I Want To Believe

OK, so the day has finally arrived. The one we who served dreaded. The new administration will begin its dismantling of all the great progress made in the past four years. While Joe Biden and company will start to tear down things through immediate executive orders it will take a while till you see the results. Give it till 2023 and beyond.

That aside I want to address my brothers and sisters who are now deeply disturbed. Many believed (keyword believed) that Trump would somehow pull off a last-minute victory and remain in office. Admittedly, I was never in that crowd. I have a simple philosophy that has served me well in my nearly 63 years of life. That is to expect the worst and hope for the best. It is not limited to politics. That philosophy has served me well in business dealings and my 23 years in the military.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not a sad sap or negative Nancy. Those who have known me understand that I’m a pretty happy guy. That’s because if you don’t mentally set yourself up for failure you will never be greatly disappointed. You still will be sad, angry, frustrated and etc. but you will not experience emotions to the point where you are seriously impaired. I’ve often said emotions eradicate skills. Those skills would be coping skills.

One of my very dearest veteran friends often goes through these greatly disappointing feelings. He also falls into the trap of believing every far-right-wing nut job out there. I imagine he is not alone by any stretch. He texted earlier to admit he wanted to believe so badly and that he now sees it was foolish. I have often mentioned to my brother that is the difference between us. He wants to believe. I want to know the truth. I’m not saying I do not have beliefs. I certainly do. However, I always leave the door open, a crack, to the idea that I could be wrong.

I started the Vets for Trump website and blog because I wanted to help my fellow veterans. Not so much because I am a well thought out political guy. Another good friend, former Special Operations Commander, pointed something out to me early in the game. He said, “There is no benefit a veteran receives that does not first go by a politician.” That might be a slight paraphrase of what he said but it is an obvious truth. It is also the main reason I fought so hard for the policies of President Trump. He put veterans first and America first. Two things most of us in this community should be able to get behind regardless of personality traits or political party.

Some people think our movement is over. It is not. Trump started something with this America First platform. Don’t listen to those who criticize and say it promotes America Alone. It does not. It is simply a policy towards helping our own before we help others. It is NOT that we don’t want to help everyone in the world. Of course, we do. However, reality keeps getting in the way. Would you let your children starve on the streets and put your resources to other people’s children?

Of all the mistakes President Trump made not giving reasons for policies was the single biggest thing I saw. His policies were 100% correct. It was that he simply did not articulate the reason for them well. That is what I’ve tried to do here. Many have commented that I’m a better communicator of the reasons behind his policies than he was. That may be true but there is no way I could have fixed the things he did. Sometimes you have to take the sour with the sweet. As I’ve previously asked: if you are in need of an operation do you want the best surgeon or the one with the best bedside manner?

I’ve rambled on long enough for now but I’ll leave with a final thought. If you are one of the millions that are deeply disturbed don’t go out and protest. Protesting is easy. Do the hard work of making things better. That is what President Trump did and we should follow his example.

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