As I wrote yesterday, Liberals are aghast over what has happened. They still cannot come to grips with the fact that they have lost the House, the Senate, the Presidency, the majority of Governorships and State Legislatures…and the Supreme Court.
Progressives are out in force protesting wherever possible – straining to make their voices heard. But the real strategy is this. Find an issue to coalesce around – to help fuel the outrage – and then use your networks and social media to create the event or protest. Or better yet, find an existing protest or event – a real one – and amplify it through the use of paid agitators and organized protesters. Commit acts of violence and destruction in spectacular fashion and get the whole spectacle splashed on the news. Make the protests look bigger, more widespread – more inclusive – than they really are.
Create the protests. Amplify the protests.
Now comes the real trick – the entire purpose behind the staged events. Convince everyday Americans that they are wrong – convince Americans this is how the majority of people feel about our country – convince Americans this is how the majority feel about President Trump – about his policies and reforms.
Create, amplify and promote a false narrative – complete with images – on televisions across America.
Progressives desperately want to convince us that we are in the small minority in supporting President Trump’s policies. Or even worse – that we are racist and xenophobic in our support. That we are somehow bad – even evil – in holding the belief that one should stand up for one’s country.
This isn’t just about shutting down opposing opinions – it’s about making people feel ashamed for holding opposing opinions. Making those on the right feel wrong.
We aren’t evil. And we are not racist or xenophobic. But Progressives want us to feel that way. And they are using the media to accomplish this – a media that is part of their movement.
This is not to diminish or ignore the honest anger – the hurt and loss felt by Democrats. I’m quite sure it’s real and widespread. I’ve felt the same emotions for eight long years. But the purpose of these amplified protests is to broadcast extreme levels of anger and moral outrage to all Americans – to make these emotions seem more vociferous, more widespread – and yet more normal – than they really are.
But it’s not just Libs and Progressives – it’s the entire establishment.
Washington is, by and large, besides themselves. Not just Democrats – but many Republicans as well – especially those belonging to the old guard – career House Members and six-term Senators, life-long employees in Justice and the Treasury, staid diplomats in State. These people are accustomed to the status quo. To doing things their way, in their time – to going through proper channels while accomplishing nothing. These people are upset and they are scared.
No, they are terrified.
Contrast these career politicians with Trump’s Cabinet Members. The vast majority come from the private sector. They have been exposed to the real world with all its real risks. And they have succeeded – extraordinarily so. They are used to action – getting results – and being intolerant of failure.
These sheltered government employees have reason to be nervous. President Trump actually meant what he said. Who would have thought?
The old ways are being exorcised. Change is here. A lot of it was exhibited today. And the financial markets took note.
We got a jobs report this morning that not only showed employment growth – it highlighted that people were rejoining the workforce. Job growth handily beat expectations yet the unemployment rate increased more than expected. These are the “new” workers who started to look for a job once again – the ones who had given up looking for work and were never counted into Obama’s artificially low unemployment rate. Wage growth underperformed expectations but did so because the supply of “new” workers went up. New workers who are seeing new opportunities. A very positive report.
Trump also met today with business leaders – members of the President’s Strategic and Policy Forum – to hear what they had to say on a variety of matters – mostly economic. Headed by Stephen Schwarzman of Blackstone and including Jamie Dimon of JPMorgan, Larry Fink of BlackRock and Jack Welch of GE fame, Trump has said he plans to meet with them quarterly or even monthly. A couple members stated they intended to express their views on the Travel Ban during the meeting. This probably won’t change Trump’s opinion but he will listen. And maybe that means the next time something is rolled out, it will be done a bit more smoothly. This alone should indicate these meetings will be a two-way street. Interviews with various participants (Schwarzman, Fink, Welch) post-meeting showed a real level of optimism and excitement. News headlines mentioned none of this, focusing solely on the Travel Ban.
I am pleased with these meetings. If you want to jumpstart our nation’s economy, getting advice and input from the people who represent some of our largest economic engines is a valuable tool. It’s also quite the contrast with Obama’s approach. As far as I can tell, the last time Obama met with business leaders was 2013 – and that meeting was to discuss immigration. A strange approach for an Obama presidency struggling to show any positive economic momentum during its tenure.
Japan is reportedly putting together a package that will create a $450 billion market and generate 700,000 jobs in our economy – not theirs. Japan will invest $150 billion over 10 years, helping to “develop high-speed railways in the U.S., engage in joint development of robots and artificial intelligence, and cooperation in cybersecurity and space exploration”. This is a fantastic announcement. It also shows Japan has been listening to Trump’s public complaints regarding trade. I dryly point out that Japan has consistently had a trade surplus with our country.
I noted in an early December post that we could expect announcements like this – I expect more to come. Foreign countries are getting the message even if our politicians are not. “It’s time to invest. The door is open. It’s not a one-way street. If you want to extract value from the United States you need to give value to the United States. And we will make it a friendly place to invest.”
On a related note, Trump signed an Executive Order ordering a complete review of Dodd-Frank. Signed into law by Obama in 2010, Dodd-Frank is a disastrous piece of legislation. As I noted in Dodd-Frank Must Go, no one fully understood what was in the legislation when it was signed – let alone its full impact on markets. Its stated goal was to “promote financial stability” and “end too big to fail” financial institutions. Instead, the opposite has occurred. The regulations contained within Dodd-Frank are so vast, complex and costly that only the largest of institutions are able to cope with them. Much worse is the systemic risk Dodd-Frank has introduced into our financial system. I hope we have a complete overhaul of this complex set of regulations – or better yet, a complete retraction.
Lastly, the Trump Administration began its response to Iran’s test-firing of another ballistic missile. Sanctions were placed on 12 companies and 13 individuals suspected of helping Iran procure ballistic missile technology. Trump sent out several direct warnings that I personally cheered. Obama’s Iranian Deal is the worst diplomatic deal I have ever seen – it gave Iran everything it wanted and served to strengthen that nation right as it was facing economic collapse. Now here’s the important point. I think Trump means what he says. And I believe Iran thinks so too. The Iranians have clearly been testing the new administration. They were hoping for an Obama-like non-response. They did not get one. They received a direct Trumpian response backed by promises of further reprisals. Very Reagan-esque. This is the way you conduct foreign policy. Say what you mean, mean what you say.
On the one hand, we have organized protest groups and media outlets using obvious tactics to sway public opinion and portray a majority of Americans as almost evil. On the other hand, we have an administration that is moving forward at dizzying speed – promoting and creating real change when it’s needed most.
President Trump is doing what he thinks is best and he simply does not care what the old guard – the tired elite – thinks. And they are terrified.
This country is so desperately in need of a rebalancing. Trump is doing just that.
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