The Democrats, the media and the NeverTrump Republicans have thus far been unable to marginalize Donald Trump, despite utilizing the tried-and-true tactic of incessantly fomenting faux scandals directed at a sitting Republican president.  Further, and unique to Trump, the appointment of a dogged and nakedly partisan special counsel within the first five months of his presidency has failed to produce any evidence of criminal wrongdoing or Russian collusion.

Thus, the NeverTrump faction of the nation’s elites have now adopted a new strategy:  bemoaning his lack of “character and civility” as the basis of claiming that Trump is the worst President in American history and thus should either resign or, at the least, not seek or be re-elected.

Their definition of “character and civility,” as it applies to this President, revolves around his lack of sophistication and erudition, his speech patterns and temperament, his incessant use of social media as well as assigning crude nicknames to his opponents, and lastly, his insistence on being who he really is and not hiding behind a conventional political façade.  His tenacity in opposing the Left and their nation destroying agenda and empathy with and concern for the common man is discounted and demeaned.

How has mankind fared over the past one hundred years when men of character and civility acceptable to todays self-styled elites oversaw the fate of their nations?

The First World War mercifully came to an end on November 11, 1918.   It was a war that could have been easily avoided if the leaders of Britain, France, Austria-Hungary and Germany had chosen to search for a political solution instead of rushing head first into a war they secretly desired.  The leaders of these nations were all men who were articulate, sophisticated, and well-educated but none had any empathy for those they were about to send into the charnel house that was World War I.

 Fifty million people died or were wounded during the four years of the war (14 million military deaths and 13 million civilian deaths).  Additionally, this avoidable fiasco set the stage for a blood-soaked century littered with the bodies of over 120 million men, women and children.

Germany of the 1920’s turned to its men of character and civility in an effort to rebuild and institute a Democracy.  They failed miserably as they did not understand nor were willing to face down the growing radical ideology in their nation or demand and negotiate relief from the stringent conditions imposed on the nation by their former foes in the war.  Among those on the left was Adolf Hitler and his National Socialist Workers Party.

In 1933, the Nazi Party was still in the minority in the Reichstag; however, Franz von Papen (Chancellor) and Paul von Hindenburg (President) offered Hitler the Chancellorship in the belief that he was a political neophyte and could be easily controlled.  Both von Papen and von Hindenburg were men of sterling character and civility as defined by today’s standard; nonetheless they had no core convictions or determination to understand and counter the threat of the radicals and no empathy with the average German citizen.  Hitler assumed dictatorial power within a year.

In 1936, in direct violation of the Versailles and Locarno treaties, Hitler, with a shell of a military, unilaterally marched into the Rhineland.  The governments of France and Great Britain, both of whom were staffed by men of impeccable refinement and education, stood idly by believing Hitler would surely be satisfied with just reclaiming this German speaking region.   They did nothing when just the threat of action would have deterred Hitler.

In 1938, France and its Prime Minister Edouard Daladier and Great Britain and its Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain signed the Munich Pact believing Hitler could be trusted to abide by its terms. 

Chamberlain arrives in Munich 1938

Photo credit: German Federal Archive

This treaty betrayed and sealed the fate of an independent sovereign nation-- Czechoslovakia.  Within a year Hitler invaded Poland and World War II began.   Both of these clueless gentlemen would have been feted as men of character and civility by the current NeverTrump cabal.

World War II, with its roots in the First World War and abetted by the naivete and arrogance of the men of “character and civility” produced nearly 100 million casualties (23 million military deaths and 42 million civilian deaths) as well as over 20 million displaced persons in Europe alone.

In the United States since the 1960’s, the American elites who, unlike Trump, meet the character criteria set forth in 2019 have achieved the following:

• South Vietnam was a corrupt supposed democratic nation essentially created out of whole cloth by the elites in the West.  When North Vietnam began to militarily reunite the two nations, the men of refinement and good manners in the United States decided to intervene.  From 1965-1973 there were over 155,000 American casualties (58,000 deaths) as well as 360,000 Vietnamese civilian deaths.  The financial cost: $4.0 Trillion (2018 dollars).  Nonetheless, the North Vietnamese won.  Further, this debacle unleashed not only riots and protests but mainstreamed and legitimized the radical American Left allowing them to aggressively infiltrate the entertainment, media and education establishments.
• The war in Afghanistan began as a response to September 11, 2001; however, it and the invasion of Iraq quickly metastasized into a determination to impose democracy on two populations with no history, desire or understanding of democracy.  Those wars (Iraq-- 7 years and Afghanistan--17 years) have to date resulted in 57,000 American casualties (7,000 deaths) and cost $6.0 Trillion.  Further, civilian deaths exceed 300,000.  The primary accomplishment of this naivete is a more destabilized region, which created ISIS, emboldened Iran and fomented a civil war in Syria.
• The overall national debt (including state, federal and local) in 1960 was $3.0 Trillion (2018 dollars) today it is $27.1 Trillion,  a nearly tenfold increase in less than sixty years. That makes the United States, with 5% of the world’s population, the largest debtor nation in history, currently accounting for 30% of all global national debt.  The wars in Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan account for $10 Trillion (or 42%) of the growth in the overall national debt.  The balance is reflective of the incessant march toward evolving into Euro-socialist and potentially bankrupt nation.

The ever-naïve moral betters have been for decades wallowing in their refinement, erudition and civility.  Choosing to be oblivious to a more radicalized American Left assuming de facto control of the Democratic Party and the bulk of the mainstream media as well as virtually all social media platforms.   Today college campuses resemble mini-totalitarian states with virtually no freedom of speech or assembly.   Left-wing political harassment is rampant.  Unfounded accusations of racism and a myriad of other mythological isms are increasingly used to silence and intimidate.  And a concerted effort is well underway to completely undermine and overturn the Judeo-Christian foundation upon which this nation was founded.

I am among those who were categorized as a casualty of World War II and its aftermath as well as a displaced orphan fortunate to be brought to the United States under the terms of the Displaced Persons Act of 1948.  I have experienced first-hand the end-product of failed political and societal leaders who were men of “character and civility”.   

Thus, I am convinced the most important factors in political leadership in the United States today is first, compassion for and a true understanding of the day-to-day lives of the common man, second, the ability and willingness to comprehend the dangers of the left and their determination to transform the country and, third, unshakable tenacity to confront the opposition and willingly suffer their slings and arrows.  Donald Trump, despite his litany of personal flaws, possesses these characteristics.  All the other elements of character as promulgated by the AntiTrump media army, while important, pale by comparison considering the current state of affairs in this nation.

If I had a choice of a composite President, he would have the honor and integrity of Dwight Eisenhower, the conviction and communication skills of Ronald Reagan, the decency of George H.W. Bush and the empathy and tenacity of Donald Trump.  But that man or woman will never exist. 

Apparently, the passengers and crew of the S.S. NeverTrump, who self-identify as conservatives, would rather have as president any of the failed leaders of the past 100 years who pass their “character” litmus test.  Donald Trump has governed as the most conservative president since Ronald Reagan.  As long as he continues to do so while tenaciously fighting the left and the Democrats on behalf of the American people, then their and the media’s hackneyed assessment of his “character” will ring hollow and self-serving to the bulk of the American people.