This headline will trigger everyone but the one third of the republic still favoring President Donald Trump or, in the charming vernacular of Twitter “Trumphumpers” or “Trumpalos” or a “Trumpanzees.” These terms of endearment are meant to shame the straw-chewing morons into silence. In this way, the name callers make it seems that no one likes President Trump — no one with any brains, at least.
Tut-tutting consumes a lot of energy and little remains for noticing some important things happening in America and the world. America is shifting. America’s place is shifting. President Trump’s first year in office has brought some big wins. Take some time to enjoy them:
Americans are more optimistic than they’ve been in years. The index has stayed above 50% for over fifteen months.
Americans value free speech even if they believe that speaking freely will harm them.
The economy is booming. Stephen Moore details all the ways it’s booming and all the ways the media was wrong:
But so far the Trump haters have missed the call on the trajectory of the economy. Their lousy track record is relevant to the debate over the tax bill, because Mr. Trump’s critics are still accusing the White House of predicting wild-eyed rates of growth — egads, 3 percent — over the next decade to camouflage the fiscal effects of the tax cut.
Doubly ironic is that the same Obama-era economists — Mr. Summers, Mr. Kruger and Mr. Furman — who are trashing Mr. Trump’s increasingly realistic forecast of 3 percent growth — are the ones who predicted 4 percent plus growth from the Obama budgets. Mr. Obama never came anywhere near 4 percent growth and at the end of his term growth was trickling down at a pitiful 1.6 percent.
So the same people who accused Mr. Trump’s team of “low standards of integrity” for predicting 3 percent growth were the ones who forecast much faster growth from Mr. Obama — while he was raising taxes. Amazing.
The sharp-penned Paul Krugman of The New York Times declared the 3 percent Trump growth forecast as an act of “economic arrogance.” He mocked the Trump forecast saying that the productivity improvement necessary for faster growth was as likely as “driverless flying cars arriving en masse.”
An L.A. Times business article from earlier this year was titled: “If Trump thinks he can get more than 3 percent economic growth, he’s dreaming.”
But Trump is presiding over 3-plus percentage growth.
President Trump is also presiding over the demise of ISIS. Even Trump critics like NRO’s David French are noting the victory:
This is one of the best stories of the young Trump administration. While many of the battles were fought under Obama, Trump pursued the enemy relentlessly. He delegated decision-making to commanders in the field, they fought within the laws of war, and they prevailed. Trump promised to defeat ISIS, and he has delivered a tremendous victory.
Then there’s North Korea. China disrespected President Obama personally and through policy. North Korea was allowed to act with impunity. China moved aggressively in the South China Sea. President Trump has chosen to deal with North Korea directly and he’s asked China, finally, to pressure North Korea and they have.
Meanwhile, President Trump recognized that Jerusalem is the capital of Israel and will be moving the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv. Every anti-Semitic government in the world is revealing itself and the UN is calling a vote on a resolution demanding that President Trump to reverse himself on the decision. That’s not going to happen.
While no one was looking, and the media covered very important things like pies, Russian President Vladamir Putin surprise visited Syria and told the troops that it was time to move out:
MOSCOW — President Vladimir Putin flew into Syria and ordered “a significant part” of Moscow’s military contingent there to start withdrawing on Monday, declaring their work largely done.
Putin, who polls show will be re-elected comfortably in March, made the announcement during a surprise visit to Russia’s Hmeymim air base in Syria — his first since Russia intervened in the conflict. He held talks with President Bashar Assad and addressed Russian forces.
That’s an interesting development. Remember President Obama’s red line? Yeah. President Trump has managed to vanquish ISIS and get Russian troops out of Syria. What’s going on? The President has been tight-lipped about military developments all over the world. This is in sharp contrast with the Obama administration telegraphing every dumb move that rattled around their brains when they weren’t outright lying to the American people about Benghazi and Iran.
What about Europe? Currently, the bureaucratic morass that is the European Union is concerned about America becoming appealing to businesses again. Being economically competitive makes taking businesses to Asia or South America or Europe less inviting. American companies are going to move back home. Europe may have to reckon with their self-indulgent environmental rules and social welfare state. Or not. But there’s more than one way to find leverage in the world and being competitive economically is a good way. From Spiegel:
The tax reform could turn out to be an expensive but perhaps effective way to boost the United States as a place to do business. The already existing benefits for international investors will now be enhanced by an extremely attractive tax system. One doesn’t need to be a prophet to predict that the United States is about to be flooded with foreign direct investment. American companies, meanwhile, are likely to invest more at home and to repatriate money that has been stashed away abroad.
Back in the United States, the next generation is facing a reckoning of their own. Washed in the political correctness ushered in by Barack Obama, young people face the unintended consequences: dumbed-down education, restricted speech, strained relationships between the genders and races, and violence. But there are signs of life on campuses and policies that restricted speech and nixed due process are being questioned, condemned, and changed.
The bureaucracy, too, must adapt. President Trump’s administration has banned certain words at the CDC:
Policy analysts at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta were told of the list of forbidden terms at a meeting Thursday with senior CDC officials who oversee the budget, according to an analyst who took part in the 90-minute briefing. The forbidden terms are “vulnerable,” “entitlement,” “diversity,” “transgender,” “fetus,” “evidence-based” and “science-based.”
In some instances, the analysts were given alternative phrases. Instead of “science-based” or “evidence-based,” the suggested phrase is “CDC bases its recommendations on science in consideration with community standards and wishes,” the person said. In other cases, no replacement words were immediately offered.
President Trump is even inadvertently changing America. The media has lost its mind attempting to cover President Trump and with it, any credibility and respect. Hollywood is consuming itself after setting itself up as moral arbiters. Finally, politicized government agencies intent on bringing down the President have revealed themselves to be corrupt. It will be a long time before the IRS, FBI, DOJ, DHS, and many other agencies regain their standing. For those worrying that that is a bad thing, consider this: These agencies have been all-powerful against average Americans. Their power needs to be diminished. They need to be on the defensive. They need to readjust to a more humble position serving the voters. They are not unelected potentates who with the force of regulations can terrorize Americans. Or, they shouldn’t be.
So many of these positive signs threaten the current leftist worldview and disturb the world dis-order. They are good for America, though. And ultimately, they’re good for the world.
President Trump’s administration has been like an ice cold glass of water to the face. It’s been uncomfortable for almost everyone. It has also been a needed wake-up call. There has been lots of good in his first year as President. It’s worth slowing down and recognizing it.
