After a year and a half, the longest long shot in American politics has been inaugurated as President of the United States. Republican businessman Donald Trump has officially inherited the White House and the executive branch from Barack Obama, a two-term President and former United States Senator.
The months and years ahead will be a rough ride for America in some ways. Democrats appear unwilling to give the President a chance and Republicans are ready for change.
Regardless of political affiliation, most can admit that the Trump Administration will bring a new course to American politics.
The election itself shook the political world as President Trump shook the foundation of the mainstream and shattered business as usual. Whether or not his positions are agreeable, it’s undeniable he defied conventional wisdom in regards to American politics.
In his final days as the President-elect and now as he inherits the office, he bears a promise to reinvigorate a forgotten America. Under the Obama years, the focus was on many liberal and progressive pet projects, while everyday workers were largely forgotten. The middle class isn’t a focal point.
Yet. under Obama we were putting the world before our own country. While this may seem noble, a weak America is unable to sustain an entire planet. It’s not feasible, and this was a point that many agree with. It remains to be seen whether President Trump truly understands this and will administer according to the philosophy, but his many supporters believe it.
The United States has sent billions overseas in foreign aid, while many regular Americans remain homeless and forgotten. They’re not a concern as we send countless dollars to other nations to influence fragile global politics and prop up favorable regimes.
The United States sends our brave military members abroad to fight undeclared conflicts. Many of these conflicts lack clarify in vision or objective, and ultimately spend our military without gain for them or ourselves as a whole. Many soldiers return home with psychological scars and trauma, others find themselves homeless and hungry.
As the governments spends money to assist Saudi Arabia in the slaughter of the Yemeni people, our own veterans suffer here at home. Have they been forgotten?
Politics has long been a game of allegiance to a political establishment. Democratic Presidents such as Barack Obama were more preoccupied with the progressive agenda and his own legacy. Republicans often operated the same way, including with moderate right politics gaining favor above everything else.
President Trump called out both sides equally, often hitting at Obama while also targeting George W. Bush over failed wars. Is the rhetoric about a forgotten America truthful? Will President Trump restore a promise with everyday Americans, putting them before the partisan special interests that have long ruled this nation?
A lot remains to be seen and America would be wise to at least give him a chance before passing judgment. There is the potential to be bad, with everything going wrong as many on the left predict. But there is also the potential of a new era in American politics.
The Trump era has formally begun.
