W The promise of 'America First'
ITH his Thursday journey to Indianapolis, Donald Trump made history as a presidentelect by forging a deal to save over 1,000 jobs headed to Mexico. And he was just getting started.
That night in Cincinnati, Trump began a “thank you” tour in front of a jubilant crowd of 15,000 people. Imagine that — any politician, let alone a president-elect, using his first appearance to thank voters instead of privately thanking donors. That’s populism for you.
Surprises are routine with Trump, and his speech didn’t disappoint. For nearly 50 manic minutes, he was at turns joyous, boastful and policy specific in a performance that reminded once again that no apple cart will go unturned.
If you didn’t see the Cincinnati speech, watch it online and read the transcript. I find two main takeaways.
First, Trump is not forgiving the national liberal media for its savage bias. Several times he referred to the press corps in the arena as “dishonest,” and each time the crowd followed his cue with loud, sustained booing.
In response, Chris Cillizza of The Washington Post, who was tweeting snarky lines all night, said on Twitter: “Boo the press if you want. Then imagine what society would be like without a free press.”
The self-righteousness is hilarious, and Cillizza’s contempt for Trump and his supporters is unprofessional. He and others like him abandoned basic journalism standards to engage in partisan warfare, and haven’t stopped.
They hide behind the First Amendment as if, without them, America would be lost. In fact, democracy prevailed despite them. They violated the public trust and have forfeited any claim to represent anyone except themselves. The national media is just another special-interest group and should be treated as such.
Trump did just that by making an important announcement at the rally: that retired Marine Gen. James “Mad Dog” Mattis was his pick to be secretary of defense.
Never before has such an impor- tant decision been released directly to the public without being filtered through the media. This time, the media got the news the same time the crowd and live TV audience did, and the public got Trump’s boisterous praise for Mattis before the media could interject knee-jerk put downs.
Trump understood the significance of what he was doing, teasing the crowd by saying, “Don’t tell anyone.” He finished the segment by saying Mattis is “the closest thing to General George Patton that we have, and it’s about time,” which brought another roar of approval. That’s populism, too.
My second main takeaway is that Trump expanded his theme of “America First” from a slogan into a potential blueprint for a national revival.
“We hear a lot of talk about how we are becoming a ‘globalized world,’ ” he said. “But the relationships that people value in this country are local.
“There is no global anthem. No global currency. No certificate of global citizenship. We pledge allegiance to one flag, and that flag is the American flag. From now on, it is going to be: America First .. . Never again will any other interests come before the interest of the American people.”
Those are gigantic ideas with enormous policy implications. While isolationism would be a mistake, there is a righteous demand from a broad range of voters that America take better care of the homeland.
Because presidents can set a national agenda beyond government, the social-wide potential is endless.
Imagine if the left woke up and realized that America isn’t such an imperialist, hateful, racist nation after all. That could mean more colleges, many of which offer yearabroad study programs as part of their globalism perspective, would also offer students a year to study in an inner city, in the Rust Belt or in Appalachian coal country.
A gap year also could be spent in America.
Imagine what those kids could learn about their country and fellow countrymen, and what they might do as a result. Knowing the history of industry, the rise and fall of unions, immigration and migration patterns, housing, education and health issues, the impact of federal regulations and local laws might lead students to decide to help America first before saving the world.
And think of the possibilities if the working class and homegrown poverty become as cool as African poverty or rain-forest preservation. If more celebrities and business titans decide that charity begins at home, they could direct their dollars and talent to solving problems in America’s heartland; tech wizards could create jobs in Detroit instead of Asia.
The election offers many hopes, but nothing is guaranteed. The only thing certain is that America won the chance to rise again.