Under Trump, a united conservative movement defeats leftist attacks

It’s late election night 2016 and the results that shocked the nation are beginning to become unequivocally clear. I’m at Trump campaign headquarters and feverishly texting and talking to friends and colleagues about what is taking place. Having spent the past 60 days contributing to campaign efforts, I’m feeling a variety of emotions from excitement to relief; from exhaustion to exhilaration.

But mostly what I was feeling was hope.

{mosads}One conversation I had that night stands out in terms of where we are today and the soon-to-be held midterm elections. I was speaking to one of the older Turning Point USA supporters about how fortunate we were to have just derailed the “fundamental transformation” of America that Barack Obama had been undertaking for the past eight years.

His reply, with the final election numbers still trailing in, was such a crystal-ball moment that, looking back, I probably should have written this column then. He said, “There is no question that tonight we just blew up the ‘Death Star.’ But remember the name of the next movie: The Empire Strikes Back. Team Left isn’t going to go down without an extraordinary fight.”

And that fight has been far more intense in the past 21 months than either he or I could have predicted. Consider some of what has happened in America since that historic election night as the empire strikes back:

• People young and old are physically beaten and assaulted in public for wearing Trump-supporting clothing

• Robert Mueller, with the support of Congress, has hijacked the criminal justice system to launch an inquisition based on a phony dossier.

• The American media has distorted and outright lied about the president’s statements, actions and decisions.

• Celebrities use every social media platform, and seemingly every TV show script, to attack the president and his supporters.

• Mindless mobs of citizens are manipulated and led into street protests, well organized behind the scenes, that often turn violent.

• Republican politicians hinder the president’s initiatives at every turn, despite being sent to Washington to help secure them

• Democratic politicians have become more vocally willing than ever to embrace collectivism.

This election is either going to at least reaffirm, perhaps reinforce, the election of 2016, or it is going see us slide back down the embankment into the collective abyss.

There is a faction in America that seems to thoroughly detest the idea of being American; it is ashamed of our nation’s imperfections, it apologizes profusely for our continued existence, and it wants the America as envisioned and formed by our Founders to be dismantled. The fresh new face of this is Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez but there are many others.

There is yet another faction that is less concerned about anything ideological and is just worried about making sure it keeps getting “free stuff.” It doesn’t care about discussions over what America should or shouldn’t be, it just wants to be reassured that its current or anticipated entitlement doesn’t come to an end. At its core, it is driven by two of the seven deadly sins: envy and sloth. It craves the things that others have worked to have, and lacks the ambition and personal drive to earn those for itself.

Then there is a faction to which I belong. That is the one that believes in the founding principles of this country and wants to see them embraced in every aspect of daily life. We are the ones who are American first, and whatever else after that.

There is an implicit thought line that runs through our nation today, that what it means to be a good American is simply a matter of opinion. That one person’s idea of America is no better or worse than anyone else’s, and that is what our Founders envisioned in the First Amendment.

That’s a mistake.

Being a good American isn’t a matter of opinion. There is a manual to being a good American and it is found in the pages of our Declaration of Independence and our Constitution. Without a deep, abiding belief in those documents and the principles inside of them, you cannot be a good American. Oh, you might be a good person, or a good bowler, or a good debater; but you won’t be a good American.

The people who voted for Donald Trump in 2016, by and large, are people who believe in the first principles of America. The people who have taken to the streets and the microphones since that election, with violence and hatred, do not. They think of our nation as a historical mistake, not worthy of global membership because of our sins.

Interesting, isn’t it, that generally speaking they want to let anyone and everyone come into the sinful United States but they have no interest in leaving.

Given the threats posed to public supporters of President Trump, it is going to take courage to show up and vote this November for the right kind of candidates. It will take even greater courage to knock on doors, make phone calls or organize rallies. We must. This is the moment to either advance in the effort to restore America, or to see it possibly surrender to the dark side.

Historically, people who have taken bold stands against conventional orthodoxy, which is what Trump voters did in 2016, have suffered in ways ranging from being made to feel uncomfortable, to being outcasts, to being imprisoned, to having their physical safety placed at risk. Even though Trump supporters won in 2016, we are not suddenly sitting in a comfortable place.

If millions stand shoulder-to-shoulder in November wearing a MAGA baseball cap, it will be a lot harder for those who oppose us to knock them from our heads.