Last spring, during the apogee of the Obama Era, The United States Treasury decided to replace the portrait of Andrew Jackson on the twenty-dollar bill with one of Harriet Tubman.
The decision was just one of many actions designed to supplant traditional American public iconography and install in its place new, non-patriarchal, multicultural, inclusive imagery. Back then it seemed to be the wave of the future — we were to expect more of the same during the reign of President Obama’s anointed successor.
Well, it didn’t work out that way, thank the Lord. But we only dodged that bullet by a hair’s breadth — it was a VERY narrow escape.
It seems appropriate to honor our seventh president by replacing his image on the virtual twenty with a picture of our forty-fifth president. I don’t know whether the Harriet Tubman twenty is going to proceed as planned — the Treasury may well have already created the printing plates for it, but I haven’t seen any of the new bills in circulation so far. However, the Trump scythe has been cutting a wide swath through the PC undergrowth, so it may well be that the Tubman twenty will become an instant collector’s item, assuming it ever sees the light of day.
Donald Trump is aware that he is being widely compared with Andrew Jackson, to the point that the new president has hung a portrait of the seventh president in the Oval Office. It’s not that their policies are all that similar — although both men emphasized the importance of decentralizing the functions of the federal government — but each came to power riding the crest of a wave of populist fervor. Both presidents were bitterly opposed by the entrenched political establishments of their respective eras, yet managed to get elected anyway by championing the common people against the elite.
The modern presidency is a vastly different institution today from what it was 180 years ago. Back then the federal government was a microscopic organism compared with the continent-swallowing behemoth it has become. For the last hundred years the establishment Progressives of the permanent government (a.k.a. the Deep State) have been methodically removing power from the legislative branch and concentrating it in the hands of the executive. Each Democrat president ratcheted up the power of his office a little further — Obama more than a little — until Congress became all but vestigial, an elaborate theatrical production with no meaningful political power. Republican presidents, beholden to the same Progressive establishment as the Democrats, could never manage more than a brief holding action against the despotism that the presidency had become.
And in 2017 Mr. Obama’s notorious “pen and phone” were all set to be handed over to Hillary Rodham Clinton, who no doubt would have strengthened the presidential despotism even further.
Enter Donald Trump.
When Mr. Trump took the oath of office a week ago, he was given access to all the levers of power installed by a century of Progressivism. And he immediately began pulling them vigorously, exercising his power to do exactly what he had promised during his campaign: deconstruct the federal monstrosity and return the governance of America to the people.
What is happening right now was supposed to be impossible. The permanent government had designed the system so that only a selection of its designated favorites — whether Democrat or Republican — would have a chance to reach for the brass ring of the presidency. With full control of the media and a firm hand on the money spigot, popular preferences could be molded and voters manipulated into choosing their leaders from a list of pre-selected candidates — one from Column A or one from Column B, every four years.
A man like Donald Trump wasn’t allowed to make it onto the presidential ballot as a candidate for one of the two major parties. It was forbidden! Nevertheless, using his intelligence, shrewdness, and skills acquired from decades in business, Mr. Trump managed to do a broken-field run through the political minefields and achieve the unthinkable.
And now we are afforded the delicious irony of seeing him use the powers of the Imperial Presidency — so lovingly enhanced by Barack Hussein Obama — to dismantle the entire Progressive enterprise. President Trump is not permitted to do what he does, but he is doing it anyway. And will no doubt continue to do so for the rest of his term, or until the Deep State has him droned.
I’ve never seen anything like what is happening right now in the USA. There hasn’t been a Jacksonian moment like this since — well, since Andrew Jackson.
Donald Trump is not a conservative; he is a populist and a nationalist. But he is in tune with the average American, and the average American is conservative in his opinions. Thus the new president is acting more conservatively than one would expect from even purportedly conservative Republicans. Ronald Reagan could only dream of doing some of the things that President Trump is doing now. And Mr. Trump has enacted more of the conservative agenda in a single week than George W. Bush managed to do in eight years.
Regardless of how long all of this continues, the political and cultural landscape has been permanently changed. There will be no return to pre-2016 conditions. By doubling down in their attempt to stop Donald Trump, the mainstream media have exposed themselves as shameless liars and propagandists. They will never regain the trust of the people, not in their present form. The alternative media have stepped in to provide new channels through which information can flow. The reach and influence of the MSM will continue to decline.
And for the first time since World War Two, the average American has been given a taste of what it’s like to have a president who carries out policies he approves of. Just think — a president who is willing to throw “climate change” into the dumpster of history! And stick it to the UN! And build a wall on the southern border! How refreshing!
These were policies that voters always wanted, but never got from any president of either party. These actions always could have been done, but never were. People have felt the winds of real change blowing across the land, and are unlikely to forget the sensation anytime soon.
So savor this Jacksonian moment while it lasts. It’s a rare privilege to live in a time of such immense changes.
Dymphna is the resident expert on Andrew Jackson in our household (at least compared with me), so she may chip in later with more details on the parallels between 1829 and 2017.
However, there’s one thing everyone should remember: If Donald Trump is truly a Jacksonian president, he will abolish the Federal Reserve.
Now there’s something to look forward to!
Great essay Baron! One doesn’t have to be American to love it. (and President Trump and all he’s doing to right all the wrongs of the previous administration)
trump is really mean
This subject of Jacksonian influence and parallels will be fruitful subject matter for all of President Trump’s years in the White House, and I look forward to more of your excellent content on it as the months and years unfold.
You’ve captured the awesome power of the will of the man to do what he believes in within each act described. It is heart-lifting to read.
What’s sad about this is that President Trump is doing nothing radical. All he is doing is putting the interests of his people, the people who elected him, before that of the rest of the world. It has been so long since any Western Leader did this that his actions seem revolutionary.
What he has done in his first week shows like a clarion call how ill served we have been in the West and how ill served most of us continue to be.
Here we see a President who could achieve anything with a modern first world nation, not someone content with turning the effort of centuries into a giant welfare agency.
You are absolutely right!
>> putting the interests of his people, the people who elected him, before that of the rest of the world
These days, that is truly radical; indeed . . . revolutionary.
‘Here we see a President who could achieve anything with a modern first world nation, not someone content with turning the effort of centuries into a giant welfare agency.’
Please can I copy that – I shall use it at every opportunity!
Enjoy the times Baron as indeed I am. I now eagerly get out of bed in the morning, grab a cup of brewed tea, and the first thing I do for the coming day is to switch on the computer so that I can read what Trump has done over the past 12 or so hours.
Then I read the Gates.
I have not enjoyed politics as much I have ever since Trump declared his intention to run for president. To see the looks on the faces of those who thought that they had the political game all sewn up for their own needs and Trump taking it all of them, will remain with me for rest of my days.
It’s the same for me. For eight years I hated to look at the news, and avoided it whenever I could. Who wanted to see the latest obamanation? Heck, it wasn’t much better under George W., especially the second term. After Condi called Islam the “religion of peace and love”, I had to turn my face away as much as possible.
Now every morning I’m eager to open Google News so the NYT and WaPo and CNN can tell me about all the awful things that Donald Trump did while I was asleep.
Same here.
All I can say is:
With the ceremonial swearing in of defense secretary James Mattis today, the passive-Ogressive sorotage of America is officially OVER.
It’s actually interesting to look at the news again and try to figure out the various motives. Every admin has them. It’ll be interesting to see what is behind some of the new Trump “events”, as I’ll call them.
I am sure he, too, will have some shady stuff going on. But at least it’s not out of a hatred for America, or out of this sheepish love/submission for/to the “religion” of “peace”.
PS: Rob O’Neill, the guy who according to the official story, killed OBL, said this of Mattis:
“General Mattis has a bear rug in his home, but the bear isn’t dead. It’s just afraid to move”.
LOL! And doesn’t the West need MEN like him!
That is awesome! (the bear joke)
I always loved that saying about Marines:
“Marines don’t die, they just go to hell and regroup”
Baron, you both deserve a medal for your perseverance in the face of a determined foe to bring us real NEWS and not that fake garbage that is still being pedaled to the remaining sheep.
If Clinton had been ‘elected’ I have no doubt that the enemy would have doubled their efforts in having your site shut down for good such is their intolerance for the TRUTH.
So Baron, here’s to you and Dympthna!
I largely stopped watching TV ‘news’ in HS as there was almost no news, just lots of pap, analysis, selective reporting and group think. US News and World Report was good back then.
When it became apparent from Real Clear Politics on election eve that Trump was winning I turned on TV ‘news.’
I loved it!
I have even watched a little Sunday morning TV to watch talking pointy heads explode. Watching Kellyanne Conway wipe the floor with the MSM is almost too good to be true.
I couldn’t second your point more strongly Nemesis,
Although I’m a Brit and would only appear to not have a dog in this race the opposite couldn’t be more true. The direct long-term interests of me and my own kith n kin could not be more allied to the interests (genuine interests note, not the diversity/multi-cult c**p vomited out by Ex-Pres Hussein and ilk) of America.
I have waited for many years to see a leader emerge who is worthy of the name. I truly had almost lost hope…..
My profile name in fact alludes to such and long pre-dates even the thought of my Donald (see, people outside your nation also consider him their own!).
As an aside, I would like to link to an article in a newspaper published in the UK titled “If Trump ran Britain”. I laughed so much reading it that I’m now on the lung transplant list…..
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4158346/Brexit-week-Trump-ran-Britain.html
I agree with Nemesis wholeheartedly. The constant paroxysms from the MSM are a treat to watch after so many years of Marxist nonsense. I must admit to a great deal of schadenfreude watching the squealing over EOs being used to direct Presidential policy and actually enforcing laws and creating lawful priorities. There’s already an existing act for a fence/wall. This is wishful thinking since Trump wants to tariff Mexican imports to pay for the wall but I’d love to see a surtax on money transfers to Mexico and Central American countries.
Thanks for the article, watching. That was a great read. I, for one, would love to see a strong and prosperous Britain again. Finally I’m optimistic that Britain, at least, has a great chance to not fall to the Orks. The comments from the article were quite interesting. I have no idea of the popularity of the Daily Mail, but it was heartening to see so many commenters supportive of a shift to dropping the multi-culti stuff and doing things to benefit Britain and not Brussels.
Hopefully Marine Le Pen can capitalize on Fillon’s scandal in France. Maybe I should dust off my French and see if their news sites show similar sentiment shifts. I feel Europe only has a few years to change course before the slippery slope of Islamification hits and the full-on jihad begins.
You are quite welcome Sim,
I have for some time now firmly come to the opinion that there is no way forward for Europe that does not involve major violence.
The indigenous populations WILL without question win but I have the greatest concern that an awful lot of innocent people will suffer/die and in that I do also mean those people who might have migrated to Europe (yes, to completely integrate and contribute) but will become indelibly tainted with the label of “outgroup” because of the behaviour of others who just happen to look like them.
Please note that this is absolutely not advocacy, just prophesy.
What a complete bloody mess. Sad, sad, sad… It seems to be the historical way of things unfortunately. Who was it who said “History might not repeat but it does rhyme”?.
Those really responsible will not get away with this……
Mark Twain said it! One of my favorite quotes.
Sadly 10-15 million culture-enrichers will not go quietly. I personally advocate offering to fly them free to any country in the Muslim world for 60 days. Anything to save lives but Islam already has a death toll second only to Marxism in numbers.
Actually watching and waiting, I’m an Aussie, and Trump may be an American, but I’ll wager he has more of his own people and the world behind him than the Controllers and their lackeys.
watching and waiting,
I agree about the effect of that “tainting” on those who happen to be the same colour as the offenders:
A former colleague had moved to UK from France. I knew her as a non-religious person, intelligent, hard-working, a good team player. She said that here, in UK schools, her children could be whatever they wanted to be if they had the capacity. But in France, they would have no chance because of what she thought of as a “supremacist” (her words) non-French mindset among the other (Muslim origin) children and parents. Also she said, because of what she saw as increasing “racism” among the French (her perception, not mine).
So here’s the point: she said that she understood that those “racist” attitudes had been brought about among French people “because of the actions of those who look like me”.
Indeed Belisarius,
A large majority of those peaceful migrants will see that their fellow travellers are the ones [soiling] the bed and ultimately have the backlash focused on them too.
However, perhaps they could mitigate what is to come by themselves turning out in large numbers at rallies to proclaim “not in my name”?
That, I don’t ever see and it unavoidably arouses suspicion of where true loyalties lie.
Like I say, no solution without European levels of social discord and we know what THAT involves.
There will be a subsequent closure however as long as those who are really responsible are brought to a very public and humiliating trial.
Their gated communities in their tax-havens won’t protect them.
I’ve recently tried to figure out how to name this new “era” of nationalist populist Trump, a way to rephrase it. Simply because ‘nationalist’ and ‘populist’ kind of do not sit so well with me.
Some of my thoughts were, that the age of Beta, Pajama Boy over. That the Age of Alphas has begun. Or reemerged. That it’s important to keep it going. And that maybe I should add the word “enlightened” to ‘Age of Alphas’.
Because these men are well educated, experienced, worldly, successful human beings and not just snarling dogs.
But thanks God they are willing to snarl! I enjoy every minute of it.
Trump is a Patriot, Nash, and that says it all in my opinion.
Yes yes yes… he is a Patriot. But I know so many liberals who call themselves wholeheartedly Patriots as well.
My liberal neighbor for instance, who voted for Hillary ALSO calls himself a Patriot. Always the flag on the post, up, down, up, down, celebrating 4th of July with a passion, celebrating Christmas with the yugest Nativity scene in the front yard…, the way he and his wife live their lives, they seem like the nicest people, elderly, friendly, keeps an immaculate front yard, loves his dog and his kids, drives a Cadillac SUV and still works for Peterbilt even though he could retire comfortably.
I just don’t get it. His Patriotism and my Patriotism just don’t match. He voted for Hillary. I voted Trump. He calls himself a Patriot. I call myself a Patriot. Am I more Patriot-er than he is? Because my side won?
Or maybe he is just a muslim practicing taqyia. I don’t know.
“Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel.” [Click on Link]
I am not a patriot. I respect the property of others.
“..patriotism is slavery..”
Leo Tolstoy.
the context of that, you can be only a patriot of what is there, i.e. before acceptable ethics is established, you’ll be on the side of slavery.
and there are serious reservations about Trump’s ethics.
…
DeriKuk, I think you need to understand what true patriotism is and not what some scoundrels have used it to abuse others with.
And AY, Tolstoy became an Anarchist, so anything he wrote about patriotism I would take with a grain of salt.
maybe you are both “patriots” of common sense.
I found Trump too theatrical during that Teutonic inauguration rant.
and yes the origin of “America First” slogan isn’t noble at all.. as well as it’s meaning.
and yes he did tell dirty things about women.
and yes he did mock that disabled reporter.
and yes he does try to hide his tax documents.
Jackson or whatever, impeachment won’t ever be late.
Rosneft shares affair isn’t over yet.
saying that, I don’t deny that some things Trump promised and done so far, are both reasonable and timely.
but, do Americans understand and accept change, only if deliverfed by a cad? or a creep, like Obama?
BTW even if you impeach Trump, the next in chain is creationist Pence.
it all looks strange, but enjoy your options fellow Americans.
at least not under Hussein anymore.
…
I would term your neighbor a false Patriot, one of those scoundrels we were warned about but has since become deliberately misquoted, the kind of person who hides behind what patriotism actually means as he enables his ‘liberal’ tendencies to support what the true Patriot would deny.
Even staunch Communists can run a flag they hate up and down all down to convince their neighbors of their ‘patriotism’.
Liberalism is just another softer version of socialism and will cause all who practice such falsities to fall into the Collective mindset.
Oh dear AY, your true colors are beginning to show.
Nash please read my comment to under that of AY.
“age of Adolfs”.
…
Trump is what America and Americans need now. He seems to truely be an alpha-male. Good for him, we need more of them. Here’s to alpha maleness.
if you like alpha maleness, the best thing for you is Islam.
…
Honestly……!!
The Federal Reserve putting Jackson on the twenty, the most commonly used bill, was a stick in the eye of Jackson for his anti–central bank actions. Most people presume it was done as an honor (as I did). But what better way to get back at Jackson than to put him on the most prominent bill issued by an institution that he would have abhorred. This shows us what a long, petty grudge these Mammonists have, it’s generational — almost as if there’s a long-lived, dark power in the shadows that truly does remember and keeps account. Hmmm.
The idea of abolishing The Fed I don’t think is that far-fetched and there are some in Trump’s inner circle who have expressed this very notion in the past. The subject hasn’t been overtly broached of late, but when the SHTF, an all too real possibility irrespective of what Trump does, the banksters and the criminal ruling elite are going to try and pin it on Trump. The thing to do is to accuse and expose these crooks and the long con they’ve been playing and then nationalize The Fed and — poof!— all the debt The Fed holds is instantly gone and off the back of the American citizens. (External, foreign debt is a different matter.)
Kennedy tried to do away with the Fed and even went so far as to print silver certificates. We all know what happened to him in Dallas. What is not well known, or reported, was that he was riding in an open car and wearing his back brace which prevented him from bending over. The whoever he was that suggested open car and wearing the back brace so he couldn’t bend over to avoid the incoming fire should have been tried as a co-conspirator as what the President was that day was a duck in a shooting gallery.
We don’t need that gruesome sort of take-out scenario any more though, we have drugs that can caused heart attacks and then fade into the body leaving very little in the way of tell-tale residue that you must look for and very shortly after death. I feel that Scalia was targeted in that manner. Unless Trump has someone tasting his food he could very well be next.
The spoiled little progressives want their little way and they don’t care who ends up dead. Just ask Madonna, of course crying about morality after having a concert tour that consisted of pole dances is rather like calling the kettle black while you are the pot.
Check out “From JFK to 9/11: Everything Is a Rich Man’s Trick” for a very interesting look at JFK’s assassination. Highly recommended regardless of whether you agree with its conclusions or not.
There are plenty of patriots in the government laying low, in every department, especially in the military and law enforcement. If Trump is assassinated there will be Hell to pay. The military is sick and tired of spilling their blood and guts for the profit of the oligarchs; these never-ending foreign entanglements are sacrificing the best of our citizenry (by design) and this is coming to an end. Law enforcement is fed up with having targets painted on their back by radical Leftist politicians and then have corporatist presstitutes make excuses for criminals. Patriotic elements of the military and law enforcement, active and veteran, are taking names and preparing dossiers; they know who does and doesn’t have their back. It will be different this time. And the Deep State knows this; or, at least, they better.
Craig,
“And the Deep State knows this; or, at least, they better.”
In fact I would hope they better NOT so most can’t scurry away into safe anonymity.
I have noticed a subtle new feeling when I view the “new news”. It occurs to me that what the Hollywood biggies think is no longer the weighty matter it once was, all of two weeks ago. All of a sudden it appears that what I, a humble American, thinks is reflected in the actions of a President. I can suddenly think, ” you know, I understand what is going on.” I am not hugely confused by an Operation Fast and Furious, or perplexed by a Federal government that will not deport criminals here illegally because of some vague reason. As if it were the case that if I drove too fast and was stopped I would be similarly confused or perplexed. In other words a state composed of a rule of law is returning, as was promised. Whatever it was supposed to be, “Fundamental Transformation” appeared to many to be hostile, estranging and tangential to the purpose of a state called the United States of America. And only that state.
Hi Mark,
“All of a sudden it appears that what I, a humble American, thinks is reflected in the actions of a President.”
Absolutely mate and not just humble Americans either. Humbles all over the world.
Believe me bigly.
The Democrat Party hasn’t been this upset since we took away their slaves.
“And now we are afforded the delicious irony of seeing him use the powers of the Imperial Presidency — so lovingly enhanced by Barack Hussein Obama — to dismantle the entire Progressive enterprise.”
I’m lov’in it. To see news stories on Yahoo etc that hyperventilate over Trump’s use of Executive Orders, something dearly departed Obama used frequently, and the best part is they can’t see the irony!
well, I don’t care what anyone thinls. Trump can’t possibly be worse than that nutjob Obama for example. I am hoping […] he will go to the UN where he will no doubt be useful to that useless organization.
Life is always difficult, for somebody. However, I do hope it is the Muslims’ turn to feel nervous. Nobody bothered them but they want to bother us. Get thee behind me, Satain (aka muslim).
I agree with all the comments expressing hope in the changing of the guard in USA.
Go back to your desert lands, fix your own countries and mind you own business. Maybe then we can achieve some measure of peace on earth.
Way to go, Maria! You keep getting it right.
Only one quibble. Trump should be on REAL MONEY, a newly issued Gold Certificate (not legal tender since FDR) instead of a Federal Reserve Note.
http://www.friesian.com/notes.htm#gold
the first thing to notice about Donald Trump on this site is that A. nobody liked Donald Trump before and if you listened to them like I do, you actually thought he lost. and B. Nobody her really wanted him to win. I remember being lectured by Dymphna that, oh, well, you know, but, he’s not the type of man you would want your daughter to marry. To which one says, oh no … not at all, NOT ME ?!?
The next thing to notice is how excited everyone is about Donald Trump suddenly. They wish they could be like him.
The third thing to notice about Donald Trump is when he doesn’t live up to certain expectations or when events overtake him. The people will have you hang your ER … necks with them
Oh dear. I thought you left, never to darken our doors again? Sigh.
I never came out against Trump, mainly because I thought the alternatives were so gruesome. I also thought he was an outlier and in crashing the party might (a) bring it some badly needed life, or (b) kill it. I was afraid he’d lose, leaving us to the devices of Clinton(s).
The fact that he was so hated by the neo-cons made him interesting. I kept referring to the phenomenon of the #ShyTrumpVoter – people who lied to the pollsters about their choices.
My biggest fear was that the corrupt Dem urban areas would steal the vote – as they have from time to time.
I agree with your sentiment, D.
Trump is still a bit of a cad, in my estimation. I was more relieved than happy that he’d won, but mostly because the alternatives [note the plural] were so truly horrific. Alas, future events and hordes of despicable enemies are arrayed against him. In time, his feet of clay will become all too apparent.
From all of this . . . the wrong lessons will be learned.
I hope that I am wrong.