The President We Deserve

            American conservatives met last week in Washington, D.C., to discuss the “future of conservatism in America” (Jarrett Stepman at The Daily Signal). There were scholars, thinkers, and at least one each television personality, technology entrepreneur, and Senator. They gathered at the National Conservatism Conference and focused on “the future of America and conservatism in the age of Trump.”


            The speakers spoke about nationalism and policies, and they centered around three main themes: national sovereignty is growing in importance worldwide, identity politics destroys national unity, and issues about culture are growing. One of the highlights of the conference was discussion about “how both major parties failed to address the concerns of a huge swath of voters, which le to the election of Donald Trump.” 

In other words, there were millions of Americans who were tired of having our duly elected representatives paying no attention to our needs and desires. We were tired of hearing politicians make promises and never carry through on those promises. We are tired of politicians who care more about illegal aliens than they do Americans. Yet politicians in both parties, lamestream media, and the Americans who consider themselves to be royalty cannot see that there is a problem.

What did the common American have to lose by electing a businessman – even if he does not speak or act like a politician? I do not know who wrote the following analogy, but it describes exactly why I voted for Donald Trump and why I still support him.

Imagine… You have been on vacation for two weeks. You come home and your basement is infested with raccoons: Hundreds of rabid, messy, mean raccoons have overtaken your basement.

You want them gone immediately so you hire a guy: A pro. You don’t care if the guy smells, you need those raccoons gone pronto and he’s the guy to do it! You don’t care if the guy swears; you don’t care if he’s an alcoholic; you don’t care how many times he’s been married; you don’t care if he voted for Obama; you don’t care if he has plumber’s crack. You simply want those raccoons gone! You want your problem fixed! He’s the guy. He’s the best. Period.

That’s why Trump [was elected].

Yes he’s an a__ and an egomaniac. But you don’t care. The country is a mess because politicians suck. The Republican Party is two-faced & gutless. And illegal aliens are everywhere. You want it all fixed!

You don’t care that Trump is crude. You don’t care that he insults people or that he had been friendly with Hillary, that he has changed positions, has been married 3 times, fights with [many people], or doesn’t know the name of some Muslim terrorist. This country is weak, bankrupt, our enemies are making fun of us, we are being invaded by illegal aliens, becoming a nation of victims. Now every Tom, Richardo and Hamid is a special group with special rights to a point where we don’t even recognize the country we were born and raised in. WE JUST WANT IT FIXED!

            Americans wanted to clear out the swamp creatures that had taken up residence in our nation’s capital. We hired a man who we hoped could do the task, and he took the job without the pay. “What happened in 2016, Donald Trump did not cause. He is the result of it.” This is a statement that Stepman attributes to Salena Zito, a columnist at The Washington Examiner. 

Zito’s statement supports a similar statement that is attributed to Joseph de Maistre (1753-1821), a French political philosopher. The statement has several variations, including “Every country has the government it deserves” and “In a democracy people get the leaders they deserve.” Jon N. Hall says that this is particularly true in a democracy because the people vote for their representatives in a democracy. 

Americans tried several different times to straighten out Washington, D.C., but the swamp creatures refused to leave. We needed a street fighter, even a bully, who would not back down from the bullies. We needed someone that was not obligated to anyone financially. We needed someone who would stand between us and the people are trying to fundamentally change our government and do away with our constitutional way of life. We found that fighter in Donald Trump, and we like what he is doing – even if he is not politically correct.

            Trump has kept promise after promise. He cut regulations and brought our economy alive. He moved the U.S. Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, the city that the people of Israel consider as their capital. He trying to do something about the illegal alien problem, but liberals on both sides of the aisle keep throwing up roadblocks. 

            Meanwhile, Trump has placed two conservatives on the Supreme Court and flipped the Ninth Circuit Court from liberal to conservative. The result is that Trump is beginning to win in the courts. He recently won a big fight about using leftover funds from the Department of Defense to build a wall along the southern border. He can build 100 miles of wall/fence/barrier with these funds. In my opinion, Americans got the best of the deal when we elected Donald Trump instead of Hillary Clinton.

Washington, D.C.

                    The topic of discussion for this Constitution Monday comes from Article I.8.17:  "The Congress shall have Power … To exercise exclusive Legislation in all Cases whatsoever, over such District (not exceeding ten Miles square) as may, by Cession of particular States, and the Acceptance of Congress, become the Seat of the Government of the United States, and to exercise like Authority over all Places purchased by the Consent of the Legislature of the State in which the Same shall be, for the Erection of Forts, Magazines, Arsenals, dock-Yards, and other needful Buildings."  In other words, this provision gave Congress the authority and the responsibility to set up a headquarters for the national government, ten miles square, which would be under the exclusive control of Congress.  This clause is called the enclave clause.

                    "This clause may have originated from Congress's unhappy experience of being virtually evicted from Philadelphia in 1783 when [several hundred] members of the Continental Army [who were angry about being unpaid] mobbed them, forcing the Congress to flee to Princeton, Annapolis, Trenton, and finally New York, because local authorities did not adequately protect them.  Furthermore, it was felt that the capital should not be in the same city as the capital of a state, or in a large commercial center likely to be heavily populated."  (See W. Cleon Skousen, The Making of America:  The Substance and Meaning of the Constitution, p 455.)

                    Skousen continued with his explanation of why the District of Columbia, or Washington, D.C., was selected to be the national capital.  During the administration of George Washington, two bills were introduced in Congress.  One of the bills was to have the national government pay all the "debts of the various states incurred during the Revolutionary War."  This was not a good idea to states such as Virginia that had paid their own war debts and didn't see any reason why they should pay the debts of other states.

                    The second bill that was introduced about the same time concerned the national capital.  Many of the states that had debts "wanted the national capital to be in the north (Philadelphia or New York).  Virginia agreed to accept the war debts of other states "if the new national capital were placed on the Potomac River."  Thomas Jefferson as the Secretary of State, and Alexander Hamilton as the Secretary of Treasury worked together to bring about the compromise.  Jefferson persuaded enough southern states to support the debt bill while Hamilton "rallied votes to put the national capital on the Potomac."

                    This arrangement put the capital or power of government in the South and the economic power in the north.  This division of power continues today with the federal government located in Washington, D.C., and Wall Street located in New York City.

                    In 1788-89 neighboring states ceded land to the nation:  Maryland gave up "sixty square acres east of the Potomac," and Virginia gave up "thirty square miles on the west."  More than fifty years later, in 1846, Congress decided to return Virginia's land located west of the Potomac. 

                    It took a few years for Washington, D.C., to be built.  Even though the project started during Washington's administration, the government operated out of Philadelphia from 1790 until 1800 at which time the government moved to its permanent place in Washington, D.C.  John Adams was the first President to live in the White House.

                    The Founders obviously felt strongly about the need for a "federal district" that would be under the exclusive control of the federal government.  James Madison wrote in The Federalist No. 43:  "The indispensable necessity of compleat authority at the seat of Government carries its own evidence with it.  It is a power exercised by every Legislature of the Union, I might say of the world, by virtue of its general supremacy.  Without it, not only the public authority might be insulted and its proceedings be interrupted, with impunity; but a dependence of the members of the general Government, on the State comprehending the seat of the Government for protection in the exercise of their duty, might bring on the national councils an imputation of awe or influence, equally dishonorable to the Government, and dissatisfactory to the other members of the confederacy."  (See Lee Casey in The Heritage Guide to the Constitution, pp 143-144.)

                    Neither the Founders nor the Constitution gave the right to residents of Washington, D.C., to elect members to the House of Representatives nor the Senate.  They apparently believed that said residents were well represented in government.   An  attempt was made in 1977 to amend the Constitution to grant the District of Columbia the same voting representation as states, but the bill was not ratified.  There were other attempts to bring the District of Columbia into the Union as the fifty-first state.

                    Voting-rights advocates in Washington, D.C., still have the "clear preference" for statehood, but Congress does not seem anxious to pass such an amendment.  The Founders wanted the national seat to be under the "ultimate authority of Congress," and today's Congress apparently feels the same way about it being an "independent territory."