AS FEBRUARY gets under way, events are moving rapidly here in the United States, very rapidly indeed.
Truth be told, I’m feeling lightheaded, even a little giddy at times, conditions triggered by the vertiginous pace at which this nation, for which I was beginning to despair, is pursuing policies that not only place national interests above those of other countries, but also prioritise the needs of the American people, whose ancestors built this country and fought and often died in the wars that preserved its liberties, before the needs of those who arrived, whether legally or illegally, the day before yesterday.
I find it all hard to believe and never thought it would happen during my lifetime, but it is happening and I am still alive—and, my goodness, how sweet it is!
An America with a government that rules in the national interest and favours those who have earned the privileges of citizenship through their hard work and service and sacrifice to the nation. Who would have thought it possible?
It is around two weeks since Donald J Trump took the oath of office, becoming the 47th President of the United States. Like many of my fellow Americans, I am delighted that he is back in the White House but find myself struggling to keep abreast of the torrent of executive orders, pardons, commutations, ‘controversial appointments’, policy reversals and sackings that pour forth from the Oval Office.
Indeed, entire government agencies such as FEMA (the Federal Emergency Management Agency) which did such a poor job in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene last year, and the Department of Education which has done such great harm to the schools and universities for which it is responsible, are now under existential threat. As are the wasteful, expensive, and divisive DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) schemes, described by the incoming administration as ‘illegal and immoral programs’ that have been ‘forced . . . into virtually all aspects of the Federal Government, in areas ranging from airline safety to the military’ and which are now targeted for elimination.
Violent criminals who entered the United States illegally, including members of murderous foreign gangs such as MS-13 and Tren de Aragua, are no longer safe under the new Trumpian dispensation, unable to enjoy the guaranteed protection of Democrat-controlled sanctuary cities. Such individuals, who include child molesters, murderers, drug kingpins and human traffickers, are being deported in increasing numbers to the countries whence they came.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, around 83,000 people died in 2022 from opioid overdoses in the United States, the majority from fentanyl and other highly potent synthetic substances – 25,000 more Americans than those who died in Vietnam. Given that most of that fentanyl came from China via Mexico, and that the killer of Laken Riley also crossed the southern border illegally, securing that border is a high priority for the incoming administration. Illegal crossings have dropped dramatically since the inauguration and are now at their lowest in years.
All this seems too good to be true. Indeed, there are times when I’ve been tempted to pinch myself to see if I am dreaming. However I realise that the Trump momentum may wane as leftists intensify their counterattacks. God only knows what they will pull out of their pestilential hat, but while the impetus lasts this old conservative and patriot will take great pleasure in every delicious minute of it.
Even that holy of holies of the progressive Ark of Covenant is being challenged – birthright citizenship, a wilful misreading of the 14th Amendment that guaranteed citizenship to freed American slaves and their children in the wake of the Civil War but now interpreted to mean any baby, regardless of nationality, born in the United States, even one born during a stopover at an airport, automatically becomes a US citizen. Not even suicidal Britain, whose political class seems intent on destroying the nation it governs, is that stupid, though I wouldn’t put it past the oikophobic bastards who run the country where I was born and continue to introduce legislation to do just that, so great is their desire for national and cultural eradication.
Sadly, the United Kingdom is too far gone to salvage, at least in the foreseeable future, although I hope I am wrong. But Trump’s triumphant return to the White House has given hope to the millions of ordinary Americans who voted for him and, I suspect, some of those who didn’t vote for him. Judging by what I read in foreign newspapers and online sources, it is also giving hope to other Western nations reeling under the jackboot of wokeism.
Trump’s inaugural address was a tour de force and seems to have annoyed all the right people. Just look at the indignant expressions of Biden and Harris, not to mention the Clintons, Bushes, and Obama sans Michelle, as Trump laid waste their failed administrations. Their discomfort was a sight for sore eyes.
As a passionate champion of free speech, I found the following words especially encouraging: ‘After years and years of illegal and unconstitutional federal efforts to restrict free expression, I also will sign an executive order to immediately stop all government censorship and bring back free speech to America.’
For the first time in many years I am feeling relatively hopeful about the future of my nation. I say ‘relatively hopeful’ not only because I have inherited from my Irish father a fear that the bailiffs could be knocking on the door at any moment, but also because I am aware of the entrenched forces, both here and abroad, that will do all in their power to prevent the new administration from achieving its goals.
Yet I remain optimistic that good sense will prevail and America will become a better place. If for no other reason, Trump’s victory and the resultant paradigm shift provide a blueprint and offer hope to those around the world who value common sense, decency and greater freedom over their lives.
