Let's be honestly introspective for a moment.

If you've ever been more concerned with Donald Trump's destructive brand of politics than radical Islamism, America doesn't have time for you anymore.  If you believe that criticizing Islamic terrorism only increases the terrorists' recruitment efforts, your legitimacy as a talking head is coming to an end.

The sun is setting on the era of political correctness.  No, Donald Trump's bullying version is not the requisite norm, but getting into a tizzy because a public figure speaks frankly is definitely passé.

For too long, the progressives' army of social justice warriors have been criticizing every aspect of America while simultaneously protecting and promoting the global Muslim ummah.  In their worldview, Americans are somehow responsible for all that is bad in this world – both globally and at home.

Pandering to bullies has always been counterproductive – and Islamic extremism is the global bully.  We do not avoid punishing a violent offender – not because the rate of recidivism is too high, not because we are afraid of reinforcing a deviant stereotype, and not because we fear creating disgruntled familial relations and future criminals.  We incarcerate them because we know that the only way to ensure that they will not prey on innocence is to remove them from society.

How, then, do some intellectual types adhere to a belief system completely divorced from these realities? 

When dealing with bullies and criminals, there is an expectation that justice will be meted out.  When confronted with radical Islamists, suddenly this formula of identifying dangerous individuals and publicly ostracizing them is abruptly abandoned for a softer more intellectual approach.

For the liberal gate guards of Islam, any correlation between the peaceful religion and terror atrocities is a nonstarter.  Despite the fact that this approach screams of intellectual dishonesty, liberal powerbrokers – of particular note: our current president and presumptive Democratic nominee – have determined that this is the path toward progress.

Not anymore.

Ignoring facts, data, and common sense was yesterday's progressivism.  Donald Trump, for all of his many shortcomings, is ushering in a new era of realism.  In this new era, Americans are permitted to call a spade a spade.  Americans will no longer feel ashamed of putting their needs above the needs of every disadvantaged person in every corner of the world. 

American families know that before you can be successful in the workplace, you have to be successful in the home.  If you neglect the home life, productivity in the workplace inevitably falls.  Trump's "America First" proposition is precisely that – it's time to take care of the American homeland.

As a strong and prosperous nation, America has always assisted globally – WWI, WWII, the Cold War, the Persian Gulf War, and financing the U.N.'s peacekeeping mission.  (The U.S. currently accounts for more than one fifth – 22 percent – of the regular U.N. budget.)  As a weak, divided, and economically depressed nation, we flounder and exert ineffective domestic and foreign policy – the Civil War, Vietnam, Iraq, Libya, and Syria.

Americans are long overdue for a policy that puts the spotlight back on its citizens.  Americans are desperate for a president who assures us that our success, safety, and future are prioritized above our global colleagues.

America has a plot of land that is strategically isolated from the epicenter of the world's current problems.  We should never use this strategic depth as an excuse to enact isolationist policy, but failing to recognize that our geographic location allows us the opportunity to rebuild our nation while remaining insulated from the societal shift that the Middle East and Europe is currently undergoing is foolish.

Let's make America great again first.  It is only from a position of strength that we can enact lasting and positive change on the global stage.

Anthony DeChristopher holds an M.A. in strategic security studies from National Defense University's College of International Security Affairs.  He blogs at exceptionism.com.