Do Not Open, Mr. President, Until December 14, 2020
Eleven days before Christmas, on December 14, 2020, the Electoral College is set to meet to see if either Joe Biden or Donald Trump has the requisite 270 electoral votes to be declared the winner of the 2020 Presidential election. Against steep odds, I pray, along with 74 million others, that a Constitutional path still exists for Trump’s victory. With multiple state legislatures examining voting irregularities, will there be (not an “October surprise” but) an early “Christmas surprise”?
Irrespective of the Electoral College result, the accomplishments that have been achieved during Trump’s present term are noteworthy and worth reflection. Even though the left and the “Washington Swamp” never gave him a fair shake, fabricated stories against him, and even sought to use the intelligence apparatus to entrap him, President Trump persevered.
While the biased media will never acknowledge it, Trump’s decisive action to address the threat of the Coronavirus saved many lives. Five weeks before the World Health Organization declared a pandemic, Trump had already imposed travel restriction on China to slow the spread and buy critical time for researchers to learn more about this novel virus. The Obama-Biden administration had left the strategic reserve of medical equipment bare, but Trump used his authority and connections with companies such as MyPillow and GE to have them retool factory machines to manufacture masks and ventilators. On average it takes a decade to manufacture a vaccine for a virus, but through Trump’s “Warp Speed” initiative that unleashed the power of American ingenuity, a vaccine was approved and ready for initial public distribution in about 10 months. It was not socialized medicine in France or Norway that produced the vaccine, but the USA. We can already guess what slander the liberal academics will write about Trump in history books, but three things they should praise him for, in addition to decimating ISIS, historic mid-east peace deals, and spurring tremendous economic growth, are: confronting Communist China, standing for the sanctity of life, and being un-apologetically pro-American.
For years, China flouted international norms and exploited others. Americans at US companies would work hard researching, investing in, and developing new technologies, only to have their intellectual property stolen by China. Communist China manipulated freemarkets by dumping critical commodities thus devastating American manufacturing. President Trump called out China, acted boldly, and confronted this regional bully. He caught them in the act and prosecuted their state-owned telecom companies, like ZTE, for their nefarious dealings. Trump sanctioned those in China tied to human rights violations against the Uyghur minority and Hong Kong autonomy. Trump imposed tariffs on Chinese steel and aluminum enabling American manufacturing to make a resurgence. Trump’s trade war moved to restore America’s supply chain resilience, a point that proved even more critical following China’s dishonesty with the Coronavirus.
Just like the stain of slavery in our past, the same should be said of our country’s acceptance of infanticide during that the last half century. Millions of babies have been aborted and taxpayer money goes to support these killings, chiefly through funding routed to Planned Parenthood. Many had no moral outrage when Governor Northam of Virginia supported a bill that would repeal restrictions on third trimester abortions. President Trump, however, took a stand for the sanctity of life. He was the first president to attend and speak at the March for Life at which Trump declared, “All of us here today understand an eternal truth: Every child is a precious and sacred gift from God. Together, we must protect, cherish, and defend the dignity and sanctity of every human life. When we see the image of a baby in the womb, we glimpse the majesty of God’s creation. When we hold a newborn in our arms, we know the endless love that each child brings to a family. When we watch a child grow, we see the splendor that radiates from each human soul. One life changes the world.” President Trump has appointed three Supreme Court justices who recognize this truth and its consistency with America’s founding documents.
President Trump realizes that being American is something special. He respected those who served our country in the military by reforming Veteran Affairs following the debacle of the Obama-Biden administration. Trump stood with law enforcement when others called for defunding police. When BLM protesters tore down historic monuments and sports stars disrespected the national anthem and flag, Trump touted our exceptionalism, perhaps best exemplified by him bringing back American-launched spaceflight. When others want to create lawless sanctuary cities and leave our borders unsecured to cartels, terrorists, and those who disregard the lawful immigration process, President Trump enforced federal law, and had built over 300 miles of border wall to better secure our country.
So, some might find his Twitter feed might be a bit garish, but his policies and results the last four years were truly great and American.
Alex Zemek, the author, is 43 and lives in Virginia with his wife and three sons.