President Trump
By this time tomorrow a new leader will have been sworn into office (publicly, dog-and-pony style) after it has first been done in private, away from the subjects and "far from the madding crowd." A "mystical experience" then will occur, as Obama, the man who turned America into a third world nation becomes the "Ghost of Christmas Past." He will float away in his helicopter with his lovely family and his Secret Service team of bodyguards, the ones who will be assigned to protect him for the rest of his life, by his own executive order...paid for by you and me. Trump will then capture the flashbulbs and cameras as he publicly swears in.

From that point, it will all take on a new dimension. Before Trump is sworn in, the mantra is:

"When I'm in office, I'll change ______­­­­­____ that Obama did."


(Fill in blank with problem)

After the swearing in, the new mantra will be as follows:

"Well, I can't fix _________, right away: I inherited it from Obama.

(Fill in blank with problem)
Well, let us hope that it is not this way. It will take a complete sea change to rectify the course this country has been heading in the past eight years. These are some of the problems that Trump will need to reverse when he becomes President Trump, many of which he promised to either change or end completely:
  1. The (Un)Affordable Health Care Act, now law, termed "Obamacare" that is the most heinous piece of legislation...a law that mandates a requirement for a citizen to have health care coverage as dictated by government requirements.
  2. "Differentially permeable" borders: where foreigners, such as Mexicans and Canadians can come and go as they please, and illegal aliens have free access...but Americans are confined until a full cavity search is conducted.
  3. An economy based not on true GNP, but on consumer spending(almost 80%); convincing one company not to pick up and relocate overseas is an illustration of the concept, and not the implementation...not yet.
  4. A reversal of the true unemployment rate, that hovers between 15 and 20%, depending on what paid "parrot" (such as Labor and Statistics) announces the phony figure.
  5. A reversal of the Entitlement Nation: the EBT and Food Stamp users, the unemployment collectors, the Social Security Disability recipients whose corpulence from overeating is termed a "disability," the illegal aliens on the dole for all of the above, plus free healthcare, the almost 100 million no longer "in the work force."
  6. Knocking the knees off lobbyists, NGO's, and NPO's who have been holding administrations hostage (the 1st), or acting as if they were a government agency (the 2nd), or with executives profiting immensely while running on slave labor using socially misfortunate people and writing it all off (the 3rd).
  7. Revitalizing a military whose Air Force is forced to scavenge parts from "the Boneyard," and where levels of service members in terms of numbers and readiness have fallen to their lowest point since before WWII.
  8. Resetting an abysmal foreign policy where (for the past eight years) we have instituted coup d'états, undermined relations that worked throughout the world, placed ourselves in position to start a new Cold War, and turned the Middle East and Eastern Europe completely upside down.
  9. Revitalizing a crumbling infrastructure of roads, bridges, and buildings very dangerously in disrepair...where maintenance charges and fees continue to rise with very little return on taxpayer dollars and nothing changing on our highways, ports, and bridges.
  10. Permitting (yes, permitting) and encouraging American businesses to be able to start up, operate, and produce in the United States without Soviet-style restrictions, regulations, and an army of bureaucratic "flying monkeys" inserting themselves into the business's "fourth point of contact," preventing U.S. businesses (especially the small proprietorships and Mom-and-Pop concerns) from either starting, or succeeding.
  11. The Supreme Court: just look at them...and nothing else really needs to be said: Except that a branch of the U.S. government meant to be a "check and balance" does not need to circumvent the Constitution and be the sole arbiter and (in essence) a lawmaker to institute policy for a presidential administration.
  12. Bring about a change in the hearts of the American people.
Perhaps the most important item in that list is the last one. When Reagan took office, we (and he) faced double-digit unemployment, double digit inflation, and enormous taxation and loss of liberties. We faced a crumbling infrastructure, a military that was in shambles (Desert One to free the Iranian hostages, conducted with helicopters in a sandstorm as Carter approached the midnight hour to lose the election should never be forgotten). The Soviets were strong, and we were not...having recently ended the war in Vietnam. We weren't doing too well, in the world and in our own minds and hearts.

Then Reagan came, and he turned it around. He was not perfect, but he made up for his imperfections by surrounding himself with an excellent staff. He had a heart for the United States, and the fortitude to stand up for it. His leadership staved off the fall of the U.S., and turned things around for us. Do you remember that Lake Placid victory of the amateur U.S. hockey team in the semifinals against the professionals of the Soviet hockey team? Remember the moment...a small thing, perhaps, and many may discount it as being "completely unimportant" or "unrelated to problems we now face."

But that victory was neither one of those disparaging remarks. It was something that we all could focus upon, to form some kind of cohesive unity and think of ourselves together as Americans...to take pride in accomplishment in something...for once, after four years of Carter. There was a sea change made. Did it last? Perhaps it didn't, and yet, if the memory of those years is still alive in even one person with the hopes of a repeat...then maybe others can feel the same.

This is still the best country in the world. Trump's campaign slogan was "Make America Great Again." Cliché, perhaps, but we must start somewhere. Last time I checked, the preamble to the Constitution starts out with "We the people." Yes, we the people need to do the best we can with what we have, to be vigilant in our undertakings to prevent another eight years akin to the ones we are just emerging from, and to move forward and improve our lives. Many will say that it doesn't matter, and that there are forces that are out of our control that will prevent us as a nation from overcoming obstacles.

Such may be for a while, as it was under Obama. Those times cannot last forever, and eventually the change has to occur. We have perhaps a bigger job than those 12 items I listed for Trump to accomplish.

Number 12 is not all on him: it's also on us.

In order for the country to succeed, the people have to return to core values of family, hard work, respect (for self and others), and faith, with one another and in God. Trump can do a great deal, but in the end, it is we the people who will enable him to turn it around or not. Change can't be forced upon you by some jerk with a perfect smile who tells you that change is a movement "we can believe in," and then assumes the role of a dictator and forces it on you. Change is something that comes from within, precipitated by a feeling that is in one's heart. We have our chance to change it all, and let us wish success for this man who will become the president of the United States in a couple of days. Let us hope that he has that feeling inside of himself and holds onto it...to unite the United States of America again.

Jeremiah Johnson is the Nom de plume of a retired Green Beret of the United States Army Special Forces (Airborne). Mr. Johnson is also a Gunsmith, a Certified Master Herbalist, a Montana Master Food Preserver, and a graduate of the U.S. Army's SERE school (Survival Evasion Resistance Escape). He lives in a cabin in the mountains of Western Montana with his wife and three cats. You can follow Jeremiah's regular writings at SHTFplan.com or contact him here.