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We have five American presidents alive today; Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama, and our current President Donald Trump. And just three months ago we had the greatest number of living ex-presidents, until the passing of George H.W. Bush.
The thought came to mind this week that not only are we living in extraordinary times, but certainly also a time when the values, principles, and key agendas of past administrations could not be more dissimilar!
And this most recent “peaceful” transition of power from one administration to another, Obama to Trump, has been shocking in its lack of civility and cooperation. In fact any reasonable assessment would conclude that we still haven’t fully transitioned.
At no time in our history has there been such discord and obstruction in that transition, not with the assassination of John F. Kennedy, nor even following the resignation of Richard Nixon after the Watergate cover-up.
I had the occasion this weekend to hear Judge Vance Day give a speech to Oregon Republicans, his first major public appearance since his full exoneration of all charges by the Oregon Ethics Commission and the Oregon State Bar Association on charges related to his not performing same sex marriages. What a speech he gave! Judge Day stood on principle and didn’t in the process violate any laws, nor his faith position or his conscience. Asked if he’d do the same today his answer was “absolutely”.
At this same gathering, Wally Hicks; former Marine, Annapolis Graduate, former legislator and minority whip, and current Josephine County Attorney also spoke. His chosen topic was the status of America. He posed the question “If the Bill of Rights were proposed today, would it pass?”
His answer, “It wouldn’t even get a hearing!”
When you think of the differences today, not just between the living past presidents and our current president, but of all the presidents in American history, it’s hard not to cringe at the degradation of our institutions in general and the office of the presidency. President Donald J. Trump is certainly the closest to our early presidents and their upholding of our constitutional principles of any of the living presidents, and maybe even more than President Reagan. And yet he continues to be vilified by the democrat socialist progressives, the media elite, and even those within his own party.
Presidents’ Day. It is an amalgam of the two President’s birthdays we used to celebrate individually in the month of February; Washington and Lincoln. It’s a time when everything from mattresses to big screen TV’s are marked down for Presidents’ Day sales, a time when most city, county, state and federal, and bank employees get a three day weekend, the last before Memorial Day.
But how many today take the time to reflect on the presidency, especially those who helped forge and hold this nation together, and the people who put them into office? Seriously, we barely give that a thought even for Memorial Day or Independence Day. But it would do us well to consider, and to instruct our young people to observe the heritage and the legacy of these great leaders, not just in American history, but the lasting impact they have enabled America to have on the entire world!
Thank of what was taken for granted back then; life was precious, there were only two sexes, neither government or individuals could spend more than they take in, peaceful trade with all nations but entangling alliances with none, a man’s word was his bond, education was a tool to instruct our youth in the arts, literature and sciences, not to indoctrinate them on shifting social mores, and our military had one primary purpose, to defend the United States of America. But as Wally Hicks pointed out, our current members of the people’s House of Representatives likely could not even agree that we have certain inalienable rights, that were given by God to all men, and that our government was instituted expressly and only for the defense of those rights. Instead they are prone to such outbursts as “f#%@ president Trump”, from the House floor. Imagine even the most partisan opponent of President Lincoln behaving in such a fashion when debating whether or not to go to war with the South in the run-up to the most brutal war in our history.
But America is strong, our people are strong, and because we are a republic, with a constitution, we have been able to weather terrible storms in the past, and I believe with God’s help, and with this current president we will weather this one. But it is incumbent on each one of us to stand together, and stand with President Trump as he fights against enormous odds and powerful interests that are determined that not only he fails, but that America as we know it fails to remain a free republic, and that beacon of hope for the world.
Thank you President Trump, we honor you this Presidents’ Day, and stand with you sir. And may God bless you and bless this great nation!