Almost a year ago, I published an article on American Thinker arguing that neither Hilary Clinton nor Donald Trump was acceptable as president and suggesting that the Electoral College could save us from them both.  I was wrong in that judgment.

It is true that Trump is often uncouth, and his behavior is not "presidential," but the first 100 days of his administration have been a revelation.  I am now more optimistic about restoring the last best hope on Earth than I have been since Ronald Reagan was president.  An actor and now a business tycoon seem much more effective than any professional politician.

It will take decades to reverse the ratchet to the left that weak Republicans have permitted for so long.  As one of the most important examples, the systematic brainwashing of students from kindergarten to college is a problem whose roots run all the way back to the Wilson administration, a century ago.  A nationwide school voucher program would help but is insufficient because many if not most parents are themselves victims of the pervasive ideological indoctrination and therefore do not realize how the schools are injuring their children.  Even if we could eliminate the entirely unprofessional teacher unions and privatize all schools, it would still take many years to staff them with unbiased teachers.  Breaking the politically correct socialist stranglehold on college faculties will take even longer.  We can, however, hope that Donald Trump and Betsy DeVos will at least start the reform process, and that is more than any previous Republican administration has done.

It appears that congressional Republicans have now become a principal obstacle to progress.  Both houses need major reforms so that the Congress can fulfill its dual role as a partner to Trump and a check on possible excesses by his administration.  It is outrageous that House Republicans are still debating how or even whether to repeal and replace Obamacare, since they have had six years to come up with a viable plan.  In the Senate, Mitch McConnell must eliminate the "virtual filibuster," which allows a simple announcement by a single senator, without an actual filibuster, to prevent passage of almost any bill unless there are 60 votes in favor.  Absent these and many other necessary changes, the obvious task for the midterm elections will be to replace those timid Republicans who want to go along to get along with the destructive Democrats so that we can indeed get started on making America great again.

Phil Chapman is a retired geophysicist and concerned Republican who lives in Scottsdale, Ariz.  He was once a NASA astronaut and is still involved in space-related research.