“Idle industries have cast workers into unemployment, human misery, and personal indignity. Those who do work are denied a fair return for their labor by a tax system which penalizes successful achievement and keeps us from maintaining full productivity,” said Ronald Reagan in his Inaugural Address January 20, 1981. It was the last inauguration my parents attended. That is until Donald Trump won the presidency. Mr. and Mrs. Smith have gone back to Washington. They’re ready!
I was only nine when they went to Reagan’s inauguration. There were no cell phones back then. I didn’t get minute by minute updates via text. And I didn’t know much about politics. But when they got home from that trip to Washington I could feel their optimism and it made me feel good. I wish I had that same optimism today.
Welcome to the Polar Night. “In Tromsø, Norway, what is called a Polar Night lasts from November through January. It’s a time when the sun never shines. Unfortunately, an American Polar Night is going to follow the presidential election,” wrote Dick Young in his December issue of Intelligence Report. “When has America faced a situation where both major parties go to the polls with perhaps as much as 40% of their own party against the candidate, never mind the entire team?”
Eight years ago, at my kids’ school, President Obama’s inauguration was treated like a national holiday. Classes were called, they all gathered in the auditorium, teachers gave speeches, and they all watched the “historic” event live on TV. Today? Not a peep. No teacher speeches. No viewing. It’s as if it doesn’t exist. That’s a country divided. That’s my example of a Polar Night.
And so here we are. My kids will watch the inauguration. They will watch Donald Trump provide a message that was clear as the lawn signs supporting him from New England to Key West. It’s time to remember the forgotten men and women who want to make America great again. It’s time to Drain the Swamp.
