_at_you_hes_getting_away_with_it.html

Defeating the Red Army: All in a Day's Work

Friends, don't miss this week's Newsmaker Show with me and Brian O'Neil.  We take a historical detour to the all-important Seven Years' War of 1756-63, and to the defeat of the Red Army in Afghanistan in the 1980s, which paved the way for the collapse of the Soviet Union.  Naturally, we also cover the naming of John Durham as the lead prosecutor investigating the surveillance of the Trump campaign in 2016, and we hit on the currents wars in Afghanistan and Syria, Robert Mueller's blindspot, i.e. Democratic "collusion" with Russian intel agents, whether there can be obstruction without an underlying crime, the case of the fired Harvard Dean who represents Harvey Weinstein, Biden-mania in the Democratic Party, the likely reaction of progressives to a Biden nomination, and the future of David Hogg.

Check it out!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mFeNx9y-lZk&feature=youtu.be

Could South Africa Syndrome Afflict the USA?

Friends, take a gander at my latest article, which analyzes the lessons of South Africa's recent general election.  I suggest that the racialized nature of South African politics mirrors what Democrats are trying to achieve in this country -- and South Africa's decline could presage our own...

Democrats Look at South Africa, and They Like What They See

Even in the wake of its latest free election, held on May 8^th, South Africa is not, on the face of it, a model of vibrant democracy. The country suffers from persistent racial divisions, a stagnant economy, poor service delivery, rampant crime, and the world's worst income inequality. Surely this would not be the kind of society that any American would want to transplant to our shores. And yet...the America that Democrats envision and are striving to create looks very similar to dysfunctional South Africa. We should therefore view the country's steady unraveling as a cautionary tale.

South Africa's democracy got off to a promising start in 1994 with the end of apartheid and the election of Nelson Mandela as President. Mandela strove to reconcile whites and blacks, and to improve public services for the nation's poor while safeguarding private property and expanding foreign investment and tourism.

In more recent years, however, South Africa has suffered under corrupt, incompetent leadership. Its economic growth rates slumped (averaging less than 1%), unemployment is close to 30%, rates of murder and rape are among the world's highest, and the government has embraced a policy of expropriating white-owned farmland. 

Mandela's African National Congress has kept a firm grip on power, but the Economic Freedom Fighters, who espouse socialism and demonize whites, are gaining support. Voting preferences also remain overwhelmingly race-based. Large majorities of whites, Asians, and people of mixed race support the opposition Democratic Alliance, while less than 10% of blacks do so. Only 4% of whites vote for the governing ANC.

A racially Balkanized and dysfunctional one-party state: that is, sadly, what South Africa has become. It is also what Democrats want to turn America into.

Yes, Democrats claim to want racial harmony and opportunity and rights for all, but in fact the modern Democratic Party cannot survive without constantly stoking racial hostility and reopening old wounds, from slavery and reparations, to police brutality, to illegal immigration, to so-called voter suppression. Simply put, the day that Americans set aside their racial divisions and view one another as brothers is the day the Democratic Party ceases to be electorally viable, and Democratic insiders know it. They want to keep racial minorities on the Democratic plantation for as long as possible, and the media, which pushes every narrative emphasizing white racism and the oppression of non-whites, is helping them do it.

Economically, Democrats claim to want to narrow income and wealth inequality, but look at the evidence: the most unequal areas in the U.S. are the bluest of blue cities and states, mostly on the coasts, where Democratic policies of high taxes and expensive government programs have been in place for decades. If anyone wants to know what a thoroughly blue America would look like, they need only visit San Francisco, Boston, Washington, D.C., or New York. There, the rich pay taxes through the nose, yes, but the poor and even middle class Americans can barely afford to get by. Housing costs are exorbitant. Education and other public services are theoretically egalitarian but practically abysmal. If one wants to live a decent life in these “socialist paradises,” the only way to do so is to become rich. Money talks — especially, as it turns out, in blue America.

The important thing from the Democrats' perspective, though, is not that the problems of the poor and the middle class are ever truly addressed. It is that their ongoing, even escalating, grievances are useful rather than threatening to Democratic dominance. The worse inequality, crime, and public services become in these blue areas, the more Democratic politicians can blame old bugaboos like the KKK or the GOP. And Democrats keep on winning elections — just as they were always supposed to.

None of this should surprise the American people. The same Democratic Party that spent the last two and a half years hoping against hope that the President could be proved a traitor does not shrink from exploiting, or even manufacturing, racial and class divisions to ensure its own electoral success.

South Africans are slowly coming to realize that the political elite that governs them is more parasitical than patriotic. Unfortunately, they are too mired in racial animosity to do anything about it.

Americans had better wise up before it is too late. The Democratic Party thrives on racial hatred, economic misery, and democratic dysfunction. It is a cancer on America's body politic, and in the long run the survival of it and of democracy itself are not compatible.

Dr. Nicholas L. Waddy is an Associate Professor of History at SUNY Alfred and blogs at: www.waddyisright.com. He appears weekly on the Newsmaker Show on WLEA 1480.

And here it is at American Greatness:

https://amgreatness.com/2019/05/13/democrats-look-at-south-africa-and-they-like-what-they-see/ 

Could Coal Light A Fire Under Kim Jong Un?

Friends, something momentous just happened: the United States seized one of North Korea's merchant ships, alleging that it was involved in the illegal export of coal.  International sanctions are supposed to put irresistible economic pressure on North Korea to abandon its missile and nuclear programs, but of course the North Koreans have been cheating systematically for years.  The fact that we are now prepared to enforce those sanctions and seize North Korean ships and assets is a major escalation of the sanctions regime, and it threatens the viability of the North Korean economy and state.  I say: kudos, President Trump!  The North Koreans need to understand that we mean business.  The sooner they realize that obfuscation and intransigence aren't feasible strategies, the sooner we can get back to the negotiating table, and peace can finally prevail on the Korean Peninsula.

https://www.foxnews.com/world/north-korean-ship-used-to-illicitly-transport-coal-is-seized-over-sanctions-violation-us-announces

Also, check out this superb editorial in the New York Post.  I couldn't have said it better myself.  The trade war with China may involve some short-term pain, but the matter needs resolving.  In fact, we've put off this battle for far too long.

https://nypost.com/2019/05/08/trump-is-just-fighting-back-in-a-trade-war-that-china-started-long-ago/

The City of Angels Hosts the World

Folks, don't miss this week's Newsmaker Show.  Me and Brian O'Neil take a trip down memory lane to V-E Day and the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.  In addition, we talk about the unfolding investigation into the Trump-Russia hoax, especially as its relates to the entrapment of George Papadopoulos, the accuracy of polls, who deserves credit for the strong U.S. economy, whether the 2016 election was "stolen," the right (or lack thereof) of former felons to vote, the Nick Sandman lawsuits against the mainstream media, the politics of Trump's tax returns, the prospects for a trade deal/trade war with China, and much more!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0p3S93cYW9U&feature=youtu.be

While you're at it, see what Mitch McConnell has to say about the Democrats' refusal to acknowledge the end of the Mueller investigation.  They were hoping against hope for high treason, it seems, and they just can't accept that it isn't there.  Sad.  More than sad, however -- unpatriotic, unhinged, and unacceptable!

https://nypost.com/2019/05/07/mitch-mcconnell-mueller-cleared-trump-now-get-over-it/

And don't give up on the House of Representatives just yet.  There's real hope that it could return to the Republican fold in 2020:

https://www.nationaljournal.com/s/678613?unlock=DJVY1J86W7TRUCFS

Laying Down the Law

Friends, despite the fact that the Mueller investigation was obviously biased and illegitimate, out of an abundance of caution and respect for the rule of law, President Trump allowed the "18 angry Democrats" to complete their inquiry utterly unhindered.  In fact, he cooperated with it at all levels.  You would think, having been exonerated by a hostile team of investigators and prosecutors, and having cooperated with their work, Trump would get a lot of credit.  But of course he doesn't, and he won't.  There's no appeasing the Democrats or the mainstream media -- they will crucify Trump, more or less regardless of what he says and does.  Ergo, there is nothing to be gained by humoring them or cooperating with their inquisitions in any way.  For this reason, I'm glad that the Trump administration is refusing to turn over the President's tax returns, that Attorney General Bill Barr is declining to appear before the House Judiciary Committee, and Trump's lawyers are seeking to quash subpoenas seeking his financial records.  Good!  The Trump administration is finally developing a backbone, and it's treating these inquiries with the contempt they so richly deserve.  Remember, the Dems and the media will be outraged no matter what -- so don't sweat it.  Let them stew.

In other news, you might want to read this fascinating article about the genesis of the Trump-Russia hoax, specifically as it relates to George Papadopoulous.  How easy is it manufacture an intelligence inquiry and/or an FBI investigation?  Mighty easy, when you're willing to set the bar for evidence monumentally low -- and when you're willing to ignore the huge conflicts of interest that many of your star witnesses possess.

https://www.nationalreview.com/2019/05/fbi-trump-russia-investigation-george-papadopoulos/

Lastly, things are coming to a head in our trade war with China.  Within a matter of weeks, we will either have a deal -- and that would be a big political win -- or we'll have much stronger tariffs, and the dispute will escalate significantly.  That may, of course, lead us to a deal too, but by a more circuitous route.  The important thing is that the Trump administration is playing hardball, and that's exactly why the American people elected Trump in the first place.  Let China have it, Mr. President!  Let them know that we won't be trifled with, and, when they make an agreement with Donald Trump, they better honor it.  All we want from China is a fair shake in their market, and honesty and integrity in their trading relationships.  In other words, we want them to live up to the commitments they've made time and time again.  Put up, or shut up, President Xi.

https://www.foxbusiness.com/economy/trump-new-tariffs-china-trade-war

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/05/06/chinese-team-will-come-to-us-for-trade-talks-after-trump-tariff-threat.html

Could "Space Force" Be the Main Force?

Friends, I've been thinking about the future of the United States and the world on the strategic level.  It seems to me that we've moved beyond "mutually assured destruction" and the preeminence of blue-water fleets, to a large extent.  More and more countries now have sophisticated missile capabilities, which can be used to visit conventional or nuclear destruction on ANY country, including the United States.  In a sense, we got a taste of this in the Falklands War.  The British won that war, thanks in large part to their technological superiority, but they lost a number of valuable warships, because the Argentines, although they couldn't really compete with the U.K., could afford a few modern anti-ship missiles.

In the future, I'm predicting that the U.S. Navy will be imperiled, and missiles will be so threatening that only a robust, reliable anti-missile program can maintain U.S. global hegemony.  I also believe that such a program must inevitably focus on space, because to destroy enemy missiles you need satellites that can detect them early on, and ideally destroy them within seconds or minutes.

Take a gander at my latest article, and see what you think.

https://townhall.com/columnists/nicholaswaddy/2019/05/02/antimissile-technology-is-the-key-to-global-dominance-in-the-21st-century-n2545761

In other news, could Nick Sandman be the key to reining in the irresponsibility of the mainstream media?  In the end, only financial consequences could ever persuade the media elites to stop their attacks on America, conservatives, Republicans, Trump, and Trump-supporters.  These lawsuits could be huge!

https://pjmedia.com/trending/covington-kid-nick-sandmann-sues-nbc-msnbc-for-275-million/

Flying High, But Not High Enough

Friends, the picture above is from that innocent time when Time Magazine was a news outlet, rather than a paid political advertisement for the Democratic Party.  The cover is of Francis Gary Powers, the unfortunate U.S. pilot of a U-2 spy plane that was shot down over Russia in 1960.  Oops!  Was it pilot error, or just a lucky shot by a Soviet missile?  The important thing is that it gave the U.S. a black eye at a very sensitive point in the Cold War.  Even old Ike, with ice water in his veins, was knocked off his game.  Be that as it may, the U-2 was an incredible technical achievement, and before the age of satellites is was one of the few ways for us to obtain accurate intelligence about what was going on in the U.S.S.R.  All in all, it was a project well worth the risk.

This is just one of the many topics Brian O'Neil and I discuss on this week's Newsmaker Show.  We also cover Tony Blair and the Labour Party's victory in the 1997 election in the U.K., "presidential harassment" and the persecution of the NRA by the New York Attorney General, a proposal to divest New York's Common Retirement Fund from fossil fuels, the Biden juggernaut/apology tour, Trump and unions, anti-Semitism at the New York Times, the relentless assault on the extended Trump family, the presidential prospects of Stacey Abrams, and more!  Check it out.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eOFbK5PABJ4&feature=youtu.be

And, if you have time, read this superb debunking of the claim that President Trump ever defended white supremacists, Nazis, and Klansmen as "very fine people," courtesy of none other than Ann Coulter!

https://townhall.com/columnists/anncoulter/2019/05/01/okay-lets-talk-about-charlottesville-n2545720