Invoking an intensely dark view of 2017 America, President Donald Trump elevated his populist stump speech to crisp — many critics say mostly monosyllabic — rhetoric but changed not a thing in principle.
The theme was explicit protectionism — America first — and an indictment of the people of both political parties in government that he will be working with, or at least trying to persuade, to accomplish his goals.
He promises power to the people, but the empowered will be his base. Not those in the middle who anticipate renewed greatness, but the very base that fueled the ire of Trump supporters and Bernie believers. There is no unified view of where America needs to go. The gap is wide, the contrast stark.
People vary widely in what they believe government should do, and a majority of voters in November did not vote for Donald Trump or the vision he set forth Friday and on the stump throughout the campaign.
We had hoped for an olive branch. There was none.
There were pro forma statements of inclusiveness — we all bleed the same red blood of patriotism; there is no place for prejudice. But the underlying assumption was of an existing equal status, that everyone enjoys “the same freedoms.” That is not the perception of many people in America.
It is not the reality.
Nor do all see a crumbling America. Many see a country with challenges, yes, but also with 4.7 percent unemployment, with crime at lower levels than decades ago and an economy vastly improved from eight years ago.
They see a diminishing middle class for sure, but it’s not because the money is going overseas; it’s going to the highest income levels in this country, whose representatives appear to dominate the Trump administration.
In this is the set up for disappointment on a large — shall we say huge? — scale. Those who support Trump and those who supported Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders are not far apart in their goals. For the millions of Americans trapped in financial stagnation, with little hope of secure retirement, watching the cost of basic needs rise, status quo politics appear to be the enemy. There is a unified desire to break down the establishment, whatever that means.
Trump delivered a clear view of his vision, delivered it well — without inflammatory ad-libbed asides — and (it is odd when one must consider this an achievement) behaved in a presidential manner. It is that very vision, however, and the cabinet he is assembling to advance it, that give pause to many. This is the establishment gathering more strength.
The speech was not a call for unity. It was a call to arms.
Bay Area News Group and Lake County Record-Bee
