Against the long ago given advice of the editors here at American Thinker, I always read carefully the comments on my writings for the simple reason that I occasionally find a pearl of wisdom that can serve as the premise for a subsequent article.  Such was the case when commenter RMThoughts posited the idea that the pundits and critics of Donald Trump have it exactly backward when they accuse Trump of using Republican voters as tools to build his own political movement.  Rather, Trump himself is the tool that has fallen into the hands of those long-ignored constituents, a tool to be used by the citizens to remake their party into an organization that truly represents their beliefs and values, led by leaders who truly share those beliefs and values and lead accordingly.

I would recast that premise somewhat and suggest that Trump is more a weapon that has been taken up by those Republican voters as well as independents and Reagan Democrats, a stout, unyielding club with which to fight back against the elitist Republican leadership in Washington, D.C. and the elitist coastal mainstream media.  Being from the South, I would prefer an axe handle to a club – an axe handle made of durable, resilient hickory, which brings to mind Old Hickory, a comparison that can be drawn with Trump.

Whatever weapon or tool we use to characterize Trump, the driving force behind the voters’ anger is clear: they are fed up with not being listened to by a national government that is supposed to operate constitutionally according to the people’s bidding, not as a federal ruling class that governs the people one way and itself another.  If anything, the conservative citizenry is even angrier at the liberal mainstream media that has served to enable the dissembling, disloyal, and dishonest leaders of both political parties.  Had they done their jobs as political watchdogs, this country would not be in the mess it is.  For certain, we wouldn’t have an affirmative action president hell-bent on dismantling this constitutional republic and remaking it into another third-world hellhole.

But now millions of Americans have a weapon in our hands.  That the weapon we’ve been handed is not perfect is clearly true, but when you’ve never had any weapon up 'til now, even an imperfect weapon will do.