Recognizing the importance of the Republican Party…
It is easy to understand the value of long-term strategic planning. The smartest people do it, whether in their personal lives or work lives. Saluda County recently hired a part-time planner who is currently in the process of developing a ten-year plan. It is the smart thing to do.
Many countries do similar strategic planning, especially leaders of countries. In that regard, our American form of government – representative democracy – leaves us at a distinct disadvantage. With a four-year presidential term, particularly in light of the current polarization between the two major political parties, strategic long-term planning is practically impossible. We have recently borne witness to the difficulty a president experiences even when his own party holds both houses of Congress.
Continuity in government seems a thing of the past. Constant infighting between the branches of government, dirty elections, lying media. One administration leaves and the next seems to undo everything. Back and forth. Do and redo. Open borders, closed borders. Men are women, and women are men. And who gets to raise the children? Or use the Autopen? Anything can change in four short years. Or even just two years, depending on the midterm elections.
It is enough to make any normal person whiplash. It is certainly enough to make them want to throw their hands up in the air and have as little to do with politics as possible.
China, on the other hand, would seem to best illustrate the value of long-term planning. Since 1953 (the year I was born) China has operated under a series of five-year plans. Their advantage has been that they have enjoyed the continuity provided by dictatorship. They do not have to run against their opposition – they eliminate it. But, even that advantage would not have resulted in such success for China had it not been for the naive generosity of the American people.
Marco Rubio was the first major political figure whom I heard articulate the big mistake the US made with China. It is an interesting story in its own right, and not the point of this particular article, but Rubio put it best when he observed:
“We allowed them to do anything they wanted in America. But American companies can virtually do nothing inside of China, and if they do it’s because they want to steal your intellectual property and then put you out of business and replace you with a Chinese company.”1
There is no doubt that China’s strategic planning was ambitious and they have pursued it relentlessly. It has resulted in spectacular success. The modernization of China’s economy and growth of its worldwide influence is due to two factors: the continuity of their dictatorship and the well-intentioned, but naive generosity of the United States. I had long recognized our policies toward China as stupid – politicians have been complaining about theft of US intellectual properties by China for over thirty years but have done nothing about it. But it was Trump whom I first heard publicly state:
“We have been treated so badly by other countries because we had stupid leadership that allowed this to happen.”2
If China is now widely regarded as the United States’ most capable and comprehensive strategic adversary, which it is,3 then we must also recognize our role as American voters in enabling that to happen. I circle back to the two words I used previously: “naivete” and “generosity.”
I assert that we must come to terms, as Americans, that our naive generosity may have done us great harm. We must recognize it, correct it, and hope that we are not too late. I also assert that it is in the dirty, corrupt arena of politics that we must enter the fray and become the only continuity that matters in our form of government – the bedrock of wholesome, traditional, common sense values that are the source of our past and future greatness. And goodness.
Even if we are able to elect better people to represent us in government, we must hold them to account. We cannot depend on them to be what they promised to be. But we can hold true to what we believe and keep hoping, and voting, for better. China, for now, still has a cruel dictatorship to ensure the continuity of their policies. Our country has only “we the people.” We must be the continuity.
This recognition of and adherence to traditional American values is what “America First” is all about. It is why I have become an activist in the Republican Party. Despite my many disappointments with the GOP over the five decades of my adult life, I, once again, align with it proudly. I do so for two reasons. Our leader, Donald Trump, and the values he recognized in us. Whatever you call us: MAGA, America-Firsters, Deplorables, Right Wing Extremists. Yes – we are right, and we are extremely proud of the values we carry forward from our parents, grandparents, churches. We embrace the constructive ideals of our Western, Judeo-Christian culture.
Hope is in the air, but the specter of the midterms looms large. We all know the Democrats and the Deep State and the Media are trying to tear us apart from our president. Even our beloved Elon (I love and appreciate all he has done) seems hell bent on creating a wedge as well. (That, too, is another story for another day and not the point of this one.)
We all know one term of Trump will not be enough, but our bench is deep, and, if we are thoughtful about electing the right successors, we stand a real chance of establishing some much-needed continuity in government. The Republican Party will be a big part of that, and we in the the Saluda County Republican Party will be doing all we can to help Trump keep his majorities in Congress.
Trump did not create MAGA. We were here all along. We were Reaganites, then (some of us were) Perot voters, then Tea-Partiers, and then on the brink of being totally demoralized, when we recognized Trump as the leader we had been waiting for. And he recognized us, too. He gave us a voice no one could ignore.
Our values are our voice. Values that stem deep into our history, parent to child, neighbor to friend, church to congregants, communities in which strong families can grow and thrive. None of us has done anything alone. Whether our ancestors came in ships across the Atlantic, or fought in the Revolution, or tilled the soil as free men or slaves, or emigrated (legally) for a better life. We reject sick nonsense when we see it, and we embrace what is wholesome and good.
And we know the difference.
That is why the Republican Party is such an important part of establishing continuity at this critical juncture in our country’s history. Trump cannot stay forever. We cannot stay forever, but the values we embrace can endure. It is the only continuity that can sustain a government of free people.
Pretending that political parties do not help us establish and maintain continuity in our government, is, in itself, hopelessly naive.
