To the editor:
First of all, as a former Iowan and former resident of Perry, I’d like to thank whoever reached out to me on Facebook in response to my comment about the previous opinion piece regarding our former president. There are far too many negative attacks geared towards divisiveness and outright hatred towards him, and I appreciate the good faith gesture of considering my opinion on the matter for publication.
Let me say that in an era where Facebook, Google and Twitter are all actively censoring conservative thought, it has become even more difficult to find anything positive, noteworthy or, more importantly, truthful on these platforms, as they have all become powerful echo chambers for the far left. Even now, after the acquittal in a second impeachment trial, I reflect on the accomplishments of the Trump administration.
I often wonder just how bad COVID-19 would be had we not had the decisive leadership that strengthened our southern border, disincentivized illegal immigration (not to be confused with the much welcomed legal immigration) and even while under the attack of congressional leaders claims of bigotry and isolationism, made the very difficult yet wise decision to ban travel from China in the infancy of the pandemic.
We also at the very least have Trump partly to thank for “Operation Warp Speed,” the efforts of which are now being fully realized. In retrospect, is there really anyone left that can claim we’d be better off if he hadn’t put America first? Do any of your readers think that among the panel of political leadership, an Elizabeth Warren or Bernie Sanders would have had the courage to shelve their knee-jerk reactions in favor of a higher good.
Trump knew that a strong and fair economic opportunity doesn’t discriminate against any who are willing participants. It rewards all people of competence. The level of pre-COVID-19 economic development and prosperity, with its record-breaking lowest levels of unemployment in Black and Hispanic communities and numbers in some sectors never before seen in history, cannot be overstated. All due to the lifting of burdened regulatory nightmares and a lowering of taxes that welcomed a reshoring of businesses, allowing current ones to thrive.
My last point: does anyone really think that Biden will be tough on China? I guess it remains to be seen if decades of unfair trade balances will continue its course correction or go unnoticed, because unlike many of my liberal and left-leaning friends, I’d like to think that I, more often than not, judge our commander in chief by action, policy and championed legislation rather than mean tweets, talking heads, twisted words and sound bites that hold no contextual value whatsoever, as these things denigrate the integrity of our media outlets and make us ever more entrenched and polarized in our thinking.
I’m of the opinion that history will look upon Trump’s presidency with gratitude, becoming more apparent with the passage of time, because character in leadership relies upon what someone does, even when it’s hard, and especially where it counts.
Claude Burton
Galveston, Texas
