“I think it’s sad that these are our choices. It seems like we can do better than Biden or Trump.” This sentiment was recently overheard at a barbeque I attended, and it is not the first time it has been proclaimed as we lead up to next year’s presidential election.
With an incumbent president who has given us massive inflation, rampant crime, porous borders, unparalleled corruption, and shown weakness to our enemies worldwide, it seems obvious that he should be replaced in 2024. The part that is not obvious is who should replace him. Under normal circumstances, there would be a clear candidate. We have a former president running with an impressive record on almost all of the important issues. He was feared by our enemies, leading to unprecedented peace treaties in the middle east, and putting China, North Korea, and Russia in a holding pattern until America became weaker. He was a great friend to Israel. He fought to protect our borders. He lowered the government’s interference in our lives, leading to a booming economy. He appointed three Supreme Court Justices who make rulings based on the Constitution instead of the political whims of the day. That person, of course, is Donald Trump.
With all of that in mind, it seems as though the case should be closed. President Trump should be the easy pick. Unfortunately, there are obstacles that come with President Trump. He has an unpolished image and often says things that turn off large swaths of the population, including many conservatives. He has been attacked by the media and entertainment industry obsessively for 7 years, and some of it has poisoned the opinions of many people who agree with almost all of his policy decisions.
The supporters of President Trump try to use logic to point to all of the great accomplishments that he had in office. Then, they are frustrated that logic does not make much of an impact. Those on the left simply hate his guts. They will never change their minds, but they will feel the same way about Ron DeSantis or any other conservative candidate, so their opinion should be irrelevant.
The problem is the many otherwise conservative people who cannot stomach his antics. Their concerns are not imaginary. His unpolished persona and sometimes outlandish rhetoric contribute to his unlikability in some circles. These are the ones who prefer candidates like former Vice President Mike Pence. Many Trump supporters are incensed by Pence and call him a RINO (Republican in Name Only). He is not. Mike Pence holds conservative positions and is a very nice Christian man. This is what those conservatives long for. They want a candidate who is nice. The problem is, nice only works with a nice opposition party and an honest media. The United States today has neither of those things.
Our opposition party, the Democrats, is relentless in its dishonest attacks. Our media is their propaganda wing, and will stop at nothing to destroy anybody with an R after their name, or who espouses traditional Judeo-Christian values. They vilified President George W. Bush as a far-right monster, and he was a moderate, and a nice man. They even crucified candidates John McCain and Mitt Romney as extremists, and they are not even close to conservative. The media will cover for Democrats who do unethical things. Then they will dig and dig and dig to find the smallest piece of dirt, real or imagined, on Republicans, and never let it go. They are at war with us and they fight to win.
A nice candidate has not, and will not work in this climate. I recently rewatched one of the greatest films of all time, The Godfather, and there is a scene that seems relevant to the situation we are in now. After things have gotten out of hand and the five families are at war, Michael Corleone returns from hiding in Italy and becomes the leader of the family. He gathers together all of his top men and lays out his plan for the future of the Corleone family. During the meeting, he does something that always seemed a little unfair to me. He tells the consigliere (the top advisor in the family), Tom Hagen, played by Robert Duvall, that he is no longer the consigliere. Tom Hagen was Vito Corleone’s adopted son, a savvy lawyer, extremely smart, and very loyal. Tom protests. Then Michael says, “You’re not a wartime consigliere, Tom.” I did not understand it until recently. I thought Tom was cunning and completely trustworthy, so why would you want to demote him? Then I realized what Michael meant. Tom is a pretty strait-laced guy, who likes to work within the system and avoid getting dirty. As the narcotics trafficking Virgil Sollozzo says earlier in the film, “I know you’re not in the muscle end of the family, Tom.” As much as you can be in a movie about mobsters, Tom Hagen is the nice guy. This is what my conservative friends who wish we can do better than President Trump remind me of.
This is not an endorsement of President Trump. I have still not decided who I am going to support. It is, however, a defense of his tenacity and combativeness. He calls out the left for their lunacy and he calls out the media for their hypocrisy and bias. At this moment in time, those qualities are a necessity. Maybe DeSantis, Larry Elder or some other candidate has that fight. Hopefully, they do. We need a lot of fighters. The people who are hoping for a better candidate are looking for an unrealistic candidate. They want someone with the looks of Brad Pitt, the kindness of Mr. Rogers, and the magical ability to unite people who hold biblical values with people who think that men can get pregnant. That person does not exist.
If we try to play nice against people who are playing dirty and playing for keeps, we will continue to get used as a punching bag, and we will lose. In the past, both sides shared Judeo-Christian values and wanted America to prosper and lead. Now, the Democrat party stands for the destruction of Judeo-Christian values and no longer wants a prosperous, powerful United States. This is not the time for compromise. We need to utterly defeat the left and we need a leader who will push on without regard for what the left thinks. For those of you who want a nice president, instead, let’s make them an offer they can’t refuse. *
*My proofreader suggested I change the last line because the left might accuse me of making a threat and use it to attack me. While I think it is naïve to think that the left needs a reason more than that I disagree with them to attack me and try to silence me, I will clarify. That line is not a threat or a call for any horse head shenanigans. It is just a tie-in to The Godfather, and it means that we should support a candidate who will be uncompromising on any issue of importance.
Steve Connally's Brain 