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by Jack Kelly
November 16, 2016
Remember the redneck riots after the election in 2012? Me neither. Democrats and the “mainstream” media warn us constantly about the threat of violence from the Right. But nearly all violence that actually materializes is from the Left.
Colleges cancelled exams for students “traumatized” by the election. The University of Michigan planned to help them “cope” by providing coloring books, play doh and bubbles. Administrators at Cornell provided blankets and hot chocolate to special snowflakes holding a “cry-in.”
CBS News highlighted comments on social media that 11/9, the day it became clear Donald Trump will be the next president, is “the new 9/11.” Prominent celebrities, pundits and politicians liken Mr. Trump to Hitler. Death threats abound on social media.
Democrats and “mainstream” journalists (I repeat myself) have settled on their narrative for this election. It has yet to dawn on the latter that they lost worse than the former on November 8.
“This was a whitelash,” said Van Jones, a former aide to President Barack Obama, on CNN. Mr. Trump’s election is a triumph “of nativism, authoritarianism, misogyny, and racism,” wrote David Remnick in the New Yorker.
The narrative bears little relation to the facts.
Hillary Clinton lost 403 mostly rural counties President Obama won in either 2008 and 2012. Because most are in Rust Belt states Donald Trump won narrowly, they were decisive.
Trump counties where: [DARK ORANGE] Obama won twice [LIGHT ORANGE] Obama won once
“Journalists love mocking Trump supporters, wrote Will Rahn of CBS News. “We insult their appearances. We dismiss them as racists and sexists… We diagnose them as racists in the way Dark Age clerics confused medical problems with demonic possession.”
There’s more uncertainty about what a Trump administration portends than for any other president-elect in history. The over the top defamation of The Donald and his supporters makes many who didn’t vote for him (I wrote in Abraham Lincoln) glad he won.
“Progressive” hysteria makes it easier for Mr. Trump to succeed because it sets the bar for success so low.
“By making Trump out to be such a vile, erratic, destructive loon,” the news media guarantee “that unless he reenacts the Slaughter of the Innocents he will outperform expectations,” wrote columnist Liz Peek.
Working class whites – long the backbone of the Democrat Party – voted this time for a nominal Republican. Calling them names isn’t the best way to bring them back into the fold.
“That’s the fantasy, the idea that if we mock them enough, call them racist enough, they’ll eventually shut up and get in line,” Mr. Rahn said.
Democrats will spend less time in the political wilderness if they figure out why blue collar whites defected. Here’s a clue:
“Trump was stronger where the economy is weaker.”
Hillary’s lifetime ambition has been crushed. Most of Barack Obama’s legacy will be erased in the first few weeks of the Trump administration. But they weren’t the biggest losers.
“The mood in the Washington press corps is bleak,” Will Rahn wrote. “We were all tacitly or explicitly #WithHer…We also missed the story, after having spent months mocking the people who had a better sense of what was going on. This is all symptomatic of modern journalism’s great moral and intellectual failing: its unbearable smugness.”
The unbearably smug switch narratives with dizzying speed. Dormant for eight years, an “imperial presidency” is again a grave concern. Dissent is once again “the highest form of patriotism.” Filibusters no longer are “obstruction.”
But their credibility is shot. Their level of trust is at an all-time low.
And worse, not only are mass media journalists no longer trusted, they’re being laughed at. From last night (11/15):
“Trump Goes Out to Dinner, Press Has Hissy Fit.”
Watching the faces of television news anchors “collapse like the Nazis in Raiders of the Lost Ark when President-elect Donald Trump crossed 270 was one of the great moments of my life,” said conservative columnist Kurt Schlichter.
“Trump knew what he was doing when he invited his crowds to jeer and hiss the reporters covering him,” Rahn said. “They hate us, and have for some time.” With very good reason.
— Jack Kelly is a former Marine and Green Beret and a former deputy assistant secretary of the Air Force in the Reagan administration. He is national security writer for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. This article originally appeared at To The Point News.
Rod is one of our nation’s leading minds. He’s smart, original, and very committed—a combination that one rarely finds.
Rod Martin is a Reaganite-Thatcherite conservative…[and] a man who has spent much of his life ministering to and working for the benefit of others. I know Rod as an advocate for freedom, a leader who understands the real changes we need in Washington, and who has the drive and ability to make those changes happen.
Rod Martin is the kind of dynamic leader who has the knowledge, ability and experience to lead us successfully into the 21st Century. His vision for America is compelling.
Rod Martin literally wrote the book on excellence. Humble yet brilliant, a man of love and compassion, with penetrating clarity he illuminates the world around us, and we are both stirred and enlightened.
Rod Martin is a born leader and an outstanding political mind. Anyone who takes him on is going to have a serious fight on their hands.
Rod Martin is a man of uncommon vision and character. Ever since I first worked alongside Rod in the early days of PayPal, I’ve been struck by his powerful vision for the future. Rod understands the intersection of technology, politics and culture in a way that few others do.
Rod Martin wears with uncommon grace an uncanny ability to link his vigorous faith to the practical challenges of both the business world and the political arena. Yet the respect he shows for others carries a warmth and modesty that are both too rare among those who are strong advocates of feisty positions.
America badly needs more leaders who really get the future. We need more Rod Martins.
Rod Martin is a modern day philosopher-statesman. He is a capitalist intellectual, a conservative iconoclast, a gentle adversary and a kind prophet. He inspires us towards a fresh national vision built upon the original founding principles.
Rod Martin is not only effective and efficient, but he is also perceptive, wise and gracious. He gets things done. He is a great friend and a great ally.
Rod is one of the sharpest, most gracious men I know, and one of the most gifted political thinkers today. His ability to analyze issues and communicate thoughtful insights on them have earned him the respect of people across the political spectrum.
I am proud to have been Rod Martin’s friend for a quarter century, and I can tell you that he is one of the finest men and most outstanding leaders in our church and in our country today. He has a knack for turning everything he touches to success.
Rod Martin is a cornucopian entrepreneur and eutropic thinker whose influence radiates through an array of companies, institutions, movements and churches. A renaissance American, he is also a prolific friend of freedom and faith around the globe.
If Rod Martin represents the next generation of leaders, America has nothing to worry about.
A leader and a servant, in public life and in private, Rod Martin strides at the top of his profession, and has nowhere to go but up. He is in the truest sense of the word ‘outstanding’.
Rod Martin is undoubtedly one of the most accomplished thought leaders today. He is a wonderful mentor, a humble role model, and a deep inspiration for the next generation of scientific innovators and entrepreneurs.
Rod’s achievements pale beside his character and his brilliance. He sees what others can’t. He leads when others won’t.
Rod Martin is one of America’s finest young minds.
The future of technology is the future of America. Rod Martin sees that future clearly, and also sees how to shape it for the betterment of all. He is firmly rooted in the traditions of faith and patriotism that have made America great. That’s why he has made, and will make, so many outstanding contributions in so many areas.
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