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Mike McHugh

Ever since President Donald J. Trump soundly defeated Hillary Clinton on Nov. 8, Ill bet many low-information voters and other empty-minded citizens have learned more about civics than they did in all their years inside public school classrooms. In the ensuing hours after the election, Trump critics were quick to lay the foundation to delegitimize his victory by pointing out that Clinton won the popular vote despite the fact that Trump far exceeded the required 270 Electoral College votes needed to win. Analogies were quickly proffered to debunk the ignorance and quell the sour grapes by illustrating this point at a level that most could understand. It was pointed out that in a football game when the number of total offensive yards gained by the losing team exceeds that of the winning team it has no bearing on the final score or who is the winner or loser of the contest. In presidential politics its all about Electoral College votes.

But that didnt stop the detractors.

The Trump detractors were given another civics lesson in December when it was learned that an effort was underway to derail the Electoral College vote. They soon learned what most of us already knew that the November election was merely a crucial but the final step in certifying who occupies the Oval Office. It is in December when the Electoral College delegates convene in their respective state capitols to cast their votes. In past conventions, the will of the people on Election Day is usually mirrored by the Electoral College delegates actions when it comes time to perform their duty. Trump prevailed and Clinton lost in this procedure.

But it didnt stop the detractors.

In many states where Trump triumphed, Electoral College delegates were lobbied, cajoled and in some cases threatened if they followed through and cast their vote for Trump. There were very few delegates who strayed from their duty and Donald Trump was certified the victor.

But the detractors remained unsatisfied.

Attempts were made by radical, anarchist organizers to disrupt the Jan. 20 Inauguration in Washington, D.C. Local colleges welcomed radical organizers to hold closed door meetings on their leafy Northwest campus the weekend before the week-long festivities began in the nations capital. On Friday morning, hours before Trump was sworn in, tiny mobs of rabble rousers assembled blocks away from the parade route. Some wearing masks searched for targets to attack while others stalked vulnerable objects to use as props and video footage to be used later on their social media sites to prove to their parents back home that their trip to D.C. was indeed productive. Few minds were changed and over 200 miscreants were arrested for their protests as innocent trash receptacles were set ablaze and defenseless shop windows were shattered by members of the masked mob.

Despite their Inaugural Day hissy fit, the resistors continue to foment vitriol toward the president and their countrymen, appearing daily to protest their cause du jour in the protective enclaves of those tiny blue islands on each coast that are holding back the enormous red ocean that covers the rest the lower 48 states.

President Trumps appears undeterred by the uncivil and sometimes criminal behaviors of these professional agitators drafted into action from the Idle-class, Hollywood liberal elite and Democrats on Capitol Hill who appear to have become delusional from their long-term bout of Potomac Fever. They seem to have been swept away on the river of denial, unable to come to grips with the fact that they lost to Donald Trump and their party is out of power and in the minority quite possibly for a very long time.

Still, so-called resistors remain unrelenting.

Heres what draining the swamp is beginning to reveal to those who havent already realized it: There is an elite class of media types, well-heeled entertainers along with a small band of idle-class Americans who act as mercenaries, filling the role of professional demonstrators who are marching and being paid by Trump detractors. These useful idiots and fellow travelers in the progressive movement are more than willing carry the progressive banners.

Democrats love a big, inefficient, slow-moving government. Their battle against Trumps cabinet pick Betsy DeVos to run the Department of Education is less out of their concern for the children than it is out their commitment to the teachers unions. The irony in Democrats disapproving of this candidate who was confirmed last week is rich. The debate over public versus private schools isnt hard to understand. Every parent wants what is best for their children and sadly in many communities, both urban and rural, the public schools are in deplorable condition. School choice in the form of vouchers giving parents the choice and means of where to school their children should be an option open to all, not just the wealthy. Where was the outcry from teachers unions when the Obamas avoided public schools and shuttled their daughters off to Sidwell Friends a private D.C. school with annual tuitions that rival major universities even as he was shutting down opportunity scholarships for the poor in Washington, D.C. By the way, this is the same Washington school where Chelsea Clinton matriculated before enrolling at Stanford University.

Note, too, radicals have their sights set on blocking Trumps Executive Order on temporarily blocking refugees from seven Middle Eastern countries that have a high propensity for terrorism. The order calls for extreme vetting. I applaud Trump for understanding that his duties as president include a duty to protect all Americans from enemies. So what if a few refugees were temporarily inconvenienced on their one-way flight to the United States or may have to wait a couple months before they can arrive.

Since 2001, many Americans have been and continue to be inconvenienced every time they take a commercial flight from the time they enter an airport, remove several articles of their clothing, submit to searches of their person and belongings and are X-rayed and sometimes interrogated. All this because fanatical extremists decided to wage war on the civilized world. Yes, we know all about being inconvenienced.

In 1992, Presidential candidate Ross Perot asked us to listen for a giant sucking sound in the debate over NAFTA. Today, it seems that there is a giant sucking sound that could be explained in one of two ways: Perhaps its the sound of a swamp starting to drain or it could be the sound of the progressives little red balloons being deflated.

Swansboro resident Mike McHugh is an advertising account executive with The Daily News. Readers can email him at: mike.mchugh@jdnews.com.

Link:
COLUMN: Democrat vanguard of the Progressives stuck in denial - Jacksonville Daily News