SYDNEY WILLIAMS: HIS LAST HURRAH
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Defending President Trump over the past four years has sometimes felt like being caught in a whirlwind. No matter which way I turned, something or somebody was coming at me. While most comments I receive are supportive, I have been accused of being insensitive, stupid, a racist and, if not a Nazi, something akin to a storm trooper.
Despite his obvious character flaws, I have defended Mr. Trump for five essential reasons: First, I believed (and still do) that Washington’s morass of arrogant and sanctimonious bureaucrats needed (and needs) disrupting. Second, his appointment of dozens of conservative judges and three justices. Third, his accomplishments in terms of the economy, particularly what he did for black and minority unemployment, and in world affairs, especially in the Middle East where, in 2020, he was instrumental in getting four Arab nations to recognize Israel. Fourth, he fought for public school choice and against undemocratic trends toward political correctness, identity politics, “cancel” culture and the prohibition of conservative speech on college campuses. And fifth, his courage in fending off attempts by Democrats to undo the 2016 election and their attempt to create roadblocks for his new administration in 2017 and beyond. And this he did while continuously being assaulted by a feckless mainstream media, and a social media industry intent on separating him from his followers. As well, I was impressed with Operation Warp Speed and how quickly, and against most expectations, the vaccine appeared.
Yet there comes a time when everyone must recognize the world has moved on – that while political battles can and should continue, they should do so in different venues and under different commanders. In the last two months, Mr. Trump has been more concerned with his alleged mistreatment at the polls than with preserving the Republic and keeping the Senate in Republican hands. In the end, it was, to borrow a line from Eliza Doolittle, his toneless persistence and super-sized ego, in the face of all evidence, that “done him in.” He listened to those he should have ignored and ignored those whose advice he should have heeded. All political races are tough to lose, especially close ones where millions of dollars have been expended and personal sacrifices have been made. Politics, it has been said, is a blood sport. For every winner there is a loser. When he assumed responsibility for the failed Bay of Pigs invasion, President Kennedy was quoted: “Victory has a thousand fathers; defeat is an orphan.” In the case of Georgia, President Trump should question whether the losses by Senators Loeffler and Perdue just happened, or did his post-November election behavior contribute to their losses? I believe the latter. Either way, the nation will be worse off without a Republican-led Senate.
Nevertheless, I think his legacy will be built on his achievements, and by some of his speeches, like the one in Warsaw in July 2017 and the one at Mount Rushmore on July 4th of last year. In Warsaw, Mr. Trump addressed a concern of most conservatives: “Finally, on both sides of the Atlantic, our citizens are confronted by yet another danger – one firmly within our control. This danger is invisible to some but familiar to the Poles: the steady creep of government bureaucracy that drains the vitality and wealth of the people. The West became great not because of paperwork and regulations but because people were allowed to chase their dreams and pursue their destinies.” The speech at Mount Rushmore attacked today’s culture war: “The radical ideology attacking our country advances under the banner of social justice. But in truth, it would abolish both justice and society. It would transform justice into an instrument of division and vengeance, and it would turn our free and inclusive society into a place of repression, domination and exclusion.” The speech at Mount Rushmore was condemned by the media, while the one in Warsaw was generally ignored. Both are worth reading in full to help get a measure of the man. But his legacy is at risk if he continues to wind up his supporters, as he did in Washington yesterday, in a futile quest for electoral victory. To tilt at windmills while armies have moved on is energy expended without a return. Humility in victory and graciousness in defeat was once an adage in school sports. It is not practiced in politics today.
Yesterday, on Washington’s Ellipsis, Mr. Trump said he would not concede. (In November, after the election, I wrote that I thought he would graciously concede. I was obviously wrong.) I hope he re-thinks that decision. The election has been ratified by Congress, with Michael Pence presiding. There is little doubt in my mind that Progressives have been moving the country leftward at an uncomfortable pace. However, it is crucial that the Right fight their battles withing the dictates of the Constitution, even if the Left does not. The country is already divided, and Mr. Trump’s Wednesday’s speech did not help, even though he later Tweeted: “Please support our Capitol Police and Law Enforcement. They are truly on the side of our Country. Stay peaceful.” His words came too late, however, as a woman was shot and killed inside the U.S. Capital, in the ensuing melee.
What is needed is healing, as Senator Mitch McConnell said, also on Wednesday: “The voters, courts, states, they’ve all spoken. If we overrule them it would damage our republic forever.” Vice President Michael Pence was correct when he said that Constitution constrains him from rejecting Electoral College votes. Republicans do not have the luxury of an unbiased news and social media, so they have to fight, but they must do so lawfully, and they must appeal to reason and common sense. The stakes are too high.
Frank Skeffington was an old-time, Irish Catholic mayor of an unnamed New England city, who was running in his last election. He was both sentimental and tough and had created a political machine that had kept him in power for years, despite rumors of corruption and abuses. He faced competition from the Protestant elite who had been driven from office years earlier. The elite enlisted the city’s Catholic cardinal in their bid to unseat Mayor Skeffington, which they did. Skeffington had a heart attack on the evening of his loss. It is when he momentarily regained consciousness that he uttered the line in the rubric that heads this essay. What is common to both Mr. Trump and Frank Skeffington is their refusal to face reality and determination to win at any cost. The consequence: a political loss – a last hurrah for Mr. Skeffington and likely to be one for Mr. Trump.
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