By Carl Mumpower
Christian Action League
May 29, 2020
“Meathead, dead from the neck up.” Archie Bunker
Grace is not a Donald Trump trait.
That’s a good thing. A slick and graceful guy would have long-ago melted under the relentless heat of malice, intrigue, and hate.
Witness a “morbidly obese” guy who was slated for impeachment before he was even elected. Ponder an “orange nightmare” President who has spent his first three “xenophobic” years under constant legal, political, and administrative assault. Marvel at a “sexist-misogynistic-pathological liar” of his age who thrives on five hours of sleep after a day of facing more death wishes than a bunny-rabbit in a Mexican prison. Visualize a mass-media juggernaut so relentlessly anti-Trump that the charity contributions of this “feckless blowhard” are reliably written up as bribery, public relations, or tax evasion.
Thank goodness for Twitter.
No President in history has ever faced such organized malevolence. On that basis alone, his creative use of that social media outlet to foil antagonists is clearly defendable.
Communications confined to 140-characters suggest a need for maturity filters. President Trump has plenty of company in that failure. Still, isn’t it good that Twitter Trump isn’t the real Trump?
Hollywood, most media outlets, and every Democrat may pretend it’s so, but that con doesn’t stick with main-stream Americans. President Trump’s successes mark a deeper truth.
Conservative thinkers delight in applauding this gentleman for a lot of reasons, such as – (1) Unlike most politicians, he remembers the promises he ran on and attempts to honor those commitments (2) He understands the rule of law over the rule of personal preference and works to uphold the former (3) He’s championed an unprecedented economic recovery and uniquely stood up to China and other trade partners accustomed to short-changing America (4) He has a courage button and uses it with surprising effectiveness – including reigniting the Republican Party and supporting states’ rights as the best COVID-19 management strategy (5) He has turned the lights on DC political and Federal bureaucracy corruption and worked to rein in out-of-control administrative regulatory addictions (6) He’s done more to stir up underfunded NATO allies, rebuild our military, and unstick us from crazy foreign entanglements than any twenty-first century politician (7) Through counter-balancing conservative appointments, he’s hamstrung those who would use our judiciary as a de facto liberal legislative branch of government (8) He’s uniquely recognized the fact that porous borders are antagonistic to civil order and tried to do something about it (9) He’s persistently championed free enterprise, patriotism, domestic manufacturing, and putting America first (10) He’s remained remarkably sincere to America’s historic success equation – Liberty + Responsibility + Opportunity = Prosperity, and understands you can’t leave out parts and produce the same outcome. He’s pushed that vision for the least of us as surely as the biggest of us.
If what one seeks in a President is style, this is not going to be anybody’s guy. If it’s substance, his accomplishments are there in spades for those willing to look. That many don’t, traces to the Left’s never-ending disappointment in their unimagined trouncing – unbelievably at his hand.
That’s also why the efforts of the liberal-progressive-socialist movement to vilify, pillory, sabotage, and even destroy President Trump remains startlingly brutal.
Yet he continues to thrive – despite his Twitter proclivities, lapses into narcissism, and verbal steps toward the wild side. That’s because when it comes to action, all that gets tossed aside in deference to his deeper passion – positive outcomes.
Our current chief executive is street-smart, candid, and personally blessed. Normal Americans – yes, there is a place between constipation and diarrhea we call “normal” – remain grateful that he is.
The Left’s permanent status as professional pouters is revealing. There’s absolutely nothing tactful, mature, or sophisticated about their script.
Some forty years ago, another wisecracking guy named Archie Bunker tried to smarten us up. On the weekly program “All in the Family,” Archie’s liberal son-in-law ate his food, lived under his roof, sat on his hands, slept with his daughter, and still managed to self-identify as a moral superior. Archie worked hard, endured the absurdity, paid for it all, and just asked for a little respect.
Meathead never got it. President Trump’s antagonists don’t get it either.
Archie, you were more noble than we knew. . .
This opinion editorial was posted with permission from the author.
Carl Mumpower is a clinical psychologist who lives in Asheville, N.C. He writes a regular column for the Asheville Daily Planet. This editorial first appeared in that publication.