Putting Trump's Presidency Into Historical Perspective.

By Jeffery McNeil 

When people claim this may be the worst period in history, I beg to differ I believe the period from 1929 to 1945 when we had a Great Depression, Dustbowls, Hitler, Stalin, and a World War that left 56 million dead is not comparable to today. Shutting down the government or losing you're Food Stamps is not equivalent to being sent to a concentration camp or the gas chamber. 

Derangements are nothing new whenever Republicans get elected from Richard Nixon to Donald Trump. Liberals go apocalyptic, with mass protests, mob violence, and prolonged hissy fits and temper tantrums. The Radical Left hasn't changed. These are the same people that spit on soldiers coming home from Vietnam, couldn't side with Americans when America was attacked during 9/11. The radical Left hasn't changed, social media has given them a bigger platform to spout their hate and propaganda. 

While the hate and vitriol for Donald Trump and his supporters, sometimes can be frightening. It pales in comparison to the vitriol Franklin Roosevelt received. Roosevelt was so reviled by his enemies, one month before being sworn into office an Italian immigrant, Giuseppe Zangara fired five shots at the future president, missing him and killing Chicago Mayor Anton Cermak and wounding four people. In 1933 Major General Smedley Butler planned an attempted coup to overthrow President Franklin Roosevelt. He was being challenged from his party by Louisiana Governor Huey Long, a charismatic speaker who ruled the state of Louisiana with an iron fist. He was Bernie Sanders before Bernie Sanders railing against the millionaires and billionaires until assassinated in 1935 

Where President Trump has Never Trump Republicans and The Radical Left, Roosevelt had a unique blend of Southern Dixie Crats, wealthy bankers and industrialist that detested him. His enemies were the who's who of the privileged class, such as the Rockefellers, Henry Ford and George Bush’s father Prescott Bush. His enemies were not just at home Roosevelt had to deal with Hitler, Stalin, Mussolini, and Japan.  

The 2016 election was a cultural war between Americans clinging to the traditions and norms which made American great; the Left believes all the things Americans love are inherently racist and needs to be destroyed. Roosevelts 1932 election wasn’t a cultural revolution, but an economic and class one. Both the Right and Left believed in the Constitution and Judeo Christian principles. The arguments weren't whether to destroy what works in America but how can we preserve and improve on the American system. 

While the Anti-Trump sentiment is a threat to American stability, Our nation been through worse, we are nowhere near the Great Depression levels where unemployment was at thirty percent. However, during the Great Depression, the minimum wage was.25 cents an hour, but despite abject poverty, people weren't homeless, families stayed together and didn’t starve to death. Today in Washington, DC the minimum wage is $13 an hour many work multiple jobs and still don't have enough money when the average rent in DC.is $2265. 

As with Ronald Reagan, I consider myself a New Deal Democrat, but like Howard Schultz, today's liberals ideal for big government when the economy is growing at 3% is ridiculous. During the Roosevelt era, the issue wasn’t inequality but employment. Today there are plenty of jobs available, but Americans are not trained to do them. We don’t need a big government agenda soaking the rich. Congress should do their job and go after corruption, however, the government should be getting out the way and deregulating industries and creating competition, so costs get lower and cheaper.  

We don’t need a New Deal but a transformation of our education system so the kids coming out of college will be ready for the jobs of the future. The Democrats during the New Deal didn’t push socialism or welfare entitlements they pushed full employment. When the private sector fails to create jobs and reduce inequality, then the government can step in with infrastructure spending. You can solve a lot of entitlement spending by putting able-bodied people to work. 

There should be a balance between the public and private. The government should tweak not take over and intervene. The problem is normal; reasonable solutions don’t see the light of day while people such as Alexandria Ocasio Cortez say insane things such as the “World will end in 12 years or Ilhan Omar wanting to tax the rich at 90%. It’s not just on the Left people such as Ann Coulter, who push narrow issues at the expense of what's good long term poison reasonable solutions.  

For those that may be looking for an off-ramp, to the days of bi-partisanship and compromise.   As Howard Schultz said, the Democrats are not that off ramp. They are pushing ideas that were suited for the 1930s instead of the 21st century.