ON TARGET

 2/5/18    By Dave Gunn

Musings About Messages

     President Trump’s first State of the Union speech was the most uplifting we have heard since Ronald Reagan occupied the White House.  The President reported on the good things that have happened since he assumed office, and there was much for which to be thankful.

     Unemployment is down, the stock market is up, companies that had fled our shores are coming back, and the people have a significant tax cut that they will soon see in their take home pay.  Corporations are also getting a reduction in their taxes and over 250 of them are passing on their good fortune in the form of $1000 - $2000 bonuses to their employees.  Our veterans are receiving better medical care and the rebuilding of our declining military is beginning.  No doubt about it, the President’s message was one of soaring optimism, good news, and pride in the people of our nation.

     Now everything you have just read is reason to rejoice whether you are a Republican, a Democrat, an independent or a member of an alternative party.  After all, these are things that benefit the whole nation and therefore should not be subjects of partisanship.

     Having said that, the Democrat Senators and Congressmen present did not applaud when President Trump spoke of these things.  Rather, they greeted the good news with stony, sour faces.  While the President was sending a message to Congress and the American people of a revitalized nation, Democrats were acting as though they would prefer things to be as they had been for the previous eight years, with a stagnant economy, high taxes, inept medical care for our veterans, companies shipping jobs overseas, and a president who apologized for America all over the world.

      The message of the Democrats was one of resentful opposition, hyper-partisan resistance, and sullen hate.  We can understand that the Democrats did not cheer about the wall, but the people getting a tax cut and veterans getting better medical care should have drawn standing ovations from all in the chamber.

     That the Washington Democrats are not fully representative of their party is seen in a CBS poll taken after the speech, which revealed that 43% of Democrats across the nation liked what Trump said.  If only one/fourth of them cross over in the fall elections, the Republicans will not only hold the House and Senate, but will increase their majorities.

     Inexcusable was the refusal of Democrat legislators to applaud when President Trump spoke of America’s motto “In God we trust,” and of standing for the national anthem.  Most of the Democrats I know believe in God and love our flag.  So it is obvious that Democrat leaders in Washington are catering to the loony far-left wing of their party and ignoring the left of center majority.

     Speaking of messages, Joseph Kennedy III was chosen to bring the Democrat response to the State of the Union Speech.  It was a dark response indeed, as Kennedy spoke of the people being anxious, angry, and afraid.  He went on the play the race card and the class envy card.  If all we knew of America was his speech, we would be making plans to leave.

     Interestingly, Kennedy was blasted by the “progressives” of his party as being a white guy born of privilege.  I guess if you are a white man who has a lot of money the Democrat loony leftists don’t like you much.

     By the way. blacks and Hispanics, two of the key constituencies of the Democrat Party, might want to know that Trump’s policies have resulted in the lowest unemployment rates for both of these groups in the history of our nation.  Blacks have been loyal to the Democrat Party for 60 years, and during those sixty years the Democrats haven’t delivered what Trump delivered in just one year.  Think about it.

     So there were two basic messages on State of the Union night.  There was a message of patriotic good tidings and hope from Donald Trump, and a message of sour, sullen fear and negativity by the Democrats. Who do you believe should lead the nation?

 [Dave Gunn is the nom de plume of Dr. David E. Gonnella, Pastor of the Magnolia Springs Baptist Church in Theodore, Alabama.  The opinions expressed are his own, and do not necessarily represent those of the church or its membership.]