Well, the torch has passed.
The Obama era has come to an end.
Obama closed out his tenure in Obama style, taking inexplicably hard left ideological
actions in the closing weeks of his presidency.
He refrained from using the U.S. veto at the anti-Israel U.N. for the first time. He ended the “wet foot, dry foot” preference
for Cuban immigrants, thus ironically codifying a type of Fugitive Slave Act toward freedom
seeking Cubans. Most egregiously, he
commuted the prison sentences of FALN terrorist Oscar Lopez Rivera and traitor Chelsea Manning. The commutations were particularly galling
because Manning and Rivera intended to inflict great harm to the United States
and in another era would have seen a hangman’s noose or a firing squad. I could have even understood the commutation
of fellow Democrat Rod Blagojevich, as a favor for a fellow Democrat, but the
commutations of Rivera and Manning were a finger in the eye of America, and
their crimes were on the scale of Khalid Sheik Mohammed’s. Manning’s was an especially nasty
affront. I do not see what Obama gained
from it, other than a simultaneous poke at the U.S. military and a genuflection
to his LGBT supporters.
Those actions were some goodbye kiss from Obama.
But Obama will quickly fade into history and yesterday
Donald Trump was sworn in and delivered quite an inaugural address. It is being amply covered by other pundits so
I will briefly discuss what I liked and didn’t like about its message.
What I liked.
- · America First. While it was somewhat extreme in its nationalism, he clearly contrasted himself with Obama, who fancied himself as a “citizen of the world.” We are, and always have been, existing in a world of competing systems. We hire a president to represent OUR interests and to show the world that American values—individualism, democracy, liberty, human rights, entrepreneurial, can-do spirit are a better way, not the Obamunism message of “whatever works.” A CEO of an organization must promote the interests and values of that organization, whether it is a corporation, a university or a polity. Trump understands that. He was so nationalistic, that I commented, “Liberals wanted to remove Andrew Jackson from the $20 bill, so we put him in the White House instead.
- · Excoriating Washington. His best line, “What truly matters is not which party controls the government, but whether our government is controlled by the people,” He bashed Washington tor enriching itself while the rest of America suffered. Indeed, following the mortgage crisis, the only districts to see gains in housing prices for a long time were in the D.C. area. And the hottest job in America remains Chief Compliance Officer. He made both Democrats and establishment Republican squirm throughout his remarks. Although Trump nominally ran as a Republican, it is unclear which party will be the opposition party.
What I didn’t like.
- Liberty? Absent from his speech were the words “liberty” or “Constitution.” Obama rarely invoked the term “individual liberty” and repeatedly stretched the edges of our Constitutional form of government by governing with his pen and phone. It astounded me that he somehow was able to get deals done with Castro and the mullahs in Iran but not his own countrymen in the opposition party. I wanted to hear from Trump how he will return the nation to one that values individual liberty above all. I wanted to hear how the Constitution is a sacred document. I did not hear that.
- Extreme protectionism. Trump raises some valid points on trade, especially with China. China has abused us for years. The Chinese hacked OPM. They have begun to militarize the South China Sea. They have enabled North Korea. They have manipulated their currency. They routinely steal our intellectual property. They cheat on trading deals by shipping through other nations. And yet they want to keep selling us stuff and have access to our markets while denying us the same. Trump is entirely correct that our entire relationship with China needs to be re-evaluated. Yet I was supportive of TPP (even Hillary walked from it). Automation represents a greater threat to manufacturing jobs than foreign competition. More jobs are being created “behind the glass” that require computer and other technical skills. The reality is that China has “stolen” a lot of bad jobs. Both Trump and Obama (and Bush) fail to address the harder issue—our K-12 public education system that has failed to educate and provide skills for a 21st century workforce. Our community college system also needs to be strengthened and supported. This means confronting unions, providing choices, and thinking innovatively and longer term. Browbeating, trade wars, and punitive tariffs are not the path to wealth creation any more than excessive taxes and regulation have been.
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