07 May America at Two-Fitty
As you know, the 13 American colonies jointly declared their independence on July 4, 1776. From this, you can easily calculate that our nation will turn 250 years old in 2026. And, as you also likely know, Donald Trump is the current President of the United States, putting him in the position to lead the singing of Happy Birthday at our quarter-millennial celebration.
What you may not know is that an entertainer named Curtis “50 Cent” Johnson, the $50 dollar bill, and the entire word fifty sometimes are referenced with the slang “fitty,” and any number ending in 50 can carry that same moniker. Now you know, and you can be as hip as the title of this blog post.
What none of us can know today, however, is in what condition America will be at age two-fitty. Ideally, we would be older, but wiser. We could just as easily be older, but weaker; older, and wealthier; or older, but wearier. I welcome your prophesies in the comments. My look ahead follows.
“Great” Like When, and “First” in What?
One thing of which I am most sure is that our independence-declaring founders never met a man like Donald J. Trump, and they could not have envisioned him as our leader 250 years in advance. President Trump, of course, has vowed to Make America Great Again. He also has pledged to put America First.
On July 4, 2026, President Trump will be one-and-a-half years into his second term, and in all likelihood will continue to have Republican majorities in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives. He has placed loyal (to him) servants in charge of his administrative departments, not to mention First Buddy Elon Musk. Hundreds of federal judges, including three members of the U.S. Supreme Court, are Trump appointees. This all indicates that by its 250th birthday, America is likely to be fully molded into Mr. Trump’s image.
Assuming he does make America “great” (and I hope he does), I sometimes wonder what great will look like. At the same time, it is worth considering what will again look like, as in “great again.” Will our country be great again like America was in 1776? Or, will it be as it was in 1860, just prior to the Civil War? In 1946, after the Depression and World War II? In 1968, when the Vietnam War was raging, Bobby Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Jr. were shot, and race rioters were rioting? The year 2000? Similarly, if America indeed is “first,” in what ways will we place at the top? It will be fascinating to see what the Trump Administration has in mind and can accomplish by 2026.
It recently hit me how we can predict the answers to the above questions. The key is that our president and his fans revel in the meme “Promises Made, Promises Kept” to praise the Trumpian style and success. They are convinced that he honors all of his commitments. If they are correct, Trump’s 2024 campaign promises all will come to fruition, and America will be made great and first in the following ways (plus more):
- Immigration-related issues (including crime and fentanyl) will be eradicated through deportations and border control.
- Inflation will have ended and prices actually will be down.
- Health care costs will have fallen.
- “Woke” will be abolished.
- Wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, along with other foreign entanglements, will be history.
- Tariffs will produce increased federal revenues, together with U.S. job and manufacturing growth.
- The size, cost, and hindrance of the government bureaucracy will be significantly reduced, with waste purged.
- Education will be reformed, and student outcomes enhanced.
- Energy production will increase.
- Taxes on some forms of income will be eliminated and rates will be cut.
While certainly not on board with the means (e.g., ignoring the rule of law, being intentionally cruel, and leading a circular firing squad of tariffs) used for some of the ends listed, the accomplishment of such results would be cause for celebration.
Best Wishes to Us for a Happy and Healthy One
One last point for your cogitation. By that big, round-number national birthday, Donald Trump – barring something unexpected – will have been president for more than two percent of America’s 250 years. His five-plus years in office will be more than were served by John F. Kennedy (less than three years) or even Abraham Lincoln (four years and one month). It will be longer than the combined tenure of William Henry Harrison (one month), James Garfield (six and a half months), Zachary Taylor (one year and four months), and Warren Harding (two years and five months).
With such experience in office, congressional backing, a hand-picked support staff, and a clear mandate from 49 percent of the voting public, what could go wrong?
Get your fireworks and grills ready. We will see you at the party.
Written by Quentin R. Wittrock, founder of Principle Based Politics.
Look for his periodic, principled political posts, as this blog will explore and promote the idea of principle in politics, both as to individual elected leaders and our federal government as an institution.
Principle Based Politics does not endorse or support any particular political candidate or party.
Gary Russell
Posted at 19:15h, 06 MayQuentin – your write-up got me thinking: Do we (Americans) even have a common view (or definition) of “great”? I don’t think we do. From immigrants to global trade, education, abortion, the debt, health care and civil rights, we’re all over the place on what “good” even looks like.
Quentin
Posted at 19:23h, 06 MayI hope other commentators chime in on what a “great” country would be like. Excellent question. We all are tempted to say what is NOT great and who CANNOT lead us to greatness, but you are correct that defining greatness takes more vision. For me, it is principled (with the right principles).
Jennie Dawson
Posted at 18:34h, 07 MayA “great” country would be led with kindness and empathy for all human beings. Next year as we celebrate 250 years I believe many people will feel weary. This constant negativity displayed by DJT is getting old fast. It would be “great” to hear him speak kindly of someone instead of mocking and degrading everyone but himself, who sees himself as the future Pope. He is a narcissist who believes he is above all, even God. Heaven help us all!
Quentin
Posted at 18:52h, 07 MayThat is so well put, Jennie! (I can tell you must have gone to a GREAT college.🙂)
Geri Storvick
Posted at 00:40h, 08 MayWell stated Jennie . I truly believe many of us feel the same way . Lots of prayers 🙏🏼🙏🏼
Darren Knight
Posted at 04:47h, 08 MayToo much Trump–all the time–everywhere. Everything isn’t orange. I will chime in regarding the comments about cruelty and kindness, or lack thereof. I will probably offend everyone by calling nonsense (I could use stronger language) on this completely false narrative. The false narrative about dems being kinder and more empathetic–and republicans being mean and selfish–must be permanently discarded. Many don’t like Trump for a variety of reasons, but if it was a different republican president, we would get the same false narrative about the mean GOP and the “nice” dems. Democrats love government and don’t trust people–they trust institutions and Giant Gov–they are not in any shape or manner “nicer”. Neither side has an advantage when it comes to being virtuous. People are people without regard to politics. The media has peddled this junk for generations–and it needs to end.
Quentin
Posted at 12:09h, 08 MayI’m not sure anyone is calling for “kindness” in the form of handouts, lax prosecutions, loan forgiveness, or such traditional “Democrat v Republican” policy differences. It is President Trump’s particular brand of personal unkindness that is being called out, I believe. It is his insults to people, groups, and countries. It is his treatment of women and minorities. It is the severe disrespect shown to anyone who disagrees with him. It is his social media tirades. It is his executive orders against his perceived enemies — including law firms, universities, and the press. Calling out this conduct is not making a partisan complaint, but it is desiring a leader to be more Christlike.
Darren Knight
Posted at 13:29h, 08 MayYour idealism is appreciated and something to strive for. Unfortunately, it is very difficult to find any elected leaders that reach the threshold you are hoping for. Also, I stand by my position that all republicans have been cast as mean–and dems as more empathetic and “nice”–for decades. It is a false and corrosive narrative that has impacted election cycles. I wish we were all better–but we are all flawed. Plus, as noted in past posts, many of our past presidents have been much worse than Trump in their conduct. We should be less concerned with rhetoric and more with actions. We disagree about his policy directions. For example, it is long past time that somebody called out colleges/universities–and the media–for being almost universally leftist–all over the country–it is deeply unhealthy for the nation. Balance is needed. Harvard and Columbia, etc., have been coddled and catered to for far too long. These places of higher education are populated with radical professors. Despite our disagreements, your blog gives us all an opportunity to exchange differing viewpoints–which may help us all in some manner.
Quentin
Posted at 13:40h, 08 MayOn the point about universities, are you saying, for example, that research grants are inherently “coddling”? If so, why are not all research grants to all universities suspended by Trump and all nonprofit statuses revoked, as opposed to just those who he views as his enemies? Similar question as to law firms (which I notice you did not mention). Have they been coddled and catered to, thus need to be treated vengefully?
Gary Russell
Posted at 13:59h, 08 MayDarren – I have given a lot of thought about the notion of “We should be less concerned with rhetoric and more with actions.” I have to disagree with this. They are BOTH necessary for the job as US President and reject the “either/or” construct I hear a lot. I understand and agree with much of the rest of your comments, but I cannot get past how a leader speaks and motivates as well as leads. We have so many outstanding leaders in/out of Gov’t (mostly out) that electing someone strong, smart and charismatic does not need to be this difficult. I applaud the strong focus on debt reduction right now. It’s way overdue. I even understand why it takes a DOGE-type approach to get there. We just need to do better on our pipelining of our candidates.
Russell M Weaver
Posted at 19:54h, 09 MayDarren – Your take on universities and colleges that are populated with “radical professors”, reminds me of the specious argument I heard many years ago. Someone was whining and complaining that colleges are full of professors that are too liberal (radical) who in turn were ruining their students. These naysayers couldn’t understand why college professors were so liberal. The explanation of course, is because that’s WHERE SMART PEOPLE WORK.
DKnight
Posted at 03:17h, 10 MayMr. Weaver–the brain works in mysterious ways–many of these professors possess the practicality of tree stumps. They might be “smart” in their field–yet they can be rockhead dumb-dumbs in other ways. Socialism doesn’t work–and many, many, many of them–are of that ideology. It is unhealthy for one ideology to dominate our colleges. Ironically, many of these professors are arrogant and intolerant of other views. No, I got this right–even if reality offends you. Remember, there is some truism in the old adage–those that cannot make it in the competitive world of enterprise–teach. (And, yes, I still love teachers–have teachers in my family.) In 7 years of college and law school–I had maybe 2 republican professors–out of maybe 60 total. Think about that.