Full disclosure: I voted for Trump in 2016 and in 2020. I don’t regret it. I think he did a great job. I am absolutely satisfied with my choice, despite the vitriol thrown my way, and despite the fact that he’s admittedly an arrogant and abrasive guy. Give me a choice between cool cat Obama – who sows racial and class division and does nothing positive for America, and bull-headed guy Trump – who makes good things happen for America, and I’ll go with the latter every time.

Further disclosure: Unpopular (and therefore socially unacceptable) opinion. I don’t think Trump had a GD thing to do with the January 6th “insurrection” (more accurately – idiocy and childishness in trespassing and damaging federal property. Which does not construe a coup). In fact I was applauding the large, peaceful and passionate crowd in DC that day for Trump’s rally and march. These were people singing songs and praying – yes on January 6th (the day that has been touted “worse than 9/11” by people who weren’t born yet…) but you won’t see that footage today. The peaceful crowd was of course lumped in with people who stormed the Capitol, who probably represented about 10% of them, and that’s a high estimate. Certainly a lower percentage than the “mostly peaceful” rioters last summer who ravaged their entire communities, assaulted cops and received a political slap on the wrist. Nope, everyone at the rally who was identified was put on a no-fly list. Now the powers-that-be are talking about whether to allow people on a no-fly list to vote. No doubt assessing whether the criminals and terrorists who’d vote D outnumber the patriots who’d vote R. And what of the supposed “terrorists”? – a word we throw around now to describe parents who stand up at school board meetings? – They were placed in solitary confinement for months to await their trials. (This is called political imprisonment in case you were wondering.) I’m surprised the rabid Democrats didn’t send them to Guantanamo. But that’s another story. Anyway, Trump had nothing to do with it, he didn’t orchestrate it, and anyone who says otherwise was probably among those screaming at the sky and threatening to attack the White House when he was elected. Ironically… Idiots, on both sides. But that’s Obama’s America.

Anyway, back to Trump. He did good stuff and he’d probably continue to do good stuff, but he said provocative stuff that got him cancelled. It’s amazing that a former President is banned from social media while the Taliban has free reign. I mean, just think about that for a second. And parents at school boards are considered terrorists by the DOJ. Yeah I know I already mentioned that, but it is a particularly mind-boggling turn of events. Actually it’s just the most recent one. So the Brainiac Commander-in-Chief now, who can’t remember where he is or the names of other world leaders, has decided from his lair – or more probably, his masters decided – that Americans are children and should be punished for making their own healthcare decisions. I’m in favor of these vaccines but WTF? And the government and social media overlords, as always, are watching. You shall comply, and tell others to comply, or shut the hell up, or face the consequences. Those are your options, punk. Now they’re playing with the idea that in addition to your financial status, your “social status” should determine your credit rating.

Seriously. I don’t want to say “I told you so”. But I did say that there would be consequences for electing a government based purely on media-driven hatred of the other guy. And a total lack of ability to think critically. And racism and sexism. How the hell do you applaud a guy for promising to pick up a “woman of color” on the ticket, regardless of her qualifications? How do you applaud that – as a woman? Doesn’t it suggest that women should be given special treatment because they can’t cut it against a man? Bull crap. Now we have a VP who does literally nothing but make innocuous statements, like “Oh yeah, I’m really upset about that. We should do something about that. Go on girl, speak your truth”, when confronted by the media. <nervous cackle> Lady, you’re the “border czar”. If you feel so bad about it, maybe go visit the border and talk to people and make policy to mitigate the disaster. But I’m actually glad she does nothing, because SHE DOESN’T KNOW WHAT SHE IS DOING. Her only qualifications are being black and female.

I must admit, it’s an attractive option to let Facebook and CNN tell me what to do. My friends who are already in the cult would like me better. I could stamp cool frames on my profile picture and use popular hashtags and repost woke slogans that would get me lots of “likes”. I wouldn’t be putting my livelihood and freedom of speech at risk.

Ignorance, cowardice and laziness are bliss. At least until they come for you.

Trump isn’t right for our country anymore. America has embraced the “American Idol” way of deciding how much power we should give to elected officials. He might have great ideas to save us from Biden’s messes at home and abroad, and make America safe again… but he screwed up in a major way by refusing to play the game, at least to some extent, and made matters worse by being an ass about it. He gave the media ammunition because he wasn’t a diplomatic, inside-the-beltway DC politician, and he sure as hell didn’t act like one. He also answered questions from the media that were not pre-approved for scripted answers. He spoke directly to the American people wherever possible. He let us know exactly what was in his head, even if he hadn’t talked to anyone or made a final decision on it yet. He played hardball with our enemies instead of apologizing to them. He made it clear that he loved our country, flaws and all. What was he thinking?

It’s not that I don’t think he has a chance to win. It’s just that I don’t think he will have a chance to be effective. Just like Joe and Kamala are completely inept, Trump is completely shackled. People on the left have no choice but to turn their noses up at him, after supporting two impeachments and accusing him of planning a coup. They’d be seen as hypocrites if they supported him now. What’s funny is that would be the only thing they do that would require guts, wisdom and intelligence, and it’s also the only thing they will have done or said in the past decade that *wasn’t* hypocritical… Anyway, what we need now is someone to coddle the bruised egos of the somewhat reasonable Democrats who voted for Biden and are now disillusioned with the whole thing (as evidenced by the 36% approval rating Joe has today. That’s the second lowest in history, just slightly above Trump’s approval when he beat Hillary and there was the “Russian Collusion” story everywhere.) That’s even with his handlers being careful to stop the questioning and put him down for his nap whenever things get hot.

No, what we need now is someone to coddle and assure the reasonable Democrats, who are waking up to realize that their choices weren’t really their own. That their favorite “news” networks and “news”-papers are focusing on tabloid stuff just to avoid placing the spotlight on this joke of an administration. That the Marxists have taken over the existing deep state, muscled it up, split the parties, and now are poised to take the reins. They are hopefully waking up to realize that the moderates are next on the hit list. We need somebody to really unite the middle, not just give us lip service about “unity” and sign 20 executive orders the next day. We need (and I’m holding my nose as I say this) a RINO. Not a fence-sitting, opportunistic, cowardly RINO like Mitt Romney but a truly centrist, independent Republican. A Manchin, maybe. Or – dare I say it – a moderate Democrat. Or better yet, a neutral third party – not far left, not far right, but truly moderate: passionate, but willing to waver when new information presents itself. Someone who is willing to listen.

We need someone whose first act in office will have the most critical and impactful effect: putting the reins on media and social media. How do we do that? Simple… Positive reinforcement. We provide tax incentives and even state funding to public media services. But they have to report ALL of the news and ALL of the user content. They cannot buy out corporations and provoke mob mentality. And further, if they don’t abide by this standard, if they decide to pick and choose (their right, as private businesses) they will be appropriately labeled entertainment news and tabloids, and will be treated as such. Paving the way for media moguls who will recognize it’s now profitable to provide the public service of accurate and unbiased reporting. Why? Because they’ll be the only ones doing it.

So there’s my pitch. I want a centrist party that puts up a qualified candidate who is worthy of the trust and respect we all want to have again for our elected leaders. But now it looks like Trump plans to run again, and he’ll get the Republican vote simply because we have nowhere else to turn for a leader. And he’ll grab the independent vote for the same reason. We desperately need to stop the cycle because this “house divided cannot stand”. We need to acquire some political Zen and stop swinging from one extreme to the other. Why can’t we just break the pendulum altogether and try something new?

But back to earth, and the mess that is our current system. It’s not going to happen. Among our citizens, we have the sheep playing it safe, and we have the wolves playing it hungry. The sheep who are frightened by the wolves, and don’t see they will be eaten by the shepherd. Well, if I don’t have a choice, I’m with the wolves who are prepared to stick it to the shepherds.

So no, I don’t want Trump to run again. But if he does, he has my vote.