RUTHFULLY YOURS

While America settled in for a week of pointless impeachment agony before the Senate, Trump was in Davos speaking in glowing terms about a revitalized America which has, at its center, the well-being of the American worker. He also gloriously rejected Greta Thunberg, that neurotic prophet of doom-and-gloom, and her dead-end ideology.

Trump began with his standard recitation of America’s extraordinary economic accomplishments on his watch. What made this speech special, though, and elevated it to brilliance, was how Trump explained the philosophy that created these staggering economic benefits. For Trump, it was about doing his best for the American worker because he knew that, unleashed, American workers could create economic miracles:

America achieved this stunning turnaround not by making minor changes to a handful of policies, but by adopting a whole new approach centered entirely on the wellbeing of the American worker.

Every decision we make — on taxes, trade, regulation, energy, immigration, education, and more — is focused on improving the lives of everyday Americans.  We are determined to create the highest standard of living that anyone can imagine, and right now, that’s what we’re doing for our workers.  The highest in the world.  And we’re determined to ensure that the working and middle class reap the largest gains.

A nation’s highest duty is to its own citizens.  Honoring this truth is the only way to build faith and confidence in the market system.  Only when governments put their own citizens first will people be fully invested in their national futures. In the United States, we are building an economy that works for everyone, restoring the bonds of love and loyalty that unite citizens and powers nations.

Trump promised his audience that they could do the same in their own countries. To help them, he listed some of the initiatives his administration put into place to spur the economy. The long list includes lowering business taxes, creating Opportunity Zones in distressed communities predicated on low taxes, and reducing job-killing regulations.

On a grander, less micro scale, Trump spoke about restoring America’s constitutional roots:

We’re also restoring the constitutional rule of law in America, which is essential to our economy, our liberty, and our future.  And that’s why we’ve appointed over 190 federal judges — a record — to interpret the law as written.  One hundred and ninety federal judges — think of that — and two Supreme Court judges.

Of course, Trump talked about his work ending predatory trade practices and bad trade deals. In that context, he made an interesting observation about President Xi:

Before I was elected, China’s predatory practices were undermining trade for everyone, but no one did anything about it, except allow it to keep getting worse and worse and worse.  Under my leadership, America confronted the problem head on.

[snip]

Our relationship with China, right now, has probably never been better.  We went through a very rough patch, but it’s never, ever been better.  My relationship with President Xi is an extraordinary one.  He’s for China; I’m for the U.S.  But other than that, we love each other.

It’s probable that Trump garnered Xi’s respect, which is the foundation for liking someone. We cannot like those whom we do not respect. They are almost certainly friendly rivals now, not deadly enemies.

Trump’s last boast was about America’s energy independence and clean energy. That led him, wonderfully, to reject unequivocally the Greta Thunberg’s of the world:

This is not a time for pessimism; this is a time for optimism.  Fear and doubt is not a good thought process because this is a time for tremendous hope and joy and optimism and action.

But to embrace the possibilities of tomorrow, we must reject the perennial prophets of doom and their predictions of the apocalypse.  They are the heirs of yesterday’s foolish fortune-tellers — and I have them and you have them, and we all have them, and they want to see us do badly, but we don’t let that happen.  They predicted an overpopulation crisis in the 1960s, mass starvation in the ’70s, and an end of oil in the 1990s.  These alarmists always demand the same thing: absolute power to dominate, transform, and control every aspect of our lives.

We will never let radical socialists destroy our economy, wreck our country, or eradicate our liberty.  America will always be the proud, strong, and unyielding bastion of freedom.

In America, we understand what the pessimists refuse to see: that a growing and vibrant market economy focused on the future lifts the human spirit and excites creativity strong enough to overcome any challenge — any challenge by far.

With this speech, Trump elevated himself from businessman and politician to visionary, statesman, and true patriot. It reminded people how petty, pointless, mean-spirited and undemocratic the Democrats are being as they work ceaselessly to overturn the 2016 election and put the fix in for the 2020 election.