By Ada Fisher

By now, most on the opposite side who tried to impale President Trump by media, “opinionitis” and any other way imaginable can’t quite comprehend why he still fights for a cause that seems lost to most.

The more the slings and arrows of outrageous oppression are hurdled in his direction, the more folks are unwittingly trying to second-guess themselves and raising the spectra of possibilities that there may be a grain of truth to some of his misgivings about the elections.

There is no doubt that there were ballots which weren’t counted and a distinct possibility that an occasional vote was illegal for a myriad of reasons. The question is whether there are enough such votes to change the outcome of the election if awarded to either Trump or to Biden. To change the course of the 2020 presidential election, incontrovertible proof of election fraud must be offered, and just saying it is so doesn’t make it so. The case has been made for not calling the election before all votes are counted. In the name of democracy, only certified votes by the electoral college should constitute grounds for calling the presidential election.

There are many things about this election which don’t rise to the level of fairness; however, misreading the results of the election would be wrong. Though it was true that COVID-19 was an issue in this election, as is now being seen, not much done by the Trump administration wasn’t called for. Trump is not to be blamed for the virus or the shaky outcomes in this pandemic. If all that people say should have been done was done, there is no certainty that this pandemic’s outcome would have been different.

What this election was about is whether there is hope for a brighter tomorrow; neither candidate could promise that. One huge, plausible problem for Republicans and the president was underestimating Trump fatigue, as demonstrated by the number of Senate and congressional victories the party maintained amidst the losses in key areas by the president. Part of the lesson was checks and balances are still needed, and the Republicans’ job is to keep the liberals in check. Though President Trump had his supporters, if he had just zipped it occasionally, he would have likely had the race.

The one question both camps continually avoid is a realistic view of where the money is coming from for all the things which need to be done. Any attempt to expand the personal payroll tax exemption proposed by President Trump should be voided, as this is the money used to pay out for Medicare and Social Security. As such, this defines the case for not expanding Medicare; we simply cannot afford it. Raising taxes sounds cavalier in the Biden plan but still avoids giving the unemployed some relief, stymies cost of living adjustments, allows illegals to enter which increases the national burden for relief, promises more in health care and education than is likely to be achieved, promises student loan forgiveness while many repaid this debit and advocates following public health advice, which though important cannot tell how we feed and employ this nation.

Minions in the Trump brigades are now focusing on 2024, hoping for a reset without asking if it is “real or Memorex.” It is hoped that Trump won’t run in 2024 for, as said of Biden, he will be too old. Though the dynamics of much of Washington, D.C., federal bureaucracy was attacked, some major issues were not dealt with, which would have aided the “cleaning of the swamp.” The use of non-elected family members who have not been vetted in official government roles should be severely restricted from any candidate. Prosecution and clamping down on illegal activities such as private emails for government business was not done and occurred on this watch as well. The allowance of private ventures on public lands or invasions of sacred Native American Apache burial grounds by Resolution Copper should be suspended without open hearings, not just on environmental grounds but for review of treaties and disrespect for the dead. The attempts at wealth redistribution will be front and center with those over 55 seeing benefits attacked or likely reduced.

We need to develop new leaders vested in keeping America great, harkening to a time when God and country were most important and the pledge of allegiance stood for something inherent to this nation’s ethos. Covenants made must be honored. A different mantra should be “Keep U.S. A Great Nation for we are the United States of America” and should not be called America, which reflects all the nations of North and South America.

Salisbury’s Ada Fisher is a licensed teacher, retired physician, former school board member and former N.C. Republican national committeewoman.