"The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country, but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered, yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph." Thomas Paine, The Crisis
May 17, 2017
By: Linda Case Gibbons
It was a start up, and critics were vicious, saying the company would go nowhere.
Amazon. And now, twenty years later, it's a household word.
Grit. Innovation. It works every time.
The critics have the easy job. They can sit back, and when displeased, crack the whip and say, "Do better!"
Like Ann Coulter.
This week she told The Daily Caller she is disappointed in President Trump. He isn't doing what she thinks he should do.
"I have no regrets for ferociously supporting him. What choice did we have?" she said. "And if he doesn't keep his promises, I'm out. This is why we voted for him. I think everyone who voted for him knew his personality was grotesque. It was the issues."
"Holding his feet to the fire." That's okay. The whole fair and balanced thing.
But speaking for other Trump supporters? That's not okay. Ann Coulter doesn't speak for me.
The question is, why is Coulter surprised? During the campaign, Trump never did what anyone thought he should. That's why we voted for him. That's why he won.
It all came with a price tag: relentless opposition on every side, a toxic media environment and politicians who are only out for themselves. Trump supporters knew that going in, and they were in for the long haul.
I never understood Coulter's appeal. Her books aren't easy reads. She writes like she talks and if you've heard her talk, you know what I mean.
It could be because I'm used to reading the clear writing of the erudite Michael Savage, listening to the unassailable political rhetoric of Lou Dobbs, and hearing the passionate words of Sean Hannity, fearlessly defending his country, and the Trump presidency.
All were early Trump supporters. And they still are. They have faith in him.
But could Coulter have a point? Trump has been in office for 117 days and still hasn't built the Wall.
I'm kidding. Unless I'm seeing this through rose-colored glasses, which I'm not, Trump has a full plate in the Swamp called Washington, D.C. And he still manages to accomplish a lot.
He slowed illegal border crossings by 76 percent with his immigration enforcement.
His Attorney General Jeff Sessions traveled to Long Island and tackled the MS-13 gangs who are terrorizing neighborhoods there. Incidentally, these gang members are the "unaccompanied alien children" Obama welcomed with open arms in 2014, a phenomenon which even The New York Times recognized as a bad, bad thing.
Trump has met face-to-face with a dozen foreign leaders, secured approval for the Keystone XL Pipeline, which will create 13,000 jobs, negotiated the release of Egyptian-American charity worker and five others from a Cairo prison, and withdrew the U.S. from the unfavorable Trans-Pacific Partnership. And that's only a small example of all he has done. In 117 days.
And he did it while wading through the phony Russian, Comey, and the Two Scoops of Ice Cream Scandals, cruel and childish attempts to discredit him, hurled by a desperate media, a leftover Obama bureaucracy, and both political parties.
But I know exactly what sent Coulter off the rails and made her so grumpy. It was the cancellation of her speech at Berkeley.
She did an admirable job defending the conservative right to free speech. And it had to have been frightening, given the recent violence against conservative speakers on that campus.
But, sadly, when the going got tough, Coulter got tired and grouchy. She isn't used to not getting what she wants, when she wants it, and when she appeared on the Mark Simone radio show, and on Hannity, she was despondent and negative because of the obstacles thrown in her path.
Now she knows how Trump feels. Except he doesn't give in to it. She got prickly, and insulted, and the First Amendment battle became more about her ego, and less about her country.
If the poor girl had only listened to The Donald's Liberty University Commencement Speech, she might have picked up some tips on how to hang in there.
"Following your convictions means you must be willing to face criticism from those who lack the same courage to do what is right," the president said, "-- and they know what is right, but they don't have the courage or the guts or the stamina to take it and do it. It's called the road less traveled."
Like the road Sean Hannity walked a few weeks ago when "they" tried to take him down along with Bill O'Reilly.
Like the road Michael Savage walked, when he was banned in England because the government there believed his political views might provoke violence.
I know. Having faith doesn't come easily. Sometimes it takes putting your fingers into the wounds. And other times, you just have faith.
Hold the line, America.