Making America Great Again

"I have said for years that the two biggest heroes in my life were my Father and Ronald Reagan."

Before I get started, please note that this is not an endorsement for Donald J. Trump. By the same token, it is not a hit piece on him either. It is simply a personal analysis into what many are now calling the "Trump Phenomenon".

Many of us older folks who were alive and kicking in the 1980's, remember that decade with fondness. And a huge reason for that was having Ronald Wilson Reagan as our President. He brought us back from the brink of disaster after the Carter years. He healed the economy, strengthened our national defenses, and we once again we were respected in the world. In short, Ronald Reagan made us great once again.

Today we have a crippled economy, a weak national defense, and little to no respect in the world. Dictators and rogue nations spit on us and kick sand in our faces. In fact, it was just revealed our sailors who were illegally captured and detained by the Iranians, were paraded down a street in front of jeering crowds. This is in addition to the Iranians illegally buzzing our ships and launching a missile in violation of agreement. And what did we do in return? Nothing. Shades of the 1970's, when under Jimmy Carter, Iran illegally held Americans hostage for 444 days. I am still pissed and bitter about that.

Enter Donald J. Trump running for President. He is nothing, and I repeat nothing like Ronald Reagan. Well, except for a couple things. First, Donald Trump's campaign motto is "Make America Great Again", which is very similar to what Reagan did in the 1980's. Second, both Reagan and Trump came on the scene right after train wrecks - Carter and Obama.

Speaking to an angry and frustrated nation, Trump basically says all the right stuff. "We will win at everything. We will win so much, people will never have seen anything like it". Now whether Mr. Trump can or can not deliver on that promise is irrelevant right now. The relevant thing is this is red meat for the huddled masses. 

And (this is what is really important), people are so fed up with Washington insiders who do little but enrich themselves, they are ready to vote for a guy from outside of Washington who is already rich. A person who is beholden to nobody. 

Rather than snickering at Donald Trump like I did at the beginning, I now watch him with intense curiosity. I have said this before, if we had a normal President for the past 7 plus years, Trump would be a non-player right now. But for the time and place we are at, the bombastic and braggadocios personality of Trump fits right in. For many in the electorate, he truly is the man for all seasons.

Will Trump be around in November? It is looking more and more possible. Win, lose, or draw, historians will look back on this election with great interest. It is one like we have never seen before. It is one we might never see again.